These are the terms and conditions of your contract with Automobile Association Insurance Services Limited (“AAIS”) that relate to AAIS’s arrangement and administration of your AA Breakdown Cover.
Your arrangement and administration contract with AAIS runs alongside your AA Breakdown Cover and will end at the same time your related AA Breakdown Cover ends (whatever the reason for the policy coming to an end).
Which companies does AAIS deal with?
What services does AAIS provide?
What will you have to pay for services provided by AAIS?
Interpretation: use of English law & language
What to do if you have a complaint?
Is AAIS covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?
Who regulates AAISL?
AAIS is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The Financial Conduct Authority is an independent body that regulates the financial services industry in the UK. AAIS’s permitted business is that of an insurance intermediary dealing in and arranging contracts of general insurance. You can check this information on The Financial Services Register by visiting their website www.fca.org.uk. The registration number for AAIS is 310562.
Which companies does AAIS deal with?
AAIS deals with Automobile Association Developments Limited (trading as AA Breakdown Services) which underwrites Roadside Assistance, At Home and National Recovery, as well as Acromas Insurance Company Limited which underwrites Onward Travel and AA Underwriting Insurance Company Limited which underwrites AA Accident Assist. AAIS acts as an agent of these underwriters, when accepting or refunding premiums and when handling any claim monies. These are the only underwriters of breakdown assistance available through AAIS. AAIS may renew your cover to a different underwriter or notify you of a future change if the underwriter of AA products has changed for new policies for any reason.
Some sales are not arranged through AAIS and if this applies to your cover, you will be issued with a separate document identifying the company which arranged your cover and giving the required information about that company.
What services does AAIS provide?
AAIS provides the following services to you:
- Providing information about breakdown cover on offer: AAIS will provide you with information on the breakdown cover available from the insurer(s) under AA Breakdown Cover and will ask you some questions to help narrow down the level and type of that breakdown cover of interest to you. You will not receive advice or any recommendation on which level or type of breakdown cover to buy and you will need to make your own choice on which level and type of breakdown cover you require
- Arranging breakdown cover. Once you decide what cover you need, AAIS will arrange this for you with the insurer(s), dealing with payment and issuing the relevant policy documentation and card(s).
- Administering breakdown cover: After arranging breakdown cover AAIS will administer it on your behalf, including supplying replacement policy documentation, keeping your policy records up to date, dealing with enquiries; changes to payment methods, renewals (including Autorenewal) of Cover and cancellations (including refunds of premium on behalf of the insurer(s)). If you have agreed to pay for Cover by continuous monthly premiums and a premium is overdue or missed, AAIS may try to collect the payment from the credit card or debit card supplied for the initial payment, to ensure that you stay covered. We will tell you in writing before doing this. Unless you tell us to stop, we will continue to collect payment using this method but will tell you in writing that we are doing this.
- Making changes to breakdown cover: If during your policy term you wish to change the type or level of cover AAIS will provide you with information to help you make your choice and will arrange any changes with the insurer(s), including dealing with any additional payments and issue any relevant policy documentation and card(s).
- If, during your AA policy, the relevant insurer wishes to alter the Terms & Conditions of AA Breakdown Cover, AAIS will provide you with the relevant information. AAIS will, for compliance purposes, keep a copy of the policy that was issued to you. Communication by AAIS concerning any policy issued will be in English.
- AAIS acts for the insurer(s) in marketing their insurance products: AAIS is authorised to act for the insurer when entering into a contract of insurance with you on their behalf. AAIS may receive and keep commission from the insurer in respect of any insurance that you take out through it.
AAIS handles Onward Travel claims on behalf of Acromas Insurance Company Limited. Acromas Insurance Company Limited calculates the profit made on Onward Travel. If Acromas Insurance Company Limited achieves a level of profit above an agreed amount they pay AAIS a percentage commission of the total premium. The percentage is adjusted periodically, up or down, so that Acromas Insurance Company Limited achieves the agreed level of profit. AA Underwriting Insurance Company Limited is part of the AA Limited group of companies. AA Limited holds 10% or more voting rights within AA Underwriting Insurance Company Limited.
What will you have to pay for services provided by AAIS?
AAIS will always tell you about, or confirm in writing, its fees for the services it provides under this contract and the fees will be identified separately from the AA Breakdown Cover premium. AAIS will normally charge an arrangement and administration fee in relation to the services it provides. We will tell you, in advance, if this fee will apply, and the amount payable.
Subject to statutory rights you may have as a consumer, AAIS will not refund any of its fees except:
- If you can’t produce a valid form of identification that confirms your AA breakdown cover entitlement (or we can’t verify this), and we charge you for the breakdown assistance provided, we will refund additional fees if your eligibility for service is proved afterwards.
- If you cancel within the cooling off period and had joined already needing assistance, We will refund your Breakdown Cover premium paid for joining but any additional charges for assistance provided at the time of joining will not be refunded. If these charges have not been paid, they may be deducted from the refund of the cover premium.
- If you cancel within the cooling off period and did not join needing assistance, you will receive a full refund of the premium paid, minus the cancellation fee of £20.
AAIS will also tell you about any other charges relating to Your AA membership including that AAIS may charge you a fee for a replacement card and for written notification of VAT status.
AAIS has authorised Automobile Association Developments Limited (AADL) to act as its agent for the purposes of receiving any amounts due under your contract with AAIS. Payments will be taken using the payment method provided when purchasing your AA Breakdown Cover. If you are due a refund of premium following cancellation or another transaction, AAIS will be entitled to deduct any fee, charges or other sums you owe in respect of your AA policy before making any such refund.
Changes to Terms & Conditions
Annual cover: AAIS is entitled to change any of these Terms and Conditions at renewal. AAIS also reserves the right to make changes to these Terms & Conditions during the Cover Period on the giving of at least two weeks’ notice, where this is necessary in order to comply with any applicable laws, regulations or the advice or instruction of any regulatory authority.
For Continuous Cover: AAIS is entitled to make changes to any of these Terms & Conditions (and to the fees payable) during a Continuous Cover contract but will always give policyholders paying monthly or quarterly at least 45 days prior notice of any such change(s).
Third parties
None of the Terms and Conditions, or benefits, of this Contract are enforceable by anyone else other than the policyholder. For the avoidance of doubt, and without limiting the above, any rights under The Contract (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, or any replacement or amendment of such act, are excluded.
Interpretation: use of English law & language
This contract is written in English and is governed by, and should be interpreted under, the laws of England and Wales.
What to do if you have a complaint?
We aim to provide you with a high level of service at all times. However, there may be a time when you feel that our service has fallen below the standard you expect. If this is the case and you want to complain, we will do our best to try and resolve the situation.
There are several ways you can contact us:
Phone: 0344 209 0556
0161 333 5910
Email: [email protected]
Post: Customer Solutions
The AA
Park Square, Bird Hall Lane
Cheadle Heath
Stockport
SK3 0XF
Text Phone users can contact us using Next Generation Texting by prefixing any of our numbers with 18001.We will either acknowledge your complaint within 5 working days of receipt, or offer you our final response if we have concluded our investigations within this period. If we acknowledge your complaint, we will advise you who is dealing with it and when we expect to respond. We aim to respond fully within 8 weeks. However, if we are unable to provide a final response within this period we will write to you before this time and advise why we have not been able to offer a final response and how long we expect our investigations to take. If you remain unhappy with our final response, or we have not managed to provide a final response within 8 weeks of your complaint, you may be entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for help and advice.
There are several ways you can contact them:
Phone: 0800 023 4567 or 0300 123 9 123
Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk
Email: [email protected]
Post: The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London
E14 9SR
Please note that consumer disputes relating to a product or service that has been bought online may be submitted to the European Commission Online Dispute Resolution platform at the following website: http://ec.europa.eu/odr.
Is AAIS covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)?
The activities of AAIS in arranging AA Breakdown Cover are covered by the FSCS. You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if AAIS cannot meet its obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Insurance arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit. Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS at www.fscs.org.uk or telephone 0800 678 1100 or 0207 741 4100.
Use of headings
The headings used above are for convenience only and shall not affect the interpretation of its contents.