Rosguill, Hall Demesne, Mountcharles, Co. Donegal E-mail joe@jcfc.ie Mobile 087 257 99 31 Phone/Fax 074 97 35 602
TERMS OF BUSINESS
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Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries, we will be happy to clarify them. If any material changes are made to these terms, we will notify you.
These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services.
Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Limited (54725) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations, 2018; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995. Copies of our regulatory authorisations are available on request. 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.
# Consumer Protection Code 2012 # Minimum Competency Code 2011 # Fitness and Probity Standards
These codes offer protection to our clients and all the Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie
Our Services
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Ltd. is a member of Brokers Ireland.
Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life insurance, specified illness benefit, income protection, pensions, savings and investment products.
Limited Analysis
We provide life assurance and pensions advice on a limited analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a limited number of contracts with product producers for whom we exclusively conduct insurance distribution business. We provide advice on products provided by the following product providers:
| Aviva Life & Pensions Ireland Dac | Standard Life |
| BCP Asset Management Dac | Royal London |
| Irish Life Assurance Plc | Wealth Options Ltd |
| New Ireland Assurance Co plc | Zurich Life Assurance plc |
Life Assurance, Pensions and Investments
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.
It is however, 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 Income Protection 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 Specified Serious Illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and general exclusions that attach to that policy.
Investment Intermediary Services (IIA firms providing Article 3 services.
We are renumerated by commission for our investment intermediary services.
Insurance based Investment Products
We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance-based investment products.
Sustainability Factors – Investment/IBIPs/Pension Advice
When providing advice, the firm does not consider the adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability. The firm does not intend to consider such impacts in the future.
Consumers: Duty of Disclosure when completing documentation for new business/renewals and midterm adjustments
Section 14 (1) – (5) of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act which is effective from 1st September 2021 alters consumers duty of disclosure:
- You are required to answer all questions posed by us or the insurer honestly and with reasonable care – the test will be that of the ‘average consumer’. Average consumer as per Directive No. 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 is reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, considering social, cultural and linguistic factors.
- Specific questions will be asked. Where you do not provide additional information (after being requested to do so) it can be presumed that the information previously provided remains unchanged.
An insurer may repudiate liability or limit the amount paid on foot of the contract of insurance, only if it establishes that non-disclosure of material information was an effective cause of the insurer entering into the relevant contract of insurance and on the terms on which it did.
Completed proposal forms
These are important documents as they form the basis of insurance contract between the insurer and you the consumer. You should review and confirm that the answers contained within are true and accurate.
Commercial Customers: Non-Consumer Disclosure of Information
It is essential that you should bring to our attention any material alteration in risk. Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.
Remuneration Structure
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Ltd. is remunerated
by commission and other payments from product providers on the completion of business.
You may choose to pay in full for our services by means of a fee. These are listed below for life, pensions, investments and standard PRSAs. Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided. We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to on-going advice/assistance exceeds 1 hour.
A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us which have agreed with product providers is available in our office or on our website – www.jcfc.ie
In circumstances where fees are chargeable or where you choose to pay in full for our service by fee, we will notify you in writing in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged if different from fees outlined below.
If we receive commission from a product provider, this may be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission may become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.
Life, Pension & Investment – Fees
You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis as follows:
Financial Adviser €120.00 per hour Administration staff €50.00 per hour
Standard Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSA) – Fees
Where advice is requested for PRSAs, the following fees will apply:
Financial Adviser €120.00 per hour Administration staff €50.00 per hour
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases and for outlays incurred. Where the fee differs from that
outlined above we will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Referrals…
We may receive referrals from some firms with whom we have a formal business arrangement.
Insurance based Investment Products
The firm’s services do not include ongoing suitability assessments.
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 which may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments. We would therefore advise that you contact us to ensure that you are provided with up-to-date advice and products best suited to your needs.
Complaints
Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints, it would be preferable that any complaints are made, in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 business days and notify you of the name of the person dealing with your complaint. We will fully investigate the complaint and keep you updated at intervals of not greater than 20 business days starting from the date on which the complaint is made. On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome. In the event that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the
Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Bureau, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, D02 VH29. Tel: 01 567 7000 A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.
The following sections apply to consumer duties and rights arising out of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 which was implemented to protect consumers. Non-Consumer Commercial clients have no duties and rights under this Act, and therefore the following sections do not apply to them.
New Business & Renewal
If you have taken out a life insurance contract, you may cancel the contract by giving notice in writing to us within 30 days after the date you were informed the contract is on cover.
The giving of notice of cancellation by you will have the effect of releasing you from any further obligation arising from the contract of insurance. The insurer cannot impose any costs on you other than the cost of the premium for the period of cover. This right to cancel does not apply where, in respect of life insurance the contract is for a duration of six months or less.
You are under a duty to pay your premium within a reasonable time, or otherwise in accordance with the terms of the contract of insurance.
A court of competent jurisdiction can reduce the pay-out to you if you are in breach of your duties under the Act, in proportion to the breach involved.
Post-Contract Stage and Claims
An insurer may refuse a claim made by you under a contract of insurance where there is a change in the risk insured, including as described in an “alteration of risk” clause, and the circumstances have so changed that it has effectively changed the risk to one which the insurer has not agreed to cover.
Any clause in a contract of insurance that refers to a “material change” will be interpreted as being a change that takes the risk outside what was in the reasonable contemplation of the both you and the insurer when the contract was concluded.
You must cooperate with the insurer in an investigation of insured events including responding to reasonable requests for information in an honest and reasonably careful manner and must notify the insurer of the occurrence of an insured event in a reasonable time.
You must notify the insurer of a claim within a reasonable time, or otherwise in accordance with the terms of the contract of insurance.
If you become aware after a claim is made of information that would either support or prejudice the claim, you are under a duty to disclose it. (The insurer is under the same duty).
If you make a false or misleading claim in any material respect (and know it to be false or misleading or consciously disregards whether it is) the insurer is entitled to refuse to pay and to terminate the contract.
Where an insurer becomes aware that a consumer has made a fraudulent claim, they may notify the consumer advising that they are voiding the contract of insurance, and it will be treated as being terminated from the date of the submission of the fraudulent claim. The insurer may refuse all liability in respect of any claim made after the date of the fraudulent act, and the insurer is under no obligation to return any of the premiums paid under the contract.
Investor Compensation Scheme
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Limited is a member of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and to the payment in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms covered by the Act.
The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme. Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being or where there is no reasonable foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.
A right to compensation will arise only:
- If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and
- If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and
- To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.
Where an entitlement to compensation is established the amount payable will be the lesser of 90% of the client’s loss, which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act 1998 or compensation up to €20,000.
For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.
Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund
As a member of the Brokers Ireland, Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Ltd. is also a member of the BI Compensation Fund Ltd. Subject to the rules of the scheme the liabilities of its member firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (€250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the Fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed ICCL (established by law) has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member.
Default on payments by clients
Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Ltd does not have the authority to cancel a policy on behalf of a client; this instruction must come from the client in writing.
Data Protection
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Ltd is subject to the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Acts 2018.
Joe Coyle Financial Consultants Ltd is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client.
The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice; this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection.
We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible. Please refer to our website www.jcfc.ie; if this medium is not suitable, we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by post or email.
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 joe@jcfc.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.
We would also like to keep you informed of insurance, investment and any other services provided by us or associated companies with which we have a formal business arrangement, and which we think may be of interest to you. We would like to contact you by email, phone, SMS, post or fax. If you wish to receive such marketing information, please complete the permission statement contained in the Terms of Business Receipt letter attached.
Conflicts of interest…
It is the policy of our firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you. However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest arises, we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service.
A copy of our Conflicts of Interest Policy is available on request.
This Terms of Business Letter is effective from 01.06.2021 Version 6
