About Us
Travel Insurance Facilities specialises in providing travel insurance policies. Our travel insurance cover is provided by the insurer: https://www.spectrumtravelinsurance.co.uk/our-insurers.
However, tifgroup is the company that administers and arranges your travel insurance, therefore please see below for our services. You can check this information on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website.
Trading Names
Spectrum Travel Insurance is a trading name of Travel Insurance Facilities Plc.
Our Products and Services
We specialise in providing travel insurance policies for those travelling on leisure and business trips. Our products contain a number of sections, offering different types of cover provided by different insurers.
Our travel insurance cover is provided by the insurer: https://www.spectrumtravelinsurance.co.uk/our-insurers.
If these criteria change, or if we add another section with a new provider, we will tell you before you agree to purchase that particular policy.
Methods of Communication
We will normally communicate with you by email, post, and telephone. Please let us know if you would prefer not to receive communications by any particular medium. To unsubscribe from marketing material, please click here.
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
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 the cover has been arranged, you must immediately notify us or your insurer 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.
You are advised to keep copies of any correspondence you send to us or direct to your insurers.
Our Remuneration
Our remuneration is a percentage of the insurance premium paid by you and allowed to us by the insurer with whom the insurance policy is placed. We do not normally charge a fee for our services, however, we reserve the right to do so, and if we choose to do this we will clearly show these within our quotations to you.
Charges
Unless we tell you otherwise when you purchase a policy with us we make no charges in addition to the insurer’s premium.
Methods of payment
We normally accept payments by credit card, debit card or cheque.
Handling Client and Insurer Money
We collect and hold money as an agent of the insurer.
Confidentiality
All information provided by our clients 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, or information which is already in the public domain, we will not release information to any other party without your consent.
We may also use the data we hold about you with your consent to provide you with information about other products and services which we feel are appropriate. You are requested to let us know if you do not want to receive this information. We are registered under the Data Protection Act 2018 and undertake to comply with the Act in all our dealings with personal data. See our Privacy Policy.
Quotations
Unless stated otherwise in our documentation, all quotations provided for new insurances are valid only for a period of 28 days from the date of issue. Please note that any quotation in respect of a declared medical condition is only valid for 14 days from the date of issue.
You should be aware that quotations may change or be withdrawn if the information is given to us or your insurers in proposal forms or declarations differs from that provided at the time the quotation was issued.
Discounts and Promotions
Discounts and promotions cannot be used in conjunction with any other offer, promotion or discount voucher and apply to new purchases only.
Unless a discount is offered specifically via a third party channel or provider, any discount displayed on Spectrum marketing materials is only available when purchasing a policy directly from Spectrum.
Spectrum reserves the right to withdraw or amend discounts and/or promotions at any time.
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. If additional information is required 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.
Receipt of Instructions
We do not consider instructions to arrange or change cover which are sent to us by post, electronic mail or facsimile, or left on voicemail, to have been received until they reach the relevant personnel in our offices
We do not accept responsibility for instructions which do not reach us at all due to failures in the postal, electronic or telecommunications systems.
Documentation
Our aim is to produce documentation and issue correspondence in a clear and understandable format. In the event of any uncertainty, we would ask you to 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.
We recommend that you keep policy documents for as long as a claim is possible under the policy.
Making a Claim
Within your policy wording, there is a section on how to make a claim. Please click on this link for the appropriate claim form that will need to be completed and show the required documentation to support your claim. Claim Forms found here. You must report all incidents that could give rise to a claim as soon as you are aware of the incident, most importantly in the event you need emergency medical attention abroad, you must contact the Emergency Assistance helpline.
The policy wording will provide you with information on what we will pay for in the event of a claim and/or situations which are excluded from cover. Therefore, please ensure you have read your policy wording within the 14-day cooling off period or call our helpline to clarify what you’re covered for. We will help you with all your questions.
If the claim involves damage to your property, please do not:
- Dispose of damaged items; and/or
- Authorise repair work (except in an emergency or to prevent further damage)
until your insurers advise that you can.
If your claim involves damage to third party property or injury to persons please pass copies of all correspondence, including solicitors’ letters, to the insurers immediately and unanswered. Any attempt to negotiate or respond to the incident, without prior reference to the insurers, may prejudice your cover.
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 or request a copy of our complaints procedures please contact us:
- In writing, addressed to the The Customer Insights Manager, Spectrum Travel Insurance 1, Tower View, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4UY
- By telephone 0203 829 6604
- By email to complaints@tifgroup.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.
Compensation
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the FSCS if we 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 Financial Services Compensation Scheme website.
Cooling Off Period
If for some reason you change your mind after purchasing the policy, you can cancel within 14 days of receiving your policy documents and get a full refund of the premium you have paid, provided you have not travelled or claimed on the policy.
Cancellation outside the statutory period
Should you wish to cancel your policy outside of the 14 day cooling off period, and can confirm that there have been no claims on the policy and that you have not travelled; the following cancellation terms will be applied dependant on what type of policy you have purchased.
- Single Trip & Backpacker/Gap Year policies – In the event you have not travelled and are not claiming on the policy, a refund of 50% of the policy premium will apply. If you have travelled or are intending to claim, or have made a claim (irrespective of whether your claim was successful or not) we will not consider refunding any proportion of your premium.
- Annual Multi-Trip policies – Provided you have not made a claim on the policy (irrespective of whether your claim was successful or not) and you confirm in writing that there is no claim pending, should you choose to cancel and understand that all benefits of the policy will be cancelled, we will refund 1/12th of the total premium paid, for each full calendar month remaining on the policy from the date of cancellation. If you are intending to, or have claimed (irrespective of whether your claim was successful or not) we will not consider refunding any proportion of your premium.
Law & 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.
You are deemed to have accepted these terms of business and give your consent for us to operate in the ways described unless you advise us otherwise within seven days of receipt.
Why Choose Spectrum Travel Insurance?