TERMS OF BUSINESS 2018
Flanagan Ford Limited of Shell House, Wine St, Sligo specialise in the provision of Retirement Planning, Life Assurance, Savings and Investments and Mortgage services to consumers. Please ensure that you read these term thoroughly ad if you have any queries we will be happy to clarify them.
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Authorised Status:
Flanagan Ford Limited trading as Flanagan Ford O’Neill Financial Advisors is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Insurance Intermediary registered under the European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations, 2005; as a Multi-Agency Intermediary under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 as amended and as a mortgage intermediary authorised under the Consumer Credit Act, 1995 as amended The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.
Codes of Conduct:
Our firm is subject to the following Codes of conduct issued by the Central Bank of Ireland. These codes offer protection to our clients and all of the Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie Consumer Protection Code 2012, Minimum Competency Code 2011, Prudential Handbook for Investment Intermediaries, Consumer Credit Act and Fitness and Probity Standards.
Services:
Our firm provides its insurance services to our clients on a fair analysis basis. “Fair analysis of the market” means that our firm provides its life services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable our firm to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet our clients consumer’s needs. When our firm provides non-life, mortgage and deposit services to clients we provide these services on a limited analysis basis meaning that our firm provides non-life, mortgage and deposit services on the basis of a limited number of contracts and product producers available on the market.
Flanagan Ford Limited offer advice in relation to all aspects of mortgage finance and also in relation to life assurance products (Term Cover, Serious Illness and Permanent Health Insurance), General Insurance and on Deposits. We also transmit orders on client’s behalf to any of the insurance undertakings or product producers from whom the Company hold letters of appointment. A list of all such entities is contained elsewhere in these Terms of Business.
Remuneration Policy:
Life Assurance:
Flanagan Ford Limited in the case of life assurance where the firm is not in receipt of commission, will charge a service fee, agreed with clients, depending on complexity of the transaction, time spent and nature and extent of the transaction. . Our fees are charged as follows: Advisor Fees Corporate Finance Planning; €250 per hour
Advisor fees Personal Finance Planning €135 per hour
We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the policies or in the event of a claim during the life of the policies and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to your policy. However, it is your responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover; particularly in relation to PHI and serious illness policies.
Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies it is our policy to explain to you a) the meaning of disability as defined in the policy; b) the benefits available under the policy; c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and d) the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.
For a serious illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.
Mortgage Business:
Flanagan Ford Limited is in receipt of mortgage commissions from lenders at a rate of up to 1.00% of the value of the amount borrowed. A list of lenders whom Flanagan Ford Limited hold agencies with is listed in this document. In certain circumstances we may charge a fee for providing your mortgage, our fees range from €500 - €2,000 depending on the type of mortgage required, the complexity of the case and the time spent on the mortgage. All fees will be agreed with the client before any advice is given.
Flanagan Ford Limited may make sub-commission payments to Introducers of mortgage business to the company. All recipients of such sub commission payments must be registered by the Central Bank of Ireland as a Mortgage Intermediary.
We will need to collect sufficient information from you before we can offer any advice on housing loans. This is due to the fact that a key issue in relation to mortgage advice is affordability. Such information should be produced promptly upon our request.
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Regular Reviews:
It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change. You must advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs. Failure to contact us in relation to changes in your circumstances or failure to request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.
Conflict of interest:
It is the policy of Flanagan Ford Limited to avoid a conflict of interest when providing services to clients. Where an unavoidable conflict arises we will advise you of this in writing before providing any business services. If you have not been made aware of any such conflict you may assume that none arises.
Complaints Procedure:
Flanagan Ford Limited has in place a written procedure for the handling of complaints. This procedure ensures that all complaints are recorded and acknowledged within 5 business days. All complaints are fully investigated and the complainant updated at intervals of not greater than 20 business days. We will attempt to investigate and resolve a compliant within 40 business days.
All complaints should be directed in writing to Mr Ken O’Neil, Complaints Officer, Flanagan Ford O’Neill Limited. In the event that a client remains dissatisfied with the handling of and/or response to a complaint they may refer the matter to The Financial Services Ombudsman.
Consumer Protection:
Flanagan Ford Limited is a member of the Investor Compensation Scheme established under the Investor Compensation Act 1998. The legislation provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and to the payment in certain circumstances, of compensation to clients of firms covered by the Act. However you should also be aware that a right to compensation would only arise where money or investment instruments held by this company on your behalf cannot be returned either for the time being or for the foreseeable future and where the client falls within the definition of eligible investor as contained in the Act. In the event that a right to compensation is established, the amount payable is the lesser of 90% of the clients loss, which is recognised as being eligible for compensation or €20,000.
Data Protection:
The firm complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. The data which you provide to us will be held on a computer database and paper files for the purpose of arranging transactions on your behalf. The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in
our Privacy Notice which is given to all clients at the time of data collection, our privacy notice is also available on our website. You have the right at any time to request a copy of any ‘personal data’ within the meaning of the GDPR that our office holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in that information corrected. Please contact us at info@flanaganford.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.
We would also like to keep you informed of mortgage, insurance, investment and any other services provided by us or associated companies with which we have a formal business arrangement; which we think may be of interest to you. We would like to contact you by way of letter, email or telephone call. If you do not wish to receive such marketing information please tick the box in the Terms of Business acknowledgement letter.
We may receive referrals from such firms and may advise them of any transactions arranged for you.
Default Remedies:
Flanagan Ford Limited actions in the event of default by the client are:
Product providers are entitled to withdraw benefit or cover on default of any payments due under any products arranged for your benefit. It is therefore critical to the guaranteed continuance of your insurance that your premium is paid in full. Some insurers may include as a term of the insurance a settlement due date or in some cases a warranty under the terms of which the premium must be paid to them by a certain date. We inform our clients of such requirements and the relevant date in good time to allow the payment terms to be met. Failure to comply with the terms of the warranty may mean that the insurers obligation under the policy will be terminated. We will automatically advise you of any payments outstanding on your policy and the consequences of failure to pay premiums.
An outline of the action and remedies which the relevant product producers may take in the event of default by a client is included in the product producers policy document.
Business Referrals:
Flanagan Ford Ltd conducts business on a referral basis with the expressed consent of the individual.
Our client’s personal data is confidential and available only to our firm, we do not pass on clients details to any other firm unless instructed to do so by our client
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Product Providers:
Flanagan Ford Limited has agencies with the following product providers -
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Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland Limited
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BCP Asset Management Ltd
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Royal London
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Friends First Life Assurance Company Limited
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Investec Bank Plc
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Irish Life Assurance Plc
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J & E Davy
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KBC Bank Ireland plc
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New Ireland Assurance Company plc
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Newcourt Retirement Fund Managers Limited
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Oregan Financial Limited
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Standard Life Assurance Company
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Wealth Options Limited
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Zurich Life Assurance plc
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KBC Bank Ireland plc
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Haven Mortgages Limited
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ICS Mortgages
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Permanent TSB Plc
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Effective 01/06/2018
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