INTRODUCTION
Before you enter into a financial agreement with us, we provide you with important information about our services as well as your rights and obligations via this Corporate Services Guide (hereafter Services Guide).
WHO ARE WE?
We are Barbon Insurance Brokers B.V. (Barbon), a fully independent and unaligned company operating in risk management and insurance advice for the (corporate & large) commercial segment.
Barbon's registered office is in Alkmaar, and the company is registered with the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) under number 91233100. We are affiliated with the VNAB under member number B151, and we can be found in the AFM register (www.afm.nl) under number 12045645.
Barbon is an affiliated representative of De Graaf Verzekeringsconsultancy B.V., registered office in Alkmaar, registered with the KvK under number 70976015 and licensed by the Dutch Authority for the Financial Markets (AFM) under number 1204 5645.
OUR CONTACT DETAILS
Address: Paardenmarkt 1-A, 1811 KH Alkmaar
Email: info@barbon.nl
Phone: 088-1204220
Website: www.barbon.nl
We can be reached on working days from 8.30 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. In case of an emergency, please feel free to call us during weekends or outside office hours on 088-1204220.
INDEPENDENCE
Barbon is an independent company without any ownership relations with banks or insurers. As a result, we operate both financially and commercially independently, which enables us to provide unbiased and impartial advice completely tailored to your interests.
OUR SERVICES
As a Registered Insurance Broker (RMiA), we offer a wide range of services in the fields of non-life insurance, risk management, pension solutions and employee benefits.
Our services focus on identifying, analysing and managing your risks and providing bespoke insurance solutions that align with your specific needs and goals.
Barbon operates in various areas:
Non-life Insurance: Advice and mediation regarding commercial non-life insurance.
Employee Benefits and Pension: Advice on and management of employee benefits, pension schemes, collective health insurance and other insurable employment conditions.
Pension Advice and Management: We offer comprehensive advisory and management services for collective pension schemes. Our pension advisers are certified and meet the highest quality standards in the industry. We guide you through every step of the process, from setting up a pension scheme to managing it, including:
Advice on pension insurance: we advise you on the most suitable pension insurance that matches the needs of your organisation and employees.
Management of pension schemes: we offer continuous management and monitoring of your pension schemes, including compliance with legal obligations and adaptation to changing regulations. To ensure that your pension scheme is implemented correctly, we carry out periodic database checks.
Pension communication: we support you in effectively communicating pension matters to your employees and other key stakeholders in your organisation, including explanations of the scheme and its impact on their future financial situation.
Risk Engineering: In collaboration with our partner company JB Risicobeheer, we offer specialised services in risk management and analysis, including prevention advice and claims mitigation.
Risk Management: In collaboration with our partner company DGV, we offer specialised services in risk management, policy and insurance management.
PURCHASING INSURANCE SOLUTIONS
We generally source our clients' insurance solutions via the national or international co-insurance market, or via provincial or underwriting agent channels. Policies are usually established through negotiation. In those cases, the Dutch Association of Insurers' code of conduct on "Informed renewal and Contract terms for Personal and Commercial Non-Life and Income Insurance" does not apply.
OUR SERVICES ARE THERE FOR YOU
We identify and manage your risks and ensure suitable (pension/insurance-technical) solutions for your organisation in non-life insurance, employee benefits and pensions. In doing so, we select options that best match your goals, wishes, risks, risk appetite, available (insurance) budget and coverage requirements. Customer interests are central to everything we advise and source.
For every insurable risk, we follow a cycle of identification, analysis, advice, closing/purchasing and – if the policy is issued – management of the insurance policy/-ies. Upon request, the purchasing file is fully accessible to you. At a later stage, we will make our activities accessible online. Naturally, all advice is also documented in writing and sent to you. We complete the advisory cycle with services in prevention, risk engineering and claims mitigation.
PURCHASING INSURANCE CAPACITY
Throughout a purchasing process, there is close collaboration with all stakeholders. Progress is continuously reported, and results are transparent. If negotiations are involved, we will – if necessary – consult on the most appropriate strategy.
In the interest of its clients, Barbon determines which insurers to do business with. Criteria in this assessment include: premium rates, quality of policy conditions and clauses, overall (operational) performance of the insurer and its financial stability.
Financial stability of insurers
We continuously monitor the financial health of the insurers we work with. If changes occur in an insurer's solvency, we will inform you in a timely manner and, if necessary, decide with you on over-switching or completely finding a new insurer for your policy. In doing so, we are naturally bound by the policy terms.
We want to emphasise that Barbon cannot accept liability in any way for the financial position of the insurer and any consequences of its deterioration.
YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES
We are happy to proactively inform you about your responsibilities.
Duty of disclosure
You are responsible for providing accurate and complete information about your risks and changes in your business operations and the risks to be insured. You are also always responsible for reporting claims in a timely manner.
This information is essential to advise you effectively, to support you in the event of a claim, and/or may affect the policies we have placed with insurers on your behalf. Indeed, some changes are subject to a duty of disclosure in accordance with policy conditions.
When completing application or quote forms, we can always advise you; however, we are not permitted to complete these forms for you. For completeness, we point out that there are (legal) consequences associated with untimely, incomplete or incorrect provision of information.
Checking received documentation
Barbon is responsible for drafting the policy/-ies when risks are placed via the co-insurance market. In the case of a provincial policy, the insurer concerned drafts the policy.
The policy is drawn up based on the information you provide, underlying quotes or renewal proposals, and information we obtained from third parties (e.g. in the event of an intermediary change).
In all cases, we apply a four-eyes principle to ensure accuracy of formatting, premiums, and insurance conditions. If the policy is drawn up by an insurer, we check the incoming policy on all these components before making it available to you.
However, you always remain responsible for assessing the accuracy of the policy documents. We therefore request you to check every policy, after receipt, for this purpose. The same applies to premium or correction invoices.
Reading and interpreting a policy, in combination with the applicable terms and clauses, is often difficult. This means that you may have doubts when checking for correctness and completeness. We ask you to contact us at all times in case of doubt. We will then reassess the accuracy and content of the policies together.
INTERMEDIARY CHANGE
If Barbon is to manage current insurance contracts for you and initiates an intermediary change on your behalf, the following applies:
Prior to the intermediary change, Barbon was not involved in advising on or managing your insurance portfolio.
Barbon cannot be held responsible for advice given or omitted by other intermediaries or consultants.
OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS
The general terms and conditions of Barbon contain what you can expect from our organisation. If we enter into a relationship with you based on an intermediary designation and/or a service level agreement, the general terms and conditions of Barbon Insurance Brokers B.V. together with this Services Guide shall apply, unless explicitly excluded. Both documents will be provided to and discussed with you once we receive the mandate from you to provide brokerage services. The documents are also available on our website (www.barbon.nl). Dutch law applies to our services.
REMUNERATION
Our internal remuneration policy stimulates employees to behave in line with our purpose and can be found on our website. Below you will find – as part of this policy – a list of the various methods of compensation.
Brokerage services
Our income for traditional brokerage services may consist of:
Brokerage commission, which forms part of the premium paid by you,
A fee agreed directly with you,
A combination of both.
All agreements regarding remuneration are shared and explained to you transparently and in advance.
Indexation
Annually, as of 1 January, we index separately agreed fees based on the CBS Wage Index. The reference date for this is 1 July of the year preceding the indexation.
Specific services
For specific services from one of our affiliated organisations, a separate fee may be agreed with you. In principle, the indexation arrangement also applies to this compensation.
Settlement commission
In some cases, Barbon is entitled to a 1% settlement commission on claim files, if this is stipulated in the policy conditions. Barbon charges these costs to insurers.
ETHICAL CONDUCT OF BUSINESS
Barbon operates a strict ethical policy in accordance with financial industry standards. We ensure strict compliance with laws and regulations. All Barbon employees will behave in accordance with the oath they have taken. The executive board monitors this.
MEMBERSHIPS AND REGISTRATIONS
We are certified as a Registered Insurance Broker (RMiA), affiliated with various professional organisations including Adfiz and the VNAB, and qualified as RMiA and RPA. In addition, we are registered with the Financial Services Complaints Tribunal (KiFiD).
DATA SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY
We protect your information and share it only in accordance with our privacy policy and current legal obligations. A copy of this policy can be found on our website (www.barbon.nl) or will be sent to you digitally upon request.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
We identify conflicts of interest and act appropriately and with care to remain objective and neutral in our service delivery.
TERMINATION OF COLLABORATION
You have the right to terminate collaboration with us at any time in accordance with the general terms and conditions and the arrangement in our service level agreement. In that case, we will ensure careful transfer of your file to a new adviser if wished.
If you decide to terminate cooperation with us, we will, following consultation with you about the termination, record in writing how our services will be continued and until which date Barbon will perform activities on your behalf.
When you terminate your relationship with Barbon, the provisions of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wft) and secondary legislation apply. Naturally, we comply with all codes of conduct, such as the VNAB Intermediary Change Code of Conduct.
Note: if a separate service level agreement exists, in most cases that service level agreement is used for the code of conduct, in accordance with the VNAB Intermediary Change Code of Conduct. We will assess this together. Your new broker can expect full cooperation from us to safeguard your interests optimally.
Termination of cooperation applies only to the services of Barbon and has no effect on the insurance policies you have taken out.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
If you are not satisfied with our services, we would like to hear. You can find our complaints procedure on our website. You can address your complaint to the management of Barbon via directie@barbon.nl. If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you can contact the Dutch Financial Services Complaints Tribunal (KiFiD), P.O. Box 93257, 2509 AG The Hague.
Commercial insureds generally cannot consult KiFiD. In that case, you have the option to take the matter to civil court if you believe Barbon has harmed your interests.
PARTNERS
Via our partner JB Risicobeheer B.V. (for risk engineering and prevention), we can offer you related services. If your organisation has a need in one of these areas, we will gladly put you in touch with them. These services are carried out based on a separate fee, unless different agreements have been made in a service level agreement.
QUESTIONS?
For questions, extra information about our services, or an explanation of what we can do for you, please contact us at info@barbon.nl or 088-1204 220.
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