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FAQ - Frequently Asked QuestionsIn this section, key information is provided in answer to the following questions. If you would like more information or clarification, please contact us. Q. What is a ‘retail’ client?A. The Corporations Act 2001 defines ‘retail’ clients as:
and that are purchasing any of the following types of insurance covers:
Under the Corporations Act 2001, ‘retail’ clients are provided with additional protection from other clients and it is important that you understand if you are covered by the additional protection provided. Some of the information contained in this FSG applies to ‘retail’ clients only. Q. What financial services are available to me?A. Insurance Solutions can arrange for the issue, variation and cancellation of general insurance such as your business insurance, home & contents insurance or motor vehicle insurance. Essentially, this means that you can contact us for advice on or assistance with:
Q. What type of advice will be provided to you?A. Typically we provide General Advice to our ‘retail’ clients. General Advice does not take into account your particular needs and requirements and you should consider the appropriateness of this advice to your circumstances prior to acting upon it. We will provide you with a General Advice Warning in such cases. If you are a ‘retail’ client purchasing Personal Accident & Sickness Insurance and obtain Personal Advice (that is advice that takes into account your particular circumstances) we will provide you with a ‘Statement of Advice’ (SOA) that sets out the advice provided and the basis on which the advice is made and our remuneration should you purchase the product. When you ask us to recommend an insurance policy for you, we will usually only consider the policies offered by the insurers or insurance providers that we deal with regularly. In giving you advice about the costs and terms of recommended policies, we may not have compared those policies to other policies available other than from those insurers we deal with regularly. If we recommend the purchase of a particular financial product, we will also give you a ‘Product Disclosure Statement’ (PDS) at that time. The PDS is issued by the insurer or insurance provider and sets out details specific to that product and the key benefits and risks in purchasing that product. We generally act on your behalf in advising on or arranging general insurance but in some cases we may act under the terms of an arrangement with an insurer. If this is the case we will disclose this to you. Under such an arrangement, we will offer only a select range of products. We may still consider your needs and circumstances but will only offer limited products. In order to be able to provide you with recommendations that are appropriate to your needs and circumstances, we will need you to fully disclose information about the risks to be insured. In the event that you are unable or unwilling to do this, or if we do not obtain the required information, we may not be able to help you because we will not be able to make appropriate recommendations. Even if we do advise you, it is important that you carefully review the appropriateness of our advice before acting on our recommendation(s). We will clearly advise you if we consider that we do not possess the information we require to provide you with advice. It is important that you understand your obligation to provide us and the insurer(s) with all the information required to make an informed decision about the risk, asset or property you want to insure. To assist the insurer to assess the risk and the appropriate premium, the law requires you to disclose all the information you know, or should know, that is relevant to the insurer’s decision whether to provide cover or determine the terms of cover. For example, you should disclose your history of losses or claims, criminal convictions, adverse financial history or other matters relevant to the insurer’s decision to accept the risk. Your failure to disclose relevant information may void your cover or prejudice any claim so it is important that you are as open and honest as possible. This duty extends to notifying your insurer of any significant changes that occur during the period of your insurance. You should also ensure that the insurer is aware of everyone who has an interest in the property or asset to be insured so that their interests are also protected. If you have any questions about your duty of disclosure, please ask for our assistance. Q. How will you pay for our services? What commission/fee do we get, and how is it calculated?A. We have an open, honest fee structure and are committed to ensuring that you know the cost of any recommendation we may provide to you. For example, when we place insurance for you, we may obtain from your insurer a percentage of the premium you pay. This is generally in the range of between 0% and 25% of the premium (excluding any fees, charges or taxes). We may also charge a fee, which may vary depending upon the services rendered. Operating a financial services business involves substantial costs and the income we derive from commissions/fees assists us to financially support the infrastructure, personnel and systems required to provide you with quality advice and service. When you pay us your premium it will be banked into our trust account. We will retain the commission/fee from the premium you pay us and will remit the balance to the insurer in accordance with our arrangements with the insurer. We will earn interest on this premium while it is in our trust account or we may invest the premium and earn a return. We will retain any interest or return on investment earned on the premium. As mentioned earlier in this FSG, we are a shareholder of Steadfast Group Limited (“SGL”) which has exclusive arrangements with some insurers under which SGL receives additional over-ride commission of between 0.5% - 1.5% for each product arranged by us with those insurers. These payments are used to operate SGL. Depending on the operating costs of SGL (including the costs of member services provided by SGL to us and other SGL shareholders) and the amount of total business we place with the particular insurers in any financial year, we may receive a proportion of that commission at the end of each financial year. Although the “over-ride” is used to operate SGL, the members of SGL may receive a distribution based on SGL’s operating costs for the financial year. We can not quantify the benefit at this time and we do not believe that this potential benefit in any way influences our recommendation(s) to you. In some circumstances, we may provide a referral payment to a person or organisation which referred you to us and the referral person has an obligation to inform you of the amount of this payment. We can also assist you to obtain finance to enable you to pay your premium(s) by monthly instalments. We can arrange this finance on your behalf or refer you to a premium funding company. Please be aware that premium funding companies do charge you interest for this service. You should also understand that we may receive a benefit from the funding company for arranging the finance and will let you know the amount of this benefit, if asked. Q. What information is maintained in your file and can you examine it?A. We will maintain a record of your personal profile, including details of your insurance objectives and needs and any other information relating to your specific financial situation. We will also maintain records of any recommendations we make. As professional advisers, we are committed to ensuring the privacy and security of your personal information in accordance with the principles of the Privacy Amendment (Private Sector) Act 2001 (Privacy Act). You can obtain a copy of our Privacy Policy (which details our approach to your privacy) by contacting us on (03) 9885 8066 or on our website www.insurance-solutions.com.au. You have a general right to examine the relevant contents of your file. Should you wish to examine your file, please ask us and we will make all necessary arrangements. Further details on our information handling policy can be obtained by contacting our Privacy Officer by telephone on (03) 9885 8066 or put your request in writing and send it to us at P O Box 1050, Darling, 3145 or via facsimile to (03) 9885 8077. Q. What can you do if you are not happy with the insurance policy provided?A. Our commitment to providing you with considered advice should ensure that our recommendations are appropriate for your circumstances. However, if you are not satisfied, ‘retail’ insurance products allow for a “cooling-off period”. This means that if you are not happy with the product, you have a period of time from the time you have received the policy to withdraw from the contract at no cost to you. If this is the case, please ensure that you inform us, in writing, of your decision within the “cooling-off period” to assist us in appropriately notifying the insurer. Please read the Product Disclosure Statement for more details on the “cooling-off period” or call us. Q. What to do if you need to cancel your policy?A. If you wish to cancel your policy at any other time other than during the “cooling-off period”, your request must be written and signed by the insured party &/or counter signed by all co-insured persons, if applicable. Q. If you cancel your policy/ies, what refund(s) do you receive?A. Most insurance policies contain a cancellation clause which allows the insurer to retain a portion of the refundable portion of the premium. In some cases, you will be entitled to a full pro-rata premium refund (this may vary dependant upon the type of cover provided). Our professional brokerage fees will not be refunded upon any cancellation. We may also charge a cancellation fee. Q. Who can you talk to if you have a complaint about the advisory services?A. If you have a complaint about the services provided by us to you, you should take the following steps:
We will endeavour to resolve your complaint quickly and fairly. If you still do not receive a satisfactory outcome, Insurance Solutions is a member of the Insurance Brokers Dispute Limited (‘IBD’) which is an independent private complaint body funded by its corporate members. IBD can handle certain complaints against brokers and will generally attempt conciliation before adjudication. Any decision made by IBD is binding on us as a member of the scheme but is not binding on you. For more information regarding IBD, please call them from anywhere in Australia on 1300 780 808 or write to them at Level 13, 31 Queen Street, Melbourne Vic or visit their website at www.ibdltd.com.au. From when does this Financial Services Guide apply?A. This Financial Services Guide was prepared on and is effective from 18 May 2006. |