Terms and Conditions

Data Protection: -

LINKFIELD ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT (LAM) CLAIMS WEBSITE TERMS OF USE:

Your Acceptance of these Claims Website Terms of Use

1. By selecting any icons/buttons which indicate that information will be submitted" when prompted, You are thereby agreeing to use this Claims Website (defined at paragraph 5 below), before the point at which You input and submit to LAM Your own and any Third Parties personal information, You agree to the agreement below including but not limited to Our Privacy Policy (paragraph 9 below), setting out how We use Your personal information.

Who we are:

2. Wherever the name "LAM", "LAM Website Provider", "Our", "We" or "Us" is used within these pages, this refers to one or more of the brands of LAM that operate in the United Kingdom and who may or may not offer insurance and financial products or services on or in relation to this Claims Website.

• For more information concerning LAM - www.linkfieldam.co.uk

• LAM is owned by Linkfield Accident Management Ltd (LAM) This website is owned by Highcross AutoServices Ltd (HAS) and operated under licence by LAM.

Your Licence to Use Our Claims Website:

3. This end user licence agreement ("Claims Website Licence") is concluded between the end user ("You" / "Your" / "Yourself") and the license website licence provider (the "LAM Website Provider" / "LAM" / "Our" / "We" / "Us").

4. We retain all rights that We do not expressly give You in these LAM Terms. The claims submission portal product that is subject to these LAM Terms is referred to in these LAM Terms as the "Claims Website". The insurer providing insurance claims handling services through the Claims Website is referred to as the "Insurer".
Scope of Licence Granted to You:

5. This Claims Website Licence granted to You for the Claims Website by Us is limited to You alone and as such is a non-transferable licence to use the Claims Website on any phone or device that You own or control and as permitted by the Usage Rules set forth by HAS’ Terms and Conditions (the "Usage Rules").

6. This Claims Website Licence does not allow You to use the Claims Website on any phone or device that you do not own or control, and You may not distribute or make the Claims Website available over a network where it could be used by multiple devices at the same time.

7. You may not rent, lease, lend, sell, redistribute or sublicense the Claims Website. You may not copy (except as expressly permitted by this Claims Website Licence and the Usage Rules) decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, attempt to derive the source code of, modify, or create derivative works of the Claims Website, any updates, or any part thereof (except as and only to the extent any foregoing restriction is prohibited by website or applicable law or to the extent as may be permitted by the licensing terms governing use of any open sourced components included with the Claims Website) ("Prohibited Acts").

8. You agree and acknowledge that any attempt to do any one or more of the Prohibited Acts is a violation of the rights of LAM and its licence. If You breach this restriction You may be subject to prosecution and a claim for damages. The terms of the Claims Website Licence will govern any upgrades provided by LAM that replace and/or supplement the original Claims Website, unless such upgrade is accompanied by a separate licence in which case the terms of that licence will govern.

Your Personal Information - Your Consent to Use of Data:

9. Data Protection

The Company has adopted the following Policy in relation to the collection, storage and processing of personal information.

Scope

Acceptance of and adherence to this Policy forms part of every employee’s contract of employment.

Principles

The Company will comply with all applicable requirements of current data protection legislation including the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the General Data Protection Regulation ((EU) 2016/679) (GDPR) in force from time to time and any applicable national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK and then any replacement legislation in the UK to the DPA and the GDPR.

This Policy applies to all personal data held by the Company. The term Data Subject is used in respect of any individual for whom the Company holds personal data on.

The Policy should be read in conjunction with the Company’s Privacy Policy. The Company has separate privacy policies for customers, employee, and job applicants.

The Company has taken steps to protect the security of personal data in accordance with its Data Security Policy and will train staff about their data protection responsibilities as part of the induction process. The Company will only hold data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which we collected it.

The Company is a ‘Data Controller’ for the purposes of personal data. This means that we determine the purpose and means of the processing of personal data.

This Policy explains how the Company will hold and process personal information. It explains the rights of data subjects. Data subjects is the term given to the individuals for who the Company holds personal data.

Data Protection Principles

In order to operate effectively and fulfil its legal obligations, the Company needs to collect, maintain and use certain personal information about current, past and prospective employees, customers, suppliers and other individuals with whom it has dealings.

The Company is committed to the 8 principles of data protection as detailed in the DPA. These principles require that personal information must:

be fairly and lawfully processed and not processed unless specific conditions are met;

be obtained for one or more specified, lawful purposes and not processed in any manner incompatible with those purposes;

be adequate, relevant and not excessive for those purposes;

be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date;

not be kept for longer than is necessary;

be processed in accordance with the data subject’s rights under the DPA;

be kept secure from unauthorised or unlawful processing and protected against accidental loss, destruction or damage;

not be transferred to countries outside the European Economic Area (EEA) unless the country or territory ensures adequate protection for the rights and freedoms of the data subjects.

Data Protection Principles under GDPR

The Company uphold and adheres to the data protection principles as set out in Article 5 of the GDPR:

Personal information must be:

processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to individuals;

collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes; further processing for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes shall not be considered to be incompatible with the initial purposes;

adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed;

accurate and, kept up to date; with every reasonable step taken to ensure that personal data that is inaccurate, is erased or rectified without delay;

kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data is processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes subject to implementation of the appropriate technical and organisational measures required by the GDPR in order to safeguard the rights and freedoms of individuals;

processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures.

Personal Data

Personal Data refers to any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified in particular by reference to an identifier.

This definition provides for a wide range of personal identifiers to constitute personal data, including name, identification number, location data or online identifier, reflecting changes in technology and the way organisations collect information about people.

The GDPR applies to both automated personal data and to manual filing systems where personal data are accessible according to specific criteria. This could include chronologically ordered sets of manual records containing personal data.

Personal data that has been pseudonymised – e.g. key-coded – can fall within the scope of the GDPR depending on how difficult it is to attribute the pseudonym to a particular individual.

Sensitive Personal Data

Sensitive Personal Data are types of personal data consisting of information as to:

racial or ethnic origin;
political opinions;
religious or philosophical beliefs;
trade union membership;
genetic or biometric data;
health;
sex life and sexual orientation;
criminal convictions and offences.

The Company may hold and use any of these special categories of personal data, as detailed in the Privacy Notice, in accordance with the law.

Individual Rights

Under the GDPR Data Subjects have rights in relation to how the Company uses their personal information. They are:

Right to be informed - Data Subjects have a right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information the Company has, why it is held and who the Company share it with;

Right of access - Data Subjects have the right of access to their personal information. If a Data Subject wishes to receive a copy of the personal information the Company holds, the Data Subject may make a data subject access request (DSAR);

Right to request that Data Subjects personal information be rectified - If Data Subject’s personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, the Data Subject can request that it is corrected;

Right to request erasure - Data Subjects can ask for the personal information the Company holds on them to be deleted or removed if there is not a compelling reason for the Company to continue to hold it;

Note: The Company’s website includes a form to enable Data Subjects to request erasure.

Right to restrict processing - Data Subjects can ask that the Company blocks or suppresses the processing of their personal information for certain reasons. This means that the Company is still permitted to keep the information but must ensure it is not used in future for those reasons Data Subjects have restricted;

Right to data portability - Data Subjects can ask for a copy of their personal information for their own purposes to use across different services. In certain circumstances, Data Subjects may move, copy or transfer the personal information held to another Company in a safe and secure way. For example, if a Data Subjects were moving their information from one back-office system to another provider;

Right to object - Data Subjects can object to the Company processing their personal information where it is based on legitimate interests (including profiling), for direct marketing (including profiling) and if the Company was using that data for scientific/historical research and statistics.

Processing Personal Data

In order to comply with the law, the Company will:

always ensure there is a lawful reason for the collection, processing and sharing of personal data;

observe fully all conditions regarding the fair collection and use of personal information;

meet its legal obligations to specify the purpose for which information is used;

collect and process appropriate personal information only to the extent that it is needed to fulfil operational needs or to comply with legal obligations;

ensure the quality of the personal information used;

apply strict checks to determine the length of time personal information is held;

ensure that individuals about whom information is held are able to exercise their rights under the DPA and GDPR, including the right to be informed that processing is taking place, the right of access to their own personal information, the right to prevent processing in certain circumstances and the right to correct, rectify, block or erase incorrect information;

take appropriate technical and organisational security measures to safeguard personal information;

ensure that personal information is not transferred outside the EEA without suitable safeguards.

Lawful Basis for Processing

The Company will always have a lawful basis for the processing of personal data. There are six available lawful bases for processing. These are:

Consent;
Contract;
Legal obligation;
Vital interests;
Public task;
Legitimate interests.

Generally, data will be processed through consent, legal obligations or legitimate interests. The Company’s Privacy Statement provides further information.

Personal Data Breaches

The Company will report certain types of personal data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office. The Company will do this within 72 hours of becoming aware of the breach, where feasible.

If the breach is likely to result in a high risk of adversely affecting individuals’ rights and freedoms, the Company will inform those individuals without undue delay.

The Company has in place robust breach detection, investigation and internal reporting procedures.

The Company keep a record of any personal data breaches, regardless of whether or not the breach is notifiable.

Accountability and Governance

Accountability is one of the data protection principles - it makes the Company responsible for complying with the GDPR and requires it to be able to demonstrate compliance;

The Company has in place appropriate technical and organisational measures to meet the requirements of accountability such as adopting a Data Security Policy;

Data Protection is integral to the Company’s philosophy and all new systems are designed with data protection at their core;

The Company is Cyber Essentials certified;

Appropriate written contracts are place with organisations that process personal data on the Company’s behalf;

The Company maintains documentation of its processing activities;

The Company has implemented appropriate security measures including third party penetration testing;

The Company will record and, where necessary, report personal data breaches to the Information Commissioner’s Office;

The Company carries out data protection impact assessments for uses of personal data that are likely to result in high risk to individuals’ interests;

The Company has appointed its HR & Compliance Officer as the Data Protection Officer;

As an Insurance Broker, the Company will adhere where possible to templates and guidance issued by the British Insurance Brokers Association;

The Company understands that Data Protection obligations are ongoing, and processes and procedures are reviewed and updated as and where required.

Responsibilities

Whilst the Chief Executive Officer has ultimate responsibility for compliance of this Policy, each Director is also accountable to this Policy. The Board has appointed the HR & Compliance Officer as the Data Protection Officer (DPO), supported by the Business Systems Analyst (BSA), to be responsible for developing and encouraging good information handling practice amongst all employees of the Company. The Board will work with the DPO and BSA to ensure the success of this Policy.

Employees whose role involves the collection, maintenance and processing of personal information about other employees, customers, suppliers or any other individuals with whom the Company has dealings are responsible for following the Company’s rules and procedures on good data protection practice as notified from time to time by their Line Manager.

Data Security Policy

The Company has in place a Data Security Policy (DSP) to protect the Company, its staff, clients and the public from information security threats, whether internal or external, deliberate or accidental. Information, in whatever form it takes, or means by which it is shared or stored, should always be appropriately protected. Confidentiality, integrity and availability of information are essential to maintain legal compliance. The DSP Policy statement has been created to:

Safeguard the personal information of all clients;
Safeguard the business information of all corporate clients;
Protect the business interests of the Company;
Comply with the Data Protection Act and GDPR.

All staff will receive training on the DPA, GDPR, and the DSP. Employees are subject to monitoring, auditing and performance reviews to ensure compliance in the handling of Personal Data.

Termination:

10. The Claims Website Licence is effective until terminated by You or Us. Your rights under this Claims Website Licence will terminate automatically without notice from Us if You fail to comply with any term(s) of this Claims Website Licence. Upon termination of the Claims Website Licence, You shall cease all use of the Claims Website, and destroy all copies, full or partial, of the Claims Website.

Service and Third Party Materials:

11. The Claims Website will enable access to the Claims Website services and from time to time web sites (collectively and individually, "Services"). Use of the Services may require internet access, in which case You acknowledge that additional items of service may apply.

12. Certain Services may display, include or make available content, data, information, website applications or materials from third parties ("Third Party Materials").

13. By using the Services You acknowledge and agree that:
• We are not responsible for examining or evaluating the content of such Third Party Materials or web sites;
• We do not have any liability or responsibility to You or any other person for Third Party Materials or web sites.

14. We, nor any of Our content providers, guarantees the availability, accuracy, completeness, reliability or timeliness of stock information or location data displayed by any Services.

15. You acknowledge that any Services and Third Party Materials may contain proprietary content, information and material that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws, including but not limited to copyright, and agree that You will not use (including but not limited to use for any commercial purposes) copy, re-use such proprietary content, information or materials in any way whatsoever except for permitted use of the Services. No portion of the Services or Third Party Materials may be reproduced in any form or by any means. You agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute, or create derivative works based on the Services or Third Party Materials, in any matter and You shall not exploit the Services or Third Party Materials in any unauthorised way.

Limitation by Liability:

16. To the extent permitted by law, We shall not be liable for any indirect damage arising out of or in relation to Your use or inability to use the Claims Website, however caused, including but not limited to Your failure to submit to Us any true and accurate personal information, whether relating to You or any other party on whose behalf You submit such personal information to Us. In no event shall Our total liability to You for all damages (other than as may be required by website applicable law) exceed the greater of the one off, access price that You pay to Us to access this Claims Website.

Applicable Law:

17. The laws of England and Wales govern these LAM Terms and Your Claims Website Licence and Your use of the Claims Website and the courts of England and Wales shall have exclusive jurisdiction.

Complaint:

18. If you have a complaint

Complaints Procedure

COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE

A Complaint is:

Any expression of dissatisfaction from or on behalf of a customer, individual or organisation whether oral or written and whether justified or not. In this document such a person or organisation that makes a complaint is called the complainant.

Explaining the complaints process to clients

A copy of the complaints procedure must be given to any customer who requests it and to any complainant with the acknowledgement letter.

What do we do if we receive a complaint?

The Managing Director is responsible for complaints handling. The Managing Director has appointed the Compliance Officer to undertake the role of Complaints office.

All complaints whether they are oral or written must be referred immediately to the Line Manager, even if the complaint has already been resolved by an apology.

Complaints not completely resolved to the customer’s satisfaction within one business day must be referred to the Complaints Officer.

In addition, full details of complaints dealt with within one business day must be forwarded to the Complaints Officer where:

A formal letter/email of apology has been sent to the Complainant
The matter related to a material breach of the company’s policies and procedures. A material breach would include a breach of the Treating Customers Fairly Policy, Data Protection Act, and Information Security Policy.
The complainant has accepted the apology, however there is a reasonable likelihood the complainant may reconsider the matter and reopen the complaint.

Definition of a complaint

The FCA require the complaints procedure to apply to complaints, which meet the following definition:

(1) a consumer;

(2) a micro-enterprise;

A micro enterprise (an EU term covering smaller businesses) - as long as they have an annual turnover of less than two million euros and fewer than ten employees;

(3) a charity which has an annual income of less than £1 million at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent; or

(4) a trustee of a trust which has a net asset value of less than £1 million at the time the complainant refers the complaint to the respondent

(5) professional clients and eligible counterparts, where the person is an individual acting for purposes outside his trade, business, craft or profession

(6) the complaint has not been resolved by close of business on the next business day following receipt.

It is the firm’s policy to treat all complaints, whether eligible or not, according to the Complaints Procedure. This is to ensure that all complaints are dealt with to the same standard and to avoid any confusion between eligible and non-eligible complainants.

Record Keeping

All complaints will be properly recorded. All records will be kept for a minimum of three years.

A Complaints checklist will be completed for all complaints.

Complaints dealt with within Three Business days

The complaint is deemed to have been closed if the customer has accepted the outcome of the complaint within three business days of the company receiving the complaint. Acceptance of the complaint does not need to be in writing.

The six monthly FCA complaints handling return must include ALL consumer complaints. Therefore, all complaints must be brought to the attention of the compliance officer.

Where the complaint is deemed to be resolved under within three business days, the complainant must be sent a ‘summary resolution communication’. This is a templated document which:

(1) refers to the fact that the complainant has made a complaint and informs the complainant that the respondent now considers the complaint to have been resolved;

(2) tells the complainant that if he subsequently decides that he is dissatisfied with the resolution of the complaint he may be able to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service;

(3) advises the complainant that they have the right to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter. If they do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider the complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances;

(4) provides the website address of the Financial Ombudsman Service; and

(5) refers to the availability of further information on the website of the Financial Ombudsman Service.

The Line Manager will assess the complaint and respond to the customer either upholding or rejecting the complaint.

Only when the customer has accepted the Line Manager’s decision can the complaint be classed as closed. Alternatively, the complaint can be classed as closed if the complainant has not responded within eight weeks.

When investigating the complaint the Line Manager must:

(1) investigate the complaint competently, diligently and impartially, obtaining additional information as necessary;

(2) assess fairly, consistently and promptly:

(a) the subject matter of the complaint;

(b) whether the complaint should be upheld;

(d) if appropriate, whether it has reasonable grounds to be satisfied that another respondent may be solely or jointly responsible for the matter alleged in the complaint; For example, where the insurer is partly or solely responsible. taking into account all relevant factors;

(3) offer redress or remedial action when it he or she decides this is appropriate;

(4) explain to the complainant promptly and, in a way that is fair, clear and not misleading, his/her assessment of the complaint, his/her decision on it, and any offer of remedial action or redress; and

(5) comply promptly with any offer of remedial action or redress accepted by the complainant.

A copy of the Complaints procedure does not need to be sent to the customer if, within one business day of receiving the complaint, it is fully resolved over the telephone or in a face to face meeting.

However, if the manager within one business day responds to the complainant by email, fax or letter, the complaints procedure must be attached/enclosed as technically the complaint has not been resolved until the complainant has accepted the response.

The Line Manager can refer any complaint to the Complaints Officer, and should seek the Complaints Officer’s assistance if unsure how to proceed regarding any aspect of a complaint.

The Line Manager will complete a the Complaints Checklist and retain this in the claims folder.

Complaints forwarded to the Complaints Officer

Acknowledging the Complaint

On receipt of the complaint the Complaints Officer will promptly provide the complainant with an acknowledgement providing early reassurance that the complaint has been received and that it is being dealt with. In relation to all oral complaints, the Complaints Officer will set out his/her understanding of the complaint and will invite the complainant to confirm in writing the accuracy of that statement.

The acknowledgement letter or email will include a copy of the firm’s complaints procedure along with a FOS leaflet, with the FOS contact details and website address By the end of eight weeks after the receipt of the complaint the Complaints Officer must send to the complainant

1) A final response providing a final decision on the outcome of investigations, whether the complaint is upheld, and if it is whether any redress is due

2) A written response which:

a) explains why the firm is not in a position to make a final response and indicates when it expects to be able to provide one;

b) Informs the complainant that he may now refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service; and,

c) Encloses a copy of the Financial Ombudsman Service standard explanatory leaflet.

Investigation

The Complaints Officer will investigate all complaints not resolved within one business day and will consult with the adviser/member of staff whose actions or omissions gave rise to the complaint as well as their line manager.

If the Complaints Officer is the subject of the complaint, another senior person will conduct the investigation.

The Complaints Officer will review all appropriate paper and electronic records and files. The Complaints Officer will check that all correspondence whether paper or electronic is in his possession before making a final decision.

The investigation will where necessary involve contact with third parties such as product and service providers to obtain information.

The Complaints Officer will if necessary approach the complainant for clarification or to obtain necessary information or documentation.

The Complaints Officer will keep the complainant informed of the progress of the measures being taken for the complaint’s resolution.

The Complaints Officer must write to the complainant informing him/her of the reasons for any delays and when he/she expects to be able to contact the complainant again.

Final Response Letter

Immediately on completion of the investigation the Complaints Officer will write to the complainant notifying him/her of the outcome of the investigation, the nature and terms of any settlement and if the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome that he/she may refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman.

Any compensation offered must be fair and the basis of calculation should be explained to the complainant.

The letter will follow FCA DISP rules 2.8.2R (1) stating

“You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge – but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances”.

The letter must incorporate the name, address and telephone number of the Ombudsman and a key facts leaflet which explains the Ombudsman arrangements.

If the investigation is not concluded within 8 weeks, the Complaints Officer must write to the complainant informing him/her of the reasons for further delay and that if the complainant is not satisfied with the progress he/she may refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The letter must also point out that this must be within the next six months or he/she will lose that right. The letter will use the same wording set out above. The letter must incorporate the name, address and telephone number of the Ombudsman and a key facts leaflet about the Ombudsman’s arrangements.

Closing the complaint

Where the firm receives confirmation from the complainant that he/she is satisfied with the findings of the investigation and any resolution, the complaint could be considered closed by the Complaints Officer.

Where no confirmation has been received from the complainant within 8 weeks of the firm’s most recent letter, the complaint may also be considered closed.

Where the customer indicates they are dissatisfied with the outcome of their complaint, the complaints officer will review the complaint to see if the complainant is providing factual information which may alter the decision such a correcting a factual error. After this review the firm must stop corresponding with the complainant. The complainant will be reminded that they are entitled to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman service as set out in the final response letter.

Forwarding a complaint

If after reviewing a complaint we are satisfied that another respondent may be solely or jointly responsible for the matter alleged in a complaint, then we may forward the complaint, or the relevant part of it, in writing to that other respondent, provided it:

(1) we do so promptly;

(2) we inform the complainant promptly in a final response of why the complaint has been forwarded to the other respondent,

(3) provide the other respondent's contact details; and

(4) where jointly responsible for the fault alleged in the complaint, ensure we comply with own obligations for handling a complaint.

Summary Complaints procedure – what the customer receives

What is issued	When
Information on how to complain	To be given to customer at point of sale
Complaints process (not applicable for complaints fully resolved within one business day)	On request and when a complaint is received.
Acknowledgement letter (not applicable for complaints fully resolved within one business day)	Promptly within receipt of the complaint
8 week holding letter issued including Ombudsman leaflet	Within 8 weeks of the date the complaint is received
Final response issued including Ombudsman leaflet	Within 8 weeks of the date the complaint is received or date agreed if later
Closure letter including copy of final response if applicable	Reasonable time after the final response letter is issued

Dealing with a forwarded complaint

When we receive a complaint under the complaint handling rules, we must deal with that complaint as if it we received direct from the complainant. The standard time limits will apply from the date we receive the forwarded complaint. A forwarded complaint is a complaint received by another party, such as an insurer, who believes the complaint should be handled by us.

Complaints Registers

All complaints referred to the Complaints Officer will be recorded in the Complaints Register administered by the Complaints Officer.

Complaints Checklist

The Line Manager and/or the Complaints Officer will complete a Complaints Checklist in respect of all complaints.

Where the complaint is dealt with within one business day, the Line Manager will retain the checklists in a separate folder.

The Complaints Officer will retain all other Complaints Checklists. The Compliance officer will maintain a log of all eligible complaints.

Where a complaint goes to the Ombudsman

If the customer is not satisfied with the outcome of the firm’s investigation he/she may be able to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) at:-

The Financial Ombudsman Service.

Exchange Tower,

London.

E14 9SR

Tel: 0300 123 9 123 (from a mobile)

Tel: 0800 023 4 567 (from a landline)

Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

The facility is open to Private Clients and Small Business Client where turnover income is less than £1million.

The firm must co-operate fully with the Ombudsman in resolving any complaints made against it and agrees to be bound by any awards made by the Ombudsman.

The firm undertakes to pay promptly the fees levied by the Ombudsman.

When and how should the Complaints Procedure be Advertised

The requirements are as follows:

At or immediately after the point of sale, the firm must refer its customers in writing to the availability of its internal complaint handling procedures. The firm must advise customers that if a dispute cannot be resolved to the customer’s satisfaction they may have the right to refer their complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. The firm must provide FOS contact details and web address. This information is detailed in the company’s Terms of Business Letters.

If you receive a complaint (unless it is resolved by the close of business the next business day) or a request for a copy of the procedures, you have to supply a copy of the firm’s complaints handling procedures to the complainant.

All of our employees are made aware of the procedures.

Time Barred Complaints

A complaint is considered time barred where the complainant is complaining about something which happened more than six years ago, and they are complaining more than three years after they realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.

When the company receives a time barred complaint it will write to the complainant using the wording contained is FCA DISP 1 Annex 2G as follows;

“You have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service, free of charge.

The Ombudsman might not be able to consider your complaint if:

• what you’re complaining about happened more than six years ago, and

• you’re complaining more than three years after you realised (or should have realised) that there was a problem.

We think that your complaint was made outside of these time limits but this is a matter for the Ombudsman to decide. If the Ombudsman agrees with us, they will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances (see below).

If you do decide to refer your complaint to the Ombudsman you must do so within six months of the date of this letter.

If you do not refer your complaint to the Ombudsman within six months of the date of this letter, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your

complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances.

The very limited circumstances referred to above include, where the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.”

Claims Management Regulations

The company is involved in referring claimants to a legal bodies in respect of personal injury claims. This activity falls within the scope of the Claims Management Conduct Regulations (CMR) and complaints concerning those activities are handled under the CMR Complaints procedures.

Record keeping, making staff aware of the procedure, investigation processes and the time scales for dealing with the complaint are as detailed above with the following exceptions :The firm must acknowledge the complaint within five working days.

A business must, within four weeks of receiving a complaint, send the complainant either a final response; or a holding response, which explains why it is not yet in a position to resolve the complaint and indicates when the business will make further contact (which must be within eight weeks of receipt of the complaint).
The firm may decline to consider a CMR related complaint that is made more than six months after the complainant became aware of the cause of the complaint.

Instead of a complainant having the right to refer the complaint to the FOS they will instead be able to refer the complaint to the Legal Ombudsman. The customer will be advised of the name, address and telephone number of the Regulator.

The Legal Ombudsman can be contacted at:-

Legal Ombudsman.

PO Box 6806,

WV1 9WJ

Tel: 0300 555 0333

Tel: 0800 023 4 567 (from a landline)

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Before a customer signs any agreement they must be provided with a copy this Procedure.

Reviewing Complaints to Identify Trends and Improve Service

No complaint will be dealt with in isolation. Complaints will be reviewed in line with the office procedure. As a matter of course the complaint will be compared with previous complaints to identify trends, training requirements or wider issues.

Root cause analysis is key to ensuring that our company identifies and fixes systemic problems and such analysis must relate to the issues identified.

Principles of Business and Treating Customers Fairly

The Financial Conduct Authority has set out Principles (standards) that firms must attain and adhere to in its dealings with customers, business associates and its regulator. Principle 6 states “A firm must pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly”. This principle is expanded in the FCA’s Treating Customer Fairly Initiative.

The Companies subject to this policy and procedures have made the commitment to apply these principles and the initiative to every aspect of its operations even if they are not regulated by the FCA. To this end complaints procedure forms an intrinsic and vital part of this commitment.

Companies subject to this Complaints procedure

The Claims Management Regulations apply to:

	FCA Number	CMR Number
Brian Johnston & Co (Insurance Brokers) Limited	307689	CRM3168
Linkfield Insurance Logistics Limited	308926	N/A
Linkfield Accident Management Limited	405466	CRM3175

APPENDIX 1

TREATING CUSTOMER FAIRLY

Treating customers fairly (TCF) is central to the delivery of the FCA retail regulatory agenda as well as being a key part of their move to more principles-based regulation.

The FCA retail regulatory agenda aims to ensure an efficient and effective market and thereby help consumers achieve a fair deal. The FCA aims through their TCF work to deliver improved outcomes for retail consumers.

Firms should be focused on delivering the six TCF consumer outcomes:

1 Customers can be confident that they are dealing with firms where the fair treatment of customers is central to the corporate culture.

2 Products and Conduct marketed and sold in the retail market are designed to meet the needs of identified consumer groups and are targeted accordingly

3 Consumers are provided with clear information and kept appropriately informed before, during, and after the point of sale.

4 Where consumers receive advice, the advice is suitable and takes account of their circumstances

5 Consumers are provided with products that perform as firms have led them to expect, and the associated service is both of an acceptable standard and also as they have been led to expect.

6 Consumers do not face unreasonable post-sale barriers imposed by firms to change product, switch provider, submit a claim or make a complaint

Source: http://www.FCA.gov.uk/pages/Doing/small_firms/general/tcf/index.shtml

APPENDIX 2

FCA PRINCIPLES OF CONDUCTING BUSINESS

1 Integrity	A firm must conduct its business with integrity.
2 Skill, care and diligence	A firm must conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence.
3 Management and control	A firm must take reasonable care to organise and control its affairs responsibly and effectively, with adequate risk management systems.
4 Financial prudence	A firm must maintain adequate financial resources.
5 Market conduct	A firm must observe proper standards of market conduct.
6 Customers' interests	A firm must pay due regard to the interests of its customers and treat them fairly.
7 Communications with clients	A firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its clients, and communicate information to them in a way which is clear, fair and not misleading.
8 Conflicts of interest	A firm must manage conflicts of interest fairly, both between itself and its customers and between a customer and another client.
9 Customers: relationships of trust	A firm must take reasonable care to ensure the suitability of its advice and discretionary decisions for any customer who is entitled to rely upon its judgment.
10 Clients' assets	A firm must arrange adequate protection for clients' assets when it is responsible for them.
11 Relations with regulators	A firm must deal with its regulators in an open and cooperative way, and must disclose to the FCA appropriately anything relating to the firm of which the FCA would reasonably expect notice

Source: FCA Handbook Principles for Business; PRIN 2.1

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