NOTICE TO POLICYHOLDERS

Transcription

1 PRIVATE CLIENT NOTICE TO POLICYHOLDERS IMPORTANT CHANGES TO YOUR POLICY

2 CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP OF OAK UNDERWRITING PLC Oak Underwriting plc has been acquired by Zurich Holdings (UK) Limited, part of the Zurich Insurance Group, from Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc. CHANGE OF INSURER Your policy is now underwritten by Zurich Insurance plc and is administered and sold by Oak Underwriting plc. The insurer for all sections of the policy other than Home Emergency Service, Legal Protection and Home Cyber is Zurich Insurance plc. Zurich Insurance plc is a public limited company incorporated in Ireland Registration No Registered Office: Zurich House, Ballsbridge Park, Dublin 4, Ireland. UK Branch registered in England and Wales Registration No. BR7985. UK Branch Head Office: The Zurich Centre, 3000 Parkway, Whiteley, Fareham, England, PO15 7JZ. Zurich Insurance plc is authorised by the Central Bank of Ireland and authorised and subject to limited regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Firm Reference Number ). Oak Underwriting plc is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA Firm Reference Number ). Oak Underwriting plc is registered in England and Wales at The Zurich Centre, 3000 Parkway, Whiteley, Fareham, England, PO15 7JZ. The insurer for Home Emergency Service, Legal Protection and Home Cyber is DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Limited. IMPORTANT CHANGES TO YOUR POLICY Oak continues to evolve and we are pleased to announce a number of enhancements and changes to our policy wording. We have provided a summary of the changes in these pages, which should be read in conjunction with the policy wording. HOW WE USE INFORMATION Due to new data protection laws, we have updated our Privacy Notice under this section of the policy to clarify how we collect, process, share and retain personal data, including: How we collect and use your personal information; Our policies for sharing your personal information with anyone else; Which decisions made about you will be automated; How long we will retain your personal information for; Will you be contacted for marketing purposes; Your rights over the information held by us. We recommend that you read this section of your policy in full as it provides more detail on how we manage data protection and your privacy. POLICY DEFINITIONS Changes have been made to the following definitions and also new definitions created. The following new definition has been created: Total loss The complete loss of insured property, or damage which would cost more than the value at the time of the incident to repair, restore or replace the insured property. Changes have been made to the following definitions: Buildings Business contents Contents Any permanent structure including any items fixed to or forming part of the structure at your home 1 Outbuildings; 2 Underground service pipes, cables, septic tanks, sewers, drains, domestic fuel tanks, solar panels and wind turbines serving the home. Office furniture and equipment, stationery, office supplies, software, books, records and documents all belonging to you or your employment for which you are legally responsible. Business contents does not include business stock or business money or credit cards. The household goods and personal belongings that you own or are legally responsible for. 1

3 POLICY DEFINITIONS (continued) Home Outbuildings Unoccupied The private dwelling, and its outbuildings shown at the risk address on your schedule. Other permanent structures at the home noted on your schedule used for domestic purposes. When your home has not been lived in during the day and overnight by you, or anyone with your permission for more than 60 consecutive days. The following words are no longer defined and no longer have special meaning: Endorsement Offshore Outdoor and garden items Personal effects Pet Standard construction Unfurnished BUILDINGS How we settle claims has been amended to include: If the repair or replacement work is not carried out, we will pay the lesser of: the decrease in market value of your buildings due to the damage; the cost of the work based upon the most competitive estimate or tender from your nominated contractors if the repair work had been carried out without delay. Excess waiver is amended to: Where a claim: exceeds 25,000; or is for damage to buildings arising from aggravated burglary; no excess will be deducted. However this waiver does not apply: To claims resulting from subsidence, heave or landslip; To any home unoccupied at the time of the loss; When we have imposed an excess by endorsement to your schedule which applies to the claim. Exclusion 4i is amended to: damage caused by or comprising: i storm, wind, weight of snow or flood to gates, hedges, fences, trellises, docks, wharves and piers unless your home is damaged at the same time by the same cause. We will however pay for loss or damage caused by or resulting from falling trees, telegraph poles and lampposts to gates, hedges, fences, trellises, docks, wharves and piers. Exclusion 5ii is amended to: damage whilst the home is unoccupied caused by: ii damage to, or resulting from bursting, cracking or splitting of fixed plumbing or heating installations due to the freezing or thawing of water, unless prior to your home becoming unoccupied: a the water supply is turned off at the mains and all systems (to include fixed water tanks, apparatus and pipes) drained; or b the entire home is kept heated to a constant minimum temperature of 10degrees Celsius; or c you had informed us and we had agreed an alternative arrangement with you. Exclusion 5 has been amended to include: iii oil leaking from any fixed domestic heating installation. Exclusion 6 has been deleted. The Additional Covers part of the buildings section is amended as follows: 2 Alternative accommodation and loss of rent following insured damage restated We will pay: a the cost of reasonable alternative suitable accommodation incurred for you, your pets and horses, as well as the cost of taking the contents of your home to the alternative accommodation; b loss of rent and ground rent payable by you; 2

4 BUILDINGS (continued) c loss of rent and ground rent payable to you; from the date of the damage for the duration of time necessary to restore your home to a habitable condition as a direct result of insured damage covered under this policy. We will not pay any costs: 1 recoverable elsewhere including, if insured by your landlord, loss of rent and ground rent payable by you; 2 incurred before you obtained our consent unless immediate action was required for safety reasons; 3 following completion of repairs to the buildings or tenants improvements; 4 for any loss of rent due to the termination of a lease or agreement. 3 Alternative accommodation and loss of rent following forced evacuation restated We will pay: a the cost of reasonable alternative suitable accommodation incurred for you, your pets and horses; b up to 5,000 for emergency clothing or other emergency provisions that you need; c rent which should have been paid to you, including ground rent; where you are prohibited access to the home by a local or police authority as a direct result of damage which would otherwise have been covered by this insurance had damage been caused to your home. We will not pay any costs: 1 recoverable elsewhere including, if insured by your landlord, loss of rent and ground rent payable by you; 2 incurred before you obtained our consent unless immediate action was required for safety reasons; 3 following a lifting of the prohibition on access to your home by the relevant local or police authority or similar body; 4 for any loss of rent due to the termination of a lease or agreement. 5 Tracing leaks restated We will pay the cost of removing and replacing any part of your home necessary to identify the source of an escape of water, gas, oil or Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), at your home from any fixed domestic water or heating installation and any resultant repairs to floors, walls and ceilings or from underground service pipes for which you are legally responsible. We will not pay: 1 for any loss or damage to the water or heating installation itself. 10 New fixtures and fittings is amended to: Up to 10% of the buildings sum insured but no more than 100,000 for damage to new fixtures and fittings installed in the home provided that you notify us within 60 days of delivery and pay any additional premium we require. Following the 60th day we reserve the right not to insure the newly acquired fixtures and fittings We will not pay: 1 if the installation requires any structural alterations to the buildings; 2 if there is a contractual requirement for you to effect specific insurance. CONTENTS Excess waiver is amended to: Where a claim: exceeds 25,000; or is for loss or damage to contents arising from aggravated burglary or aggravated assault; no excess will be deducted. However, this waiver does not apply: To claims resulting from subsidence, heave or landslip; To any home unoccupied at the time of loss; When we have imposed an excess by endorsement to your schedule which applies to the claim. Exclusion for damage whilst the home is unfurnished (previously exclusion 7) has been deleted from the policy wording. 3

5 CONTENTS (continued) Exclusion for damage whilst the home is unoccupied (previously exclusion 6, now exclusion 7) has been amended: damage whilst the home is unoccupied caused by: i theft, attempted theft, vandalism and malicious acts to contents in the open; ii theft, attempted theft, vandalism and malicious acts to property in the home unless from the outset, all security protections are in full and effective operation; iii damage to or resulting from bursting, cracking or splitting of fixed plumbing or heating installations, fish tanks, water beds or domestic appliances, unless, prior to your home becoming unoccupied: a the water supply is turned off at the mains and all systems (to include fixed water tanks, apparatus and pipes) drained; or b the entire home is kept heated to a constant minimum temperature of 10 degrees Celsius; or c you had informed us and we agreed an alternative arrangement with you; iv oil leaking from any fixed domestic heating installation. The following exclusions have been added to the policy wording: We will not pay for: loss or damage to any motor vehicle, or motor vehicle parts, accessories or keys, whether licenced for road use or not except for quad bikes, motorisedsit-in toy or miniature vehicles, domestic garden machinery, electrically assisted cycles, golf buggies used for golfing purposes, motorised wheelchairs and mobility scooters not registered for road use; loss or damage to mechanically propelled or assisted watercraft; loss or damage to animals, birds or fish; loss or damage to aircraft including pedestrian controlled, power driven toys and model aircraft or unmanned aerial systems; loss or damage to caravans; theft or attempted theft of contents from unattended motor vehicles, unless the items are hidden from view, either in the boot, closed glove compartment or elsewhere that cannot be viewed from the outside; the windows are closed and all locks and security measures are in operation. The Additional Covers part of the contents section is amended as follows: 2 Alternative accommodation and loss of rent following insured damage restated We will pay: a the cost of reasonable alternative suitable accommodation incurred for you, your pets and horses, as well as the cost of taking the contents of your home to the alternative accommodation; b loss of rent and ground rent payable by you; c loss of rent and ground rent payable to you; from the date of the damage for the duration of time necessary to restore your home to a habitable condition as a direct result of insured damage covered under this policy. We will not pay any costs: 1 recoverable elsewhere including, if insured by your landlord, loss of rent and ground rent payable by you; 2 incurred before you obtained our consent unless immediate action was required for safety reasons; 3 following completion of repairs to the buildings or tenants improvements; 4 for any loss of rent due to the termination of a lease or agreement. 3 Alternative accommodation and loss of rent following forced evacuation restated We will pay: a the cost of reasonable alternative suitable accommodation incurred for you, your pets and horses as well as loss of rent and ground rent payable by you or to you; b up to 5,000 for emergency clothing or other emergency provisions that you need; where you are prohibited access to the home by a local or police authority as a direct result of damage which would otherwise have been covered by this insurance had damage been caused to your home. We will not pay any costs: 1 recoverable elsewhere including, if insured by your landlord, loss of rent and ground rent payable by you; 2 incurred before you obtained our consent unless immediate action was required for safety reasons; 3 following a lifting of the prohibition on access to your home by the relevant local or police authority or similar body; 4 for any loss of rent due to the termination of a lease or agreement. 4

6 CONTENTS (continued) Gifts cover (previously additional cover 11) has been deleted from the policy. Subsequent additional covers renumbered. 12 Tracing leaks restated We will pay the cost of removing and replacing parts of the buildings necessary to identify the source of an escape of water, gas, oil or Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), from inside the home from any fixed domestic water or heating installation. We will not pay: 1 if you are not the tenant or leaseholder; 2 for any damage to communal areas of the buildings; 3 for any damage insured elsewhere under this or any other insurance policy; 4 for any loss or damage to the water heating installation itself; 5 if your home is unoccupied. VALUABLES Excess waiver is amended to: Where a claim: exceeds 25,000; or is for loss or damage to valuables arising from aggravated burglary or aggravated assault; no excess will be deducted. However this waiver does not apply: To claims resulting from subsidence, heave or landslip; To any home unoccupied at the time of the loss; When we have imposed an excess by endorsement to your schedule which applies to the claim. The following exclusions have been added to the policy wording: theft or attempted theft of valuables from unattended motor vehicles, unless the items are hidden from view, either in the boot, closed glove compartment or elsewhere that cannot be viewed from the outside; the windows are closed and all locks and security measures are in operation. damage whilst the home is unoccupied caused by: i theft, attempted theft, vandalism and malicious acts to valuables in the open; ii theft, attempted theft, vandalism and malicious acts to valuables in the home unless from the outset, all security protections are in full and effective operation; iii damage to, or resulting from bursting, cracking or splitting of fixed plumbing or heating installations due to the freezing or thawing of water, unless, prior to your home becoming unoccupied: a the water supply is turned off at the mains and all systems (to include fixed water tanks, apparatus and pipes) drained; or b the entire home is kept heated to a constant minimum temperature of 10degrees Celsius; or c you had informed us and we agreed an alternative arrangement with you; iv oil leaking from any fixed domestic heating installation. The Additional Covers part of the valuables section is amended as follows: Gifts cover (previously additional cover 11) has been deleted from the policy. Subsequent additional covers renumbered. 4 Death of artist restated: Following a loss covered by this section to an individually listed item of art, we will pay up to 200% of the sum insured shown in your schedule, if its value has increased following the death of the artist during the current period of insurance, provided that the sum insured shown in your schedule is supported by an independent professional valuation, not more than three years old, at the date of death of the artist. 5

7 LIFESTYLE AND LEISURE Road rage (cover 5) point b has been amended to: up to 15,000 for you, up to a maximum of 30,000 for each incident, for medical expenses when incurred within 12 months of the incident. Hijacking, Kidnap and Child abduction (covers 7, 8 and 9) have the following exclusion applied: We will not pay for costs incurred as a result of an incident where a scheduled departure or destination point is in a country or territory that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office have advised against all travel, or all but essential travel to that country or territory. LIABILITIES The following has been added: Section 1 Property Owners Liability is only covered if you have a building sum insured for the relevant home shown on your schedule. Sections 2 Public and Personal Liability, 3 Domestic Employers Liability and 4 Liability as a tenant are only covered if there is a contents sum insured shown on your schedule. HOME EMERGENCY DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Ltd is the underwriter and provides the cover under this section. The following exclusion has been amended under Main Heating System: We will not pay where there is a combined output of more than 70 Kw/hr for all boilers in your home. The following exclusion has been added to the policy wording under Toilet Unit: We will not pay for damage if there is at least one functioning toilet in your home. LEGAL PROTECTION DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Ltd is the underwriter and provides the cover under this section. The following new definitions have been created: DAS Standard Terms of Appointment Identity theft Preferred law firm The terms and conditions (including the amount we will pay to an appointed representative) that apply to the relevant type of claim, which could include a conditional fee agreement (no win, no fee). Where a law firm is acting as an appointed representative the amount is currently 100 per hour. This amount may vary from time to time. The theft or unauthorised use of your personal identification which has resulted in the unlawful use of your identity. A law firm or barristers chambers we choose to provide legal services. These legal specialists are chosen as they have the proven expertise to deal with your claim and must comply with our agreed service standard levels, which we audit regularly. They are appointed according to the DAS Standard Terms of Appointment. The following words are no longer defined and no longer have special meaning in the Legal Protection cover: Collective conditional fee agreement Conditional fee agreement Communication costs Insurer Small claims court Standard basis 6

8 LEGAL PROTECTION (continued) How we settle claims has been amended to: We agree to provide you with the insurance in this section for you on a claims made basis, in return for payment of the premium and subject to the terms, conditions, exclusions and limitations set out in this section, provided that: 1 reasonable prospects exist for the duration of the claim; 2 the claim needs to be reported to us during the period of insurance and as soon as you become aware of an incident which could give rise to a claim; 3 if the incident which led to you making a claim occurred prior to the inception of this cover, you must have held equivalent continuous cover with us or another insurer; 4 your claim is not more specifically insured with another insurer; 5 any legal proceedings, or any other proceeding to resolve the incident will be dealt with by a court, or other body which we agree to, within the countries covered, and; 6 the incident happens within the countries covered. We will pay an appointed representative, on your behalf, costs and expenses incurred following an incident, provided that: 1 the most we will pay for all claims resulting from one or more event arising at the same time or from the same originating cause is 100,000; 2 the most we will pay in costs and expenses is no more than the amount we would have paid to a preferred law firm. The amount we will pay a law firm (where acting as an appointed representative) is currently 100 per hour. This amount may vary from time to time. In the event of a claim, if you decide not to use the services of a preferred law firm, you will be responsible for any costs that fall outside the DAS Standard Terms of Appointment and these will not be paid by us; 3 in respect of an appeal or the defence of an appeal, you must tell us within the time limits allowed that you want to appeal. Before we pay the costs and expenses for appeals, we must agree that reasonable prospects exist; 4 for an enforcement of judgment to recover money and interest due to you after a successful claim under this section, we must agree that reasonable prospects exist, and; 5 where an award of damages is the only legal remedy to a dispute and the cost of pursuing legal action is likely to be more than any award of damages, the most we will pay in costs and expenses is the value of the likely award. The following exclusion has been added to the Personal injury cover: Psychological injury or mental illness unless the condition follows a specific or sudden accident that has caused physical bodily injury to you. The Territorial Limits for Clinical negligence incidents is now the United Kingdom. The following exclusions have been added to the Clinical negligence cover: We will not pay for claims arising from or relating to: 1 the failure or alleged failure to correctly diagnose your condition; 2 psychological injury or mental illness that is not associated with you having suffered physical bodily injury. The following exclusion has been added to Property protection cover: mining subsidence. LEGAL PROTECTION SPECIAL CONDITIONS The following Special conditions no longer apply: Consent Freedom to choose an appointed advisor The following Special conditions have been included: 1 Your legal representation i On receiving a claim, if legal representation is necessary, we will appoint a preferred law firm as your appointed representative to deal with your claim. They will try to settle your claim by negotiation without having to go to court. ii If the appointed preferred law firm cannot negotiate settlement of your claim and it is necessary to go to court and legal proceedings are issued or there is a conflict of interest, then you may choose a law firm to act as the appointed representative. 7

9 LEGAL PROTECTION (continued) iii If you choose a law firm as your appointed representative who is not a preferred law firm, we will give your choice of law firm the opportunity to act on the same terms as a preferred law firm. However if they refuse to act on this basis, the most we will pay is the amount we would have paid if they had agreed to the DAS Standard Terms of Appointment. The amount we will pay a law firm (where acting as the appointed representative) is currently 100 per hour. This amount may vary from time to time. iv The appointed representative must co-operate with us at all times and must keep us up to date with the progress of the claim. 4 Assessing and recovering costs i You must instruct the appointed representative to have costs and expenses taxed, assessed or audited if we ask for this. ii You must take every step to recover costs and expenses and court attendance and jury service expenses that we have to pay and must pay us any amounts that are recovered. 5 Cancelling an appointed representative s appointment If the appointed representative refuses to continue acting for you with good reason, or if you dismiss the appointed representative without good reason, the cover we provide will end immediately, unless we agree to appoint another appointed representative. 6 Withdrawing cover If you settle or withdraw a claim without our agreement, or do not give suitable instructions to the appointed representative, we can withdraw cover and will be entitled to reclaim from you any costs and expenses we have paid. HOME CYBER Cover added to policy. DAS Legal Expenses Insurance Company Ltd is the underwriter and provides the cover under this section. Cyber Assistance Following discovery of malicious software or a computer virus we will pay for: Investigating, reconfiguring and rectifying damage to your personal computing or electronic devices; Restoring data from backed up sources; Professional advice on how to prevent your home systems being hacked or infected. Cyber Crime We will pay for: Your financial loss as a result of fraudulent or fake communication; Your financial loss as a result of the input, destruction or modification of data in your home systems. Cyber Legal Defence We will pay to defend you following: An accusation of failing to secure, or prevent unauthorised access to private data; You unintentionally transmitting, or failing to prevent your home systems transmitting virus or hacking software to a third party; Damage to a third party s reputation as a result of your activities online. Exclusions to Home Cyber We will not pay for the following: Insured incidents which are not discovered in the period of insurance; Claims for circumstances which existed before the date your cover begins and which you knew about; Costs during the policy period which exceed your policy limit of 100,000; The first 100 of each and every claim; Claims in respect of your business activities; Wear and Tear; Claims relating to motor vehicles, including hybrid and electric motor vehicles; Claims where your home systems should be protected by anti-virus software. 8

10 GENERAL CONDITIONS (continued) GENERAL CONDITIONS Please see the new policy wording for full details. 1 Notifying us of a change and disclosure of information has been amended to: Please remember that you are required to tell us of any changes to the information provided by you or your insurance intermediary to us, which we have used in deciding to accept your insurance and in setting the premium and terms, within 30 days of first knowing of the changes. The information which we are using is shown in the Statement of Fact issued with your schedule. Changes that should be notified include but are not limited to: you or any of the persons named in your schedule are going to move home permanently; if anyone other than you is living in your home, if it is a weekend, weekday or holiday home, or if it is to be left unoccupied; use of any part of your home for trade, professional or business purposes other than use for clerical purposes or business by you; any proposed building, restoration, renovation and/or maintenance works: i where the estimated value of all phases of the project is more than 100,000 including VAT and materials provided by you and/or; ii work involves structural alteration to the building or outbuildings; you being convicted of any offence (other than motoring offences); any change to your occupation, trade, profession or nature of business activity; any loss or damage not reported or claimed for under this policy including: i any sign of subsidence, heave or landslip such as diagonal cracking, whether internal or external; ii any incident of flooding at the home or loss or damage caused by ingress of water following a storm; any increase in the full replacement value as defined in the policy for your buildings, outbuildings, contents and valuables; any alteration to the fire and/or security arrangements or protections previously advised to us, including any fire and/or intruder alarm system no longer being maintained, operational, used or if there are any changes in the response to an alarm activation. Following notification of a change to the information, we may alter the terms, conditions and exclusions which may include an additional premium or cancellation your policy. If you do not tell us about changes or give us incorrect information, the wrong terms may be offered and we may be entitled to reject payment of a claim, or pay only a proportion of a claim. In some circumstances your policy may be invalid and you may not be entitled to a refund of premium. 2 Non-disclosure, misrepresentation, fraudulent claims and statements has been amended to: Fraud If dishonesty (including use of fraudulent means or devices) or exaggeration is used by you or anyone acting on your behalf: - to obtain a claims payment under your policy; or - to promote or substantiate a claim whether the claim is genuine or not; or - to obtain cover for which you do not qualify; or - to obtain cover at a reduced premium; all benefits under this policy will be lost, the policy may be invalid, you may not be entitled to a refund of premium and legal action may be taken against you. 7 Other insurances has been amended to: If you claim under this policy for something which is also covered by another insurance policy, you must provide us with full details of the other insurance policy. We will only pay our share of any claim. GENERAL EXCLUSIONS 1 War risks has been amended to: Any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense of any kind caused directly or indirectly by war, invasion or revolution. 4 Biological and chemical contamination has been replaced with: Terrorism Any loss, damage, liability, cost or expense of any kind directly or indirectly caused by, resulting from or in connection with any act of terrorism. For the purpose of this exclusion, terrorism means the use, or threat of use, of biological, chemical and/or nuclear force or contamination by any person(s), whether acting alone or on behalf of or in connection with any organisation(s) or government(s), committed for political, religious, ideological or similar purposes including the intention to influence any government(s) or put any section of the public in fear. 9

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12 Cromwell Park Chipping Norton Oxfordshire OX7 5DF T: E: Oak Underwriting plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. (Financial Services Register No ) HHNTP 1218