Terms

Standard Terms of Business

(These Standard Terms of Business are not applicable to Aon Hewitt where Terms of Business are agreed on an individual client basis)

We will provide Services to you on our standard Terms.
You must provide all Relevant Information to us.
We will be entitled to receive commissions and or fees for providing the Services.
Subject to any other agreement, you can terminate our relationship at any time by giving 30 days notice in writing.
Our liability to you under these Terms is limited.
We may change the Terms from time to time.

Introduction

These Terms of Business (Terms) set out the terms and conditions on which Aon New Zealand (we/us) will provide our services (Services) to you. These Terms apply to all Services we provide to you and are subject to any additional or alternative terms which we may agree in writing with you.

The Services that we will provide are:

If we have a service level agreement, those services specifically described in that agreement and such additional services as we may further agree with you in writing from time to time; or
Those services which we have agreed in writing with you.

We do not provide any additional services (called Excluded Services) and you agree and acknowledge that we have no duty or obligation to provide Excluded Services to you or to any other person without prior written agreement.

Our responsibilities

We will perform our Services:

With reasonable care and skill and with integrity; and
Based upon the demands and needs that you have expressly advised to us.

We will also:

Provide you with policy documents as soon as practicable after we receive these from your insurer(s);
Retain appropriate documents relating to insurance effected on your behalf in electronic or paper format in accordance with Aon’s records retention policies as may be in effect from time to time (NOTE: for certain types of insurance it is possible that you may need to make a claim against a policy long after this period. You remain responsible for your records and should keep your policy documents in a safe place);
We will handle any money received from you (for example, for the payment of insurance premiums), or received for you (for example, from an insurer for an insurance claim payment) in accordance with the requirements of the Insurance Intermediaries Act 1994.

Our role is limited to the provision of insurance and risk management related advice as specified in the Services. Under no circumstances do we or will we act as an insurer. Nor do we provide safety inspections, valuations or advise on every potential hazard or threat to your business (unless specifically retained by you to do so).

In addition, while we only engage insurers who meet certain requirements as established by us from time to time, we make no representation, guarantee or warranty as to the solvency or ability of any insurer to pay any amounts for insurance claims or otherwise.

Your responsibilities

You are responsible for supplying us with all material information and facts (Relevant Information) in relation to our provision of the Services. Relevant Information includes all information and facts which may be material to an insurer’s assessment of a risk for which you have asked us to arrange insurance cover.

If you are unsure about any matter, or what may constitute Relevant Information, or whether the sums insured are adequate, please contact us for guidance.

Both before taking out an insurance policy and at the time of renewing a policy, you must provide all Relevant Information. You must also provide all Relevant Information upon any material or relevant change of circumstance or when additional material information comes to light throughout the period of the policy.

If you fail to disclose or misrepresent any Relevant Information, this could invalidate your insurance and mean that any claims under the insurance may not be paid to you.

Your policy documents contain the terms of your cover and impose various obligations on you. You must read these documents carefully to ensure that the cover suits your needs and so you understand and comply with your obligations under your policy(s). Failure to do this may result in uninsured losses.

Our remuneration

We normally receive a commission from insurers and any other service providers that we may recommend to you. We may alternatively, or in addition, receive a fee for our Services or other Services we provide to you by agreement with you. (Together our Remuneration.)

Unless mandated otherwise by law or contractual arrangement with an insurer, commissions earned on placements we effect on your behalf are deemed to be fully earned at time of inception of the insurance and Remuneration is not refundable in the event of early termination.

Aon may charge administration fees to cover administration expenses and disbursements.

All Remuneration is due to us on or before the due date set out in our tax invoice.

We make the following disclosures to you in relation to our Remuneration:

We and members of the Aon Group may earn interest income on funds received from you between the date of receipt and disbursement date;
We may receive commissions and other payments from premium financiers;
The Aon Group has separate reinsurance companies that arrange insurance for insurers (called reinsurance). In some cases an insurer may ask one of our reinsurance broking companies to arrange reinsurance in respect of insurance purchased by you, in which case that company may also earn commission or other remuneration;
The Aon Group has specialised broking companies that arrange insurance placements into overseas markets acting as wholesale brokers. Such companies may assist us in accessing, negotiating, placing or procuring those markets. If this is the case, an Aon Group member may earn commission or other remuneration for those services;
We and members of the Aon Group also provide consulting or administrative services to insurers and reinsurers from time to time and may earn commission or other remuneration from these services;
We and members of the Aon Group have developed insurance placement facilities that enable Aon to obtain competitive quotations from a panel of established insurers under the terms of bespoke policy wordings negotiated by Aon. The work that Aon has done to establish these platforms and wordings reduces the insurers’ work. In recognition of this, a participating insurer may pay a fee to us or an Aon Group member to access such facility;
We will charge goods and services tax (GST) on our Remuneration as required by New Zealand law and any quote, estimation or invoice which we may provide to you shall be deemed to exclude GST unless otherwise specified.

Limitation of liability

We will provide the Services with reasonable care and skill. All representations (whether express or implied) and all other implied conditions, warranties and terms as to the provision of the Services are otherwise excluded to the extent permitted by law.

To the extent permitted by law, we and our related entities (as defined within the Companies Act 1993) will not be responsible or liable for:

Any consequential, incidental, indirect or special damage or loss of any kind;
The supply, by you or others, of incorrect or incomplete information (including information that we may use to calculate the premiums and other charges relevant to your insurance);

The failure by you or others to supply appropriate, relevant or timely information, including Relevant Information;
Any expenses or liabilities in respect of tax or fire service levies arising from the way in which we arrange your insurances;
The failure by you or others to act on our advice or to respond promptly to any communications from us or any insurer; or
The default, negligence, or lack of care on the part of any person other than ourselves.

Our aggregate liability (including interest and costs) in respect of any claim howsoever arising, under or in connection with these Terms, the Services or our business relationship, shall be limited (to the extent permitted by law) to NZ $10,000,000 or such other amount as may be expressly agreed between us in writing (Liability limitation).

Confidentiality

Subject to any relevant law, and our obligation to provide the Services, we will keep all confidential information that we receive from you confidential and will use it solely in connection with the provision of the Services or otherwise for the purpose for which it was disclosed to us.

However, our confidentiality obligation does not apply where:

You have given written permission otherwise;

Disclosure is required to satisfy legal obligations or regulatory requirements;
Disclosure is reasonably required to carry out services (for example providing information to current or prospective insurers);
Such is information is in the public domain; or
The information is rightfully in our possession other than as a result of a breach of any obligation of confidentiality.

Your information

We will hold any personal information that you provide to us in accordance with the Privacy Act 1993. Any such information that we request from you will be used pursuant to the provision of the Services. In this respect, it will be necessary for us to pass your information on to insurers and other product or service providers which may provide us with additional support in connection with our provision of the Services.

Unless you instruct us not to do so, we may also contact you in connection with other products or services that we feel may be of interest or benefit to you.

You have the right to access and correct any of your personal information that we hold. Such information is held by us at Level 16, AMP Centre, 29 Customs Street West Auckland.

Collection and Use of Client Information

We gather data containing information about our clients and their insurance placements, including but not limited to: names, industry codes, policy types and policy expiration dates, as well as information about the insurance companies that provide coverage to its clients or compete for its clients’ insurance placements.

This information is maintained in one or more databases. In addition to being used for the benefit of our clients, these databases also may be accessed by other Aon Group members for other purposes, including providing consulting and other services to insurance companies for which we or our related entities may earn compensation.

Due to the global nature of services provided by the Aon Group, the information you may provide may be transmitted, used, stored and otherwise processed outside the country where you submitted that information. If you have questions about Aon Group data processing or related compensation, please contact your Client Relationship Manager.

Electronic communications

We may correspond with you by electronic communication unless you instruct us not to do so. Electronic communications are not always secure and they may be read, copied or interfered with in transit. We are not responsible for any of the risks associated with electronic communication.

Conflicts of interest

Occasions may arise where either we, one of our clients, or one of our service or product providers may have a potential conflict of interest in connection with the Services we provide to you. If this occurs and we become aware that a potential conflict exists, we will contact you and work together to find a suitable solution.

Force majeure

We are not liable for any failure or delay to perform any of our obligations where such failure or delay is due to causes outside of our reasonable control.

Termination

Subject to any additional terms which we may have agreed with you and the payment of any outstanding Remuneration that may be owed by you to us, you may instruct us to cease the provision of the Services, or any part thereof, at any time. Your instructions must be in writing and will take effect from 30 days after the date that we receive them. In the event that such termination occurs while one or more outstanding claims exist, then unless otherwise agreed, such claims shall be transferred to you for management from the date of termination.

If we feel we cannot continue to provide the Services to you, we will give you a minimum of thirty (30) days notice of termination.

Disputes

At Aon we make every effort to provide you with the best products and highest level of customer service. However, we recognise that even in the best managed company things can go wrong.

If you have any complaint in respect to Aon, or are not satisfied with the service you have received from us, we want to hear about it so that we can investigate your concerns quickly and fairly.

Please contact your Aon Client Relationship Manager or your local Aon office by telephone, email or in writing. You will find the address and phone number of your local office on our website at www.aon.co.nz.

If your Aon Client Relationship Manager is not able to resolve your complaint, it will be referred to Aon’s Complaint Manager for an independent review in accordance with Aon’s internal complaint and dispute resolution procedures.

Alternatively, you can contact Aon’s Complaint Manager directly on 09 362 9000 or you can email details of your complaint to us in writing at nzfeedback@aon.co.nz.

If your complaint remains unresolved, or if you are dissatisfied with Aon’s response to your complaint, you may refer the matter to Financial Services Complaints Limited (‘FSCL”) by emailing info@fscl.org.nz or calling 0800 347 257. Aon is a member of this independent dispute resolution scheme approved by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Full details on how to access the FSCL scheme can be obtained on their website www.fscl.org.nz. There is no cost to you to use their services.

Alternatively you may wish to contact the Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand, of which we are a member, by calling +64 9 306 1732.

General

We are entitled to change these Terms from time to time, in which case we will provide you with amended Terms. Our relationship with you is governed by New Zealand law and the New Zealand Courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

If any term of these Terms is, or becomes, or is found to be invalid or unenforceable, in whole or in part, under any law:

Such term or part will be read down or interpreted and enforced to the extent permissible; or (if this is not possible);
Such term or part will to that extent be deemed not to form part of these Terms and the legality, validity and enforceability of the remainder of these Terms will not be affected or impaired.

If you have any queries about the services we offer please contact your Client Relationship Manager or our head office on (09) 362-9000.