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BRANDENBURG MARINE INSURANCE BROKERS LTD
TERMS OF BUSINESS
We, Brandenburg Marine Insurance Brokers Ltd., are fully regulated by the Superintendent of Insurance of the Republic of Cyprus under license number 5331. You can verify our licence to provide insurance broking services by visiting the website of the Insurance Companies Control Service in Cyprus.
Purpose of these Terms of Business – To clearly and concisely establish a contractual framework for the provision of our services to you.
Our Values – We are a specialist marine insurance broker committed to providing the best marine insurance solutions to our clients. We strive to provide transparent broking activities to our clients and ensure that their risks are placed with the best securities in the market at the most competitive rates.
Our Services – As an insurance broker, we normally provide some or all of the following services according to these Terms of Business:
- negotiating and placing insurance covers for our clients
- providing our clients with their insurance covering documents
- advising our clients on their insurance covers
- assisting in presenting our clients’ insurance claims and liaising with their insurers.
Negotiating and Placing Insurance Cover – Prior to approaching any insurers we will request you to provide us with all the information we require in order to fully understand your insurance needs. We will then commence negotiations with suitable insurers in order to obtain competitive quotations appropriate for your insurance needs. Where we consider it appropriate or when same is required by relevant law, we may approach insurers via other insurance intermediaries (brokers). In some instances, we may ask you to issue a Letter of Appointment to us prior to us approaching any potential insurer.
Completing Application Forms – Obtaining quotations for your required insurance may need completion of application forms/questionnaires. You must complete them accurately. While we can provide our guidance to you for filling out the application forms/questionnaires, we cannot sign them for you.
Duty of Disclosure of Information – During your insurance application, you have the responsibility to disclose to the prospective insurer every material circumstance known to you or ought to be known to you. Such circumstances may influence the insurer's decision to accept the policy and/or what terms to apply. Failure to disclose material circumstances may result in cancellation of your policy or full or partial rejection of your insurance claim under the policy. If you are in any doubt whether any circumstances are material, you should disclose them. This duty applies not only during your insurance application but also at renewal and when amending your policy.
Solvency of Insurers – While we will only place your insurance cover with insurers that are considered to be financially sound or with insurers for which you have provided us your specific written instructions, solvency of the insurer cannot be and is not guaranteed.
Binding Insurance Cover and Your Agreement to These Terms of Business – Your instructions to us to bind an insurance cover for you shall be deemed your signed, written agreement that provision of our services to you shall be subject to these Terms of Business and any additional agreement concluded between you and us, and our commercial relationship shall formally commence at that moment.
The Form of Insurance Documents – Once the insurance cover has been bound, we will receive your insurance documents from your insurer, including but not limited to your Certificate of Insurance (Cover Note) and the applicable policy terms and conditions, for their further forwarding to you. Insurance documents are usually provided in electronic form. Should you wish to receive your insurance documents also as hard copies, please inform us accordingly.
Responsibility for Checking Insurance Documents and Seeking any Required Clarification – As soon as we provide you with your insurance documents, it is your responsibility to read them carefully and let us know if you require any clarification regarding your insurance cover. Lack of thorough understanding of your policy may prevent you from taking actions required under your policy or lead you to taking actions not allowed under your policy, thus resulting in you being in breach of the policy terms and conditions. In particular, we would like to stress to you the importance of complying with all the warranties/subjectivities applied on your policy as it may affect validity of your policy and your ability to obtain claim reimbursement under the policy. Please also note that it is important to handle your policy and relevant insurance documents in a safe manner.
Payment of Insurance Premium – It is of utmost importance that you comply with all your policy’s terms regarding payment of premium or any instalment thereof. Please note that failure to make any payment by the due date may lead to insurers cancelling your policy. Please also note that insurance premium may include applicable tax (if any) which is not refundable in case of subsequent policy cancellation.
Our Remuneration – As an insurance broker, we earn our commission from the insurance premiums of policies placed via our services. Such commission is included in any insurer’s quotation we provide to you. Our commission is deemed earned in full at the moment of binding your insurance cover. Therefore, please note that in case of policy cancellation we retain the earned commission in full and it is not refundable.
Our Debit and Credit Notes – Our Debit Notes will show the premium, deductible or any other amounts or fees due from you to your insurer or us. While Our Credit Notes will show claim settlement, reimbursement of condition survey costs or any other amounts or fees credited to you by the insurer or us.
Amendments to Your Policy – Should you require any amendments to your policy, we will need your written instructions thereof. Upon insurer’s confirmation of the amendments having been effected, on most occasions they will provide us with an endorsement. However, for some amendments, the insurer will merely provide a written confirmation in a form of an email. We will forward such endorsement to you or inform you of the written confirmation having been provided by the insurer.
Prompt Notification of Claims – If you need to notify an actual or potential insurance claim, it is important to notify us immediately, so that we may advise your insurer accordingly. You may also refer to your policy for full details of insurance claims’ notification requirements, should you prefer to report the claim directly to your insurer. Please note that it is your responsibility to monitor the time limitation periods under your policy applying to your insurance claims.
Claims Handling – As your insurance broker, we act for you by assisting in presenting your claim and liaising with your insurer for the period of our appointment. However, in order for us to fully exercise such assistance in an efficient manner and ensure that we proceed in accordance with your wishes and decisions, we will need your input in providing the required documents/information/confirmations/instructions as the case may be. Your responsiveness and full cooperation in providing the above and complying with the applicable deadlines is therefore crucial for efficient processing of your insurance claim. Please note that on a case by case basis and in case of complex claims, we may charge claims handling fees. Please also note that grounds for making an insurance claim under your policy may also arise after the termination of your policy. Therefore, it is important to handle all relevant documents and evidence in a safe manner.
Electronic Communication – During the course of providing our services to you, we may communicate with you and with other relevant parties by electronic mail, sometimes attaching further electronic data, such as scanned copies of documents and email exchanges. By using electronic means of communication, we and you accept the risks inherent thereto, such as but not limited to security risks of interception of or unauthorised access to such communication and the risks of viruses and malware. Neither of us will challenge the legal evidential standing of an electronic document, and the Brandenburg Marine Insurance Brokers Ltd. system shall be deemed the definitive record of electronic communications and documentation.
Confidentiality – All information provided by you to us during your insurance application, policy negotiations, duration and renewal of your policy will be treated as confidential, except where:
- disclosure is required in order for us to provide your solicited services;
- disclosure is requested by you;
- the information is available in public domain;
- disclosure is required by applicable law.
Exclusive Use of Our Information – All data, recommendations, proposals, reports and other information provided by us to you in connection with our services are provided for your exclusive use only. You undertake not to permit access by any third party to such information without our express written permission.
Data Protection – We are regulated by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2016/679 and we undertake to comply with the GDPR in all our dealings with your personal data. Your personal data will be kept secure. Personal data provided to us will only be used in accordance with our Privacy Notice which you can access here. Please kindly note that, should you disagree with our Privacy Policy, you should discontinue using our services. Please read it carefully before providing any personal data to us. By providing personal data to us, you consent to their use in accordance with our Privacy Notice.
Client Money – In accordance with the applicable regulations, our clients’ funds are kept in separate bank accounts from our own funds.
Our Administrative Fees/Charges – We reserve the right to make charges to cover the administration of your insurance and making relevant transfers of funds. Such charges are not refundable, including in case of cancellation or amendments to your policy. Our current charges are as follows while we reserve a right to amend them at any time without prior notice in order to reflect any change in the actual costs to us:
| TYPE OF FEE/CHARGE | AMOUNT (USD*) |
| Bank transfer (per transaction) | 50 |
| Policy cancellation | 200 - 500 |
* or equivalent in EUR
Change in Circumstances - In case of any changes in your circumstances that may affect our services provided or to be provided to you, you must advise us as soon as reasonably possible.
Complaints Procedure – We endeavour to provide our clients with the best possible service, however, we recognise that every client has a right of complain, should he/she feel unsatisfied with the level of service provided by us. You can access our complaints procedure here.
Termination – Our appointment as your insurance broker according to these Terms of Business may be terminated as follows:
- with immediate effect, if either party becomes insolvent or is subject to a winding up or similar procedure; or
- by one party giving a 60 days’ prior written notice to the other party by registered mail to the relevant party’s registered address or by email to the main email address(-es) actively used for the latest communication between you and us. Notice served by registered mail is deemed received on the third day after its posting, while a notice served by email is deemed received on the next working day after it was sent.
Upon the termination according to the above, we will be entitled to receive any remuneration earned or payable at the relevant date, including by off-set.
Limit of our Liability – Please kindly note that our total liability to you that may arise from or in relation to us providing our services to you under these Terms of Business is limited to USD 500 000 (USD five hundred thousand only.
Applicable Law and Jurisdiction – These Terms of Business are governed by Cyprus law. Any dispute arising from or in connection to these Terms of Business shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Cyprus.
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Brandenburg Marine and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
PRIVACY NOTICE
At Brandenburg Marine Insurance Brokers Ltd. we strongly believe in protecting the privacy and personal data of our clients. This Privacy Notice (Notice) is intended to inform you of the ways we collect, use and protect any personal data you provide us.
Introduction – What is GDPR?
GDPR is a regulation by the European Parliament (Regulation (EU) 2016/679) that comes into force on 25th May 2018 and replaces the existing Data Protection Act. GDPR lays down a set of rules on the protection of individuals within the European Economic Area (EEA) with regard to the processing of their personal data and with intention of protecting their fundamental rights and freedoms. Further information on the GDPR may be found at the Data Protection Commissioner’s Website.
Useful Terms & Definitions
Personal Data
Personal data relates to a living natural person who can be identified directly or indirectly by the use of any information related to them. The identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession.
Unless expressly stated otherwise, all terms used in this Notice are in consistency with the GDPR, full version of which you can access here.
Where Brandenburg Marine stands with regard to GDPR?
Brandenburg Marine is an organisation based within the EU, which, according to the GDPR, is a controller of the data collected with regards to its employees and a processor in connection with the services provided under the relevant engagement with the clients. Brandenburg Marine determines the purposes and means of processing personal data, has implemented technical and organisational measures to ensure and demonstrate compliance with the GDPR and collects, organises and stores them lawfully as per Art. 5 and 6 of the GDPR.
How we process your data? (Art 5, 6)
Brandenburg Marine complies with its obligations under the GDPR by:
- Processing personal data lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject. (lawfulness, fairness and transparency);
We rely on legal grounds (Art 6, 9) to justify how, what, when, why and where we deal with your personal data. The legal basis of this is either performance of the contract concluded between Brandenburg Marine and you or, compliance with our legal obligation and / or legitimate interests. We may rely on legitimate interests based on our evaluation that the processing is fair, reasonable and balanced. A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information.
Any other personal data that do not fall within the above legal grounds, we collect only by use of consent forms that require an explicit opt-in / so-called positive action from you. You have a right to withdraw your consent to our processing at any time. However, doing so may prevent us from continuing to provide our services for this further purpose.
- Collecting data for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not processing it further in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes. (purpose limitation);
The purposes for collecting your data are identified under clause “Why do we collect this information?”.
- Collecting and processing personal data that is adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed.
We collect, use, disclose and otherwise process Personal Data that is necessary for the purposes identified in this Notice or as permitted by law. If we require Personal Data for a purpose inconsistent with the purposes we have identified in this Notice, we will notify clients of the new purpose and, where required, seek individuals’ consent (or ask other parties to do so on our behalf) to process personal data for the new purposes (data minimisation).
- Keeping the accurate, necessary and up to date personal data; taking every reasonable step to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay. (accuracy)
- Keeping personal data in a form which permits identification of the data subjects for no longer than it is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed; personal data may be stored for longer periods insofar as the personal data will be processed solely for archiving purposes in accordance with this Notice. (storage limitation)
- Processing personal data in a manner that ensures appropriate security, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing against accidental loss, destruction or damage, using appropriate technical or organizational measures. (integrity and confidentiality)
- Demonstrating compliance with all of the above. (accountability)
The personal data are collected by:
- Telephone, email or written correspondence with you or proposal / application forms, voluntarily completed by you
- Your employees
- In the event of an insurance claim,from third parties including claimant, relevant underwriter and their appointed local correspondents and surveyors, witnesses, experts (including medical experts), loss adjusters and lawyers
- Other insurance market participants, such as insurance intermediaries
- Publicly available databases, such as company registries
- Government bodies or agencies, such as tax authorities.
What information we collect from you?
We may collect and process the following Personal Data:
Individual Details: Name, address, other contact details (email and telephone details)
Identification Details: Identification number issued by relevant government bodies or agencies, social security or national insurance number, passport number, ID number, tax identification number
Financial Information: Bank account number and account details or other financial information
Insured Risk and Insurance Claims: Information about the insured risk, which contains personal data and may include, only to the extent relevant to the risk being insured:
- Health data: Current or former physical or mental medical conditions, health status, injury or disability information, medical procedures performed, relevant personal habits (e.g., smoking or consumption of alcohol), prescription information, medical history;
- Criminal records data: Criminal convictions, including driving offences; and
- Other special sategories of personal data: Racial or ethnic origin, biometric data.
Credit and Anti-fraud Data: Credit history and credit score, information about fraud convictions, allegations of crimes and sanctions details received from various anti-fraud and sanctions databases, or regulators or law enforcement agencies.
Previous Insurance Claims: Information about previous insurance claims, which may include health data, criminal records, and other special categories of personal data.
Current Insurance Claims: Information about current insurance claims, which may include health data, criminal records data, and other special categories of personal data.
Why do we collect this information?
The information we collect about you may be used in a number of ways, for instance:
- To negotiate, arrange and administer insurance quotations, policies and insurance claims on behalf of the Assured
- To communicate with you with regards to survey requirements / arrangements, claims, and all issues with regards to your insurance policies
- To make relevant debit / credit arrangements
- To send you Loss Prevention Circulars
- For fraud and money laundering prevention under Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities Law N. 188 (I)/2007 as it has been amended.
Where you provide us with personal data of a person other than yourself, you agree to notify them of our use of their personal data and to obtain their consent thereto for us.
Who may we share your personal data with?
Your personal data will be treated as strictly confidential and will be shared only with third parties such as: underwriters, correspondents, adjusters, surveyors, lawyers, agents and any other party which you / your underwriter specifically instruct us to engage with, or it is essential to do so for the scope of our services.
As already stated above, Brandenburg Marine, as an intermediary party, is only a processor in connection with the services provided under the relevant engagement with you. Therefore, when transferring data outside European Economic Area (EEA), you, as controller, are responsible to ensure that an adequate level of protection is in place to protect your personal information, such as that a privacy law is in place that requires the same level of protection as the GDPR within the EEA, or that legal grounds justifying such transfer are in place, such as contractual clauses, or other legal grounds permitted by legal requirements.
Certain countries outside the EEA have been approved by the European Commission as providing essentially equivalent protections as EEA data protection laws.
How long do we keep your personal data?
Personal data relevant to tax are kept for a period of 6 years after the completion of the entries or deeds written according to Section 43 and the Tenth Schedule of the Cyprus VAT Law, unless the VAT Commissioner, by relevant notification determines otherwise. The books and records are kept at the premises of Brandenburg Marine. Any other personal data are kept for 5 years according to the Prevention and Suppression of Money Laundering Activities Law N. 188 (I)/2007 as it has been amended. We keep these data for legal and regulatory reasons.
We only retain your data for processing purposes for which the information was collected, and any other permissible, related purpose. For instance, we may retain certain transaction details and correspondence until the time limit for claims arising from the transaction has expired, or to comply with regulatory requirements regarding the retention of such data. When Personal Data is no longer needed, we either irreversibly anonymise the data (and we may further retain and use the anonymised information) or securely destroy the data.
Your rights regarding your personal data
Unless subject to an exemption under the GDPR, you have the following rights with respect to your personal data:
- The right to request a copy of your personal data which we hold. In case you would like a copy of some or all personal data we hold, please email us and we will provide this service without charge;
- The right to request us to correct any personal data if it is found to be inaccurate or out of date;
- The right to request your personal data to be erased provided that it is no longer necessary for us to retain such data according to this Notice;
- The right to withdraw your consent for us to hold, process or transfer your personal data where consent has been provided;
- The right to request, where possible, to transmit that data directly to another data controller (right to data portability);
- The right, where there is a dispute in relation to the accuracy or processing of your personal data, to request a restriction to be placed on further processing;
- The rights to object to the processing of personal data, only where processing is based on the performance of a task in the public interest / exercise of official authority, legitimate interests of the controller or a third party, direct marketing;
- The right to lodge a complaint with the Office of Commissioner for Personal Data in Cyprus.
Actions taken by Brandenburg Marine to secure you data
We have in place physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards appropriate to the sensitivity of the information we maintain. These safeguards will vary depending on the sensitivity, format, location, amount, distribution and storage of the personal data, and include measures designed to keep Personal Data protected from unauthorized access. If appropriate, the safeguards include the encryption of communications via SSL, encryption of information during storage, firewalls, access controls, separation of duties, and similar security protocols. We restrict access to Personal Data to personnel and third parties that require access to such information for legitimate, relevant business purposes.
Changes to our Notice?
We keep our notice under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page. It is subject to change at any time and any changes we make become effective immediately when we post the revised Notice on this site. We recommend that you review this Notice regularly for changes.
How to contact us?
We have designated a Data Protection Officer (DPO), who is responsible to monitor compliance with this privacy policy as well as the applicable Laws and liaise with the Cyprus Supervisory Authority, namely the Office of the Commissioner for Personal Data Protection. If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about this Notice, or our privacy practices in general, please contact our DPO directly with regards to all matters concerning this policy and the processing of your personal data including the enforcement of all applicable and available rights.
If you choose to contact us by post, please use the below address:
Brandenburg Marine Insurance Brokers Ltd
9, Constantinou Paparigopoulou Str.
Frema House, Office M02
3106 Limassol, Cyprus
Mailing address:
P.O. Box 58242
3732 Limassol
Cyprus
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Amgad Wanis – Managing Director
Amgad is the Managing Director of Brandenburg Marine. He has a Bachelor degree in Management and has carried out additional insurance studies from the Chartered Insurance Institute in London. Before moving to Cyprus, Amgad worked for Munich Re Group in Germany, as well as in Egypt for 5 years. Since 2002,
Email: Amgad.w@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 345518
Mobile: +357 99851681
Debbie Nikou – General Manager
Debbie has been working in the insurance industry since 2001, and particularly in the Marine Insurance sector since 2008. Previous to her work experience in the insurance industry, she was employed in the shipping sector involved in the operations side as well as chartering. Debbie is assisting Amgad in the Underwriting Department.
Email: Debbie.n@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 345516
Pambos Stamataris - Accountant
Pambos is a member of AAT (Association of Accounting Technicians) and has worked in the banking industry for 16 years prior to moving to the private sector in different positions. Since 2005 he has gained experience in the accounting side of the marine insurance industry.
Email: Pambos.s@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 345517
Jekaterina Badejeva – Senior Claim Handler
Before joining Brandenburg Marine Jekaterina worked for a fixed premium P&I/FD&D facility. Her professional experience also includes working for a leading regional law firm in the Baltic states and an internship with a top maritime law firm in Spain. Jekaterina has
Email: claims@brandenburgmarine.com / Jekaterina.b@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 345526
Mobile: +357 99876433
Rodoula Aristeidou – Survey Department
Rodoula is a holder of an LLB Law with Honours from Leeds Beckett University, UK. She has been working in the survey department of the marine insurance industry since 2019. She is also responsible for Loss Prevention Advice, as well as monitoring vessels' condition surveys.
Email: surveys@brandenburgmarine.com / rodoula.a@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25345529 / Mobile: +357 99860292
Nicholas Stavrinides - Accountant
Nicholas is a BA (Hons) graduate in Accounting & Finance and has worked in the Shipping industry for almost 20 years prior to moving to the Construction industry for a 4 years contract in managerial positions abroad.
Email: Nikolaos.s@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 345523
Katerina Kefaloniti – Claim Handler / DPO Officer
Katerina is a holder of an LLB Law (Honours) from University of East Anglia, UK and was awarded with her master's LLM in International Maritime Law from Swansea University, UK. She is also a qualified Attorney in Law in the Cyprus Bar Association. She is part of the Claims Department.
Email: katerina.k@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 345519
Mobile: +357 99932319
Erie Loi – Office Administrator
Erie is a holder of a Political Science and Public Administration Degree from National Kapodistrian University of Athens. She has extensive experience of Office Administration and Bookkeeping matters and is responsible for the office management and administration.
Email: reception@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 25345522
Pamela Berkley - Underwriting Assistant
Pamela holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration and has worked in a variety of industries, from client service to insurance and reinsurance companies. As a multilingual individual (Arabic and English), Pamela has the ability and strength to deal with multinational clients. She is part of our Underwriting Department.
Email: pamela.b@brandenburgmarine.com
Direct line: +357 25 25345528
Mobile: +357 99880584
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The procedure to follow when submitting a complaint is as follows:
Customer Complaints
Brandenburg Marine recognises that every client (herein after referred to as the ‘Complainant’) has a right to complain. Our complaints handling process affords you the opportunity to do so. Your feedback is valued as it allows us to continuously improve our service and processes, and affords us the opportunity to change bad experiences into positive ones.
How to complain to Brandenburg Marine
Your complaint must be in writing or telephonically conducted with an official of Brandenburg Marine.
Accepted written formats are:
· Letter
· Fax
· Email
Brandenburg Marine require the following provisions from the Complainant:
· Name and Address Details, Policy Number and Claim Number of the insured.
· Be specific about the complaint and provide all the important facts (including events) that may have a bearing on the complaint.
· Provide copies of all documents that have relevance to the complaint (i.e. letters, quotations, previous correspondence etc.)
Our Complaint Process
All complaints will be acknowledged in writing and sent to you either via post, e-mail or fax, depending on the communication method chosen by yourself.
Once the complaint has been received, it will be allocated to the appropriate area for resolution. A letter of acknowledgement for the receipt of the complaint will be despatched within two (2) business days. Please note that as delivery of e-mails to Brandenburg Marine cannot be guaranteed, should no acknowledgement of a complaint submitted be received within three (3) business days, kindly contact Brandenburg Marine directly in order that we may follow up on the matter.
Where a complaint cannot be addressed within fifteen (15) business days of receipt thereof, Brandenburg Marine will inform you accordingly.
You will be notified of the outcome of your complaint. If the outcome of the complaint is not favourable to yourself, full written reasons will be provided within six (6) weeks of receipt of your complaint.
If within six weeks of receipt of your complaint Brandenburg Marine has been unable to resolve the complaint to the satisfaction of yourself, and if you wish to pursue the matter further, your complaint may be lodged with the Financial Ombudsman.
The contact details for the Ombudsman for the Republic of Cyprus are as follows:
13 Lordos Vyronos Avenue,
1096 Nicosia,
Tel. +357 22848900
Telefax: + 357 22660584 or 22660118
Email: complaints@financialombudsman.gov.cy