This document is effective from January 2023. It sets out the terms upon which we agree to act for our customers and contains details of our regulatory and statutory responsibilities. It also sets out some of your responsibilities Please read it carefully. Please also read this together with our Privacy Policy on how we use customer and prospective customer data.

Please contact us immediately if there is anything in these Terms of Business which you do not understand or with which you disagree. 

About Us

Emerald Life Limited is a company registered in the UK under 07201151, registered address 286 Queensbridge Road, London E8 3NH, United Kingdom. Emerald Life appears on the Financial Services Register under number 945500. 

FCA authorisation can be checked on the Financial Services Register at https://register.fca.org.uk/ or by calling them on 0800 111 6768.

Our Products And Services

We offer or introduce the products of a single insurer or more than one insurer for each line of business that we transact.

We  do not provide you with a personal recommendation as to whether any of the policies we offer are suitable for your specific needs. Emerald Life is a non-advisory company and as each individual’s needs are different, we cannot make recommendations on which product is for you. 

The following statements describe the purpose of the products that we offer or introduce; it is your responsibility to ensure the product you purchase meets your needs.

Term Life Insurance

Our Term Life policy meets the demands and needs of those who wish to ensure they have life insurance protection to provide a lump sum paid on death before the end of the policy term.

Home and Contents Insurance

Our Home and Contents policy meets the demands and needs of those who wish to ensure in the event of their buildings and/or contents being lost or damaged against a range of specified events such as fire- and weather-related losses throughout the duration of the policy, that their claims will be met.

Pet Insurance

Our Pet policy meets the demands and needs of the owners of cats and certain specified breeds of dogs who wish to provide some cover for insured veterinary fees in the event of specified accident to or illness events being suffered by their cat or dog throughout the duration of their policy. The level of cover will vary from policy to policy and the choices you made during the application process. 

Travel Insurance

Our Travel policy meets the demands and needs of those who wish to ensure in the event of certain events arising while travelling, such as loss of baggage or accident/illness throughout the duration of the policy, that their claims will be met.

Wedding Insurance

Our Wedding policy meets the demands and needs of those who wish to ensure in the event of certain events arising relating to their wedding or their wedding reception, such as financial failure of services supplier or illness of one of the wedding partners throughout the duration of the policy, that their claims will be met.

Insurer Security

Whilst we monitor the financial strength of the insurers with whom we place business it should be noted that the claims-paying ability of even the strongest insurers could be affected by adverse business conditions. We cannot, therefore, guarantee the solvency of any insurer or underwriter.

A liability for the premium, whether in full or pro rata, may arise under policies where a participating insurer becomes insolvent.

Risk Information

The terms of any insurance that we arrange on your behalf will be based upon the information provided by you to us.

You must take reasonable care to answer all questions put to you about your proposed insurance fully, honestly and to the best of your knowledge. If you do not understand the meaning of any question, or if you do not know the answer, it is vital that you tell us. Once cover has been arranged, you must immediately notify us of any changes to the information that has been previously provided. The most serious consequence of failing to provide full and accurate information before you take out insurance, or when your circumstances change, could be the invalidation of your cover. In that instance it would mean that a claim will be rejected.

Charges

Unless we tell you otherwise when you take out or renew a policy with us, we make no charges in addition to the premium that we have agreed with you.

In the event of a policy being cancelled mid-term, we reserve the right to make an administration charge of £15.

Handling Insurance Premiums

Either we or the underwriter’s agent collect and hold all insurance premiums as agent of the insurer. All such premiums are held in segregated bank accounts and are treated as having already been transferred to the insurer (or their agent).

Confidentiality

All information provided by our customers is treated as confidential and only disclosed in the normal course of negotiating, arranging and administering your insurance. This may include disclosing information to agents and service providers such as loss adjusters and approved contractors.

With a few exceptions, for example information requested by a court, a regulatory body, enforcement agencies or information which is already in the public domain, we will not release information to any other party without your consent.

With your freely-given consent, we may also use the data we hold about you to provide you with information about other products and services which we feel are appropriate.

We are registered under the relevant data privacy regulations and undertake to comply with those regulations in all our dealings with personal data.

Changes To Your Cover

We will normally deal with any requests to increase or amend cover on the day your instructions are received, or the next working day if a weekend or public holiday. Sometimes changes cannot be processed without obtaining additional information or with the underwriters taking a decision. If additional information is required or the underwriters need to consider a point, we will contact you as quickly as possible.

We will confirm changes to your policy, once agreed, in writing. We will also advise you of any extra premiums you must pay or premiums we must return to you.

Documentation

Our aim is to produce documentation and issue correspondence in a clear and understandable format. In the case of any uncertainty, please let us know immediately. Our staff are always happy to clarify the cover provided.

You should check all policy documentation to ensure that the details are correct and the cover provided meets with your requirements. Any errors should be notified to us immediately.

All policies contain conditions and exclusions and some contain warranties and excesses. It is your responsibility to examine the document to familiarise yourself with these. A breach of a policy condition may result in non-payment of a claim and breach of a warranty may invalidate the cover if it is not complied with precisely.

Complaints Procedure

We recognise the importance of service and set ourselves high standards. Should there be an occasion when we do not meet your expectations we are equally committed to dealing with any complaint in a thorough and professional manner.

If you wish to register a complaint about a policy, or request a copy of our complaints procedures in relation to these policies or give us feedback, please contact us:

In writing: Emerald Life Customer Relations, 286 Queensbridge Road, London E8 3NH

By telephone: 0330 113 7109

By email: customerservice@emeraldlife.co.uk

If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). You can find out more about this by visiting the FOS web site at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

If your complaint relates to insurance purchased from us via electronic means then you are also able to use the EC On-line Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform at www.ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/ who will notify FOS on your behalf.

You can request a copy of our procedures for dealing with complaints at any time. Details of the insurers’ complaints procedures can be found in each policy wording and Key Facts document.

Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

We and the insurers with whom we place or introduce business are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS if either we or the insurers cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim without any upper limit. For compulsory classes of insurance, insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim without any upper limit.

Further details about compensation scheme arrangements are available from the FSCS.

Law And Jurisdiction

These Terms of Business shall be governed by and construed in accordance with English law. In relation to any legal action or proceedings arising out of or in connection with these Terms of Business we both irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.