The customer must be made aware of certain information which can be listed as follows.
Information about,
- The firm,
- The service provided by the Firm,
- The insurer,
- The product,
- The price,
- Cancellation,
- Claims,
- Complaints,
- Compensation scheme,
- The law applying to the policy.
The above information must be provided in a durable medium (something that can be kept and not changed) before the customer decides to buy the insurance. However for telephone sales, and if the customer consents, than most of the information can be sent to the customer immediately after the sale, bearing in mind the customer has the right to cancel if they are not satisfied.
The way the firm passes the information to the customer will vary according to how the firm operates, although some information has to be provided and contained within set documents.
After all the above the policy document (insurance contact) must contain the full terms of the policy and conditions and must be sent to the customer.
The following briefly describes the information required.
Cancellation rights
The FSA rules give the customer the right to cancel the policy within a certain cooling off period. The customer must be told,
- That they have this right,
- The duration of the cooling off period, 30 days if life or critical illness cover is included, otherwise 14 days.
- The conditions for exercising the right to cancel,
- A clear statement about any cancellation fee that might apply,
- How to exercise the right.