Financial Services Guide (FSG)

This document must be clearly headed Financial Services Guide

This FSG template contains basic information and should be amended to suit your own circumstances. An FSG can be extended to include other information relevant to your business, for example, Terms of Engagement.

Purpose of this Financial Services Guide (FSG)

This FSG sets out the services that we offer you. It is designed to assist you in deciding whether to use any of those services and contains important information about:

The services we offer
How we and our associates are paid
Any potential conflict of interest we may have
Professional indemnity insurance arrangements
Our internal and external complaints resolution procedures
Our Privacy Policy

The Financial Service is Provided by

Insert name of licensee, name of adviser and contact details of address, phone, fax, email, website if applicable. Include AFS licence details and ABN number. Also include details of any Authorised Representatives' licence numbers.

Our Financial Services authority

Our Australian Financial Services licence authorises us to advise and deal in (general, life, general and life) insurance products to wholesale and/or retail clients.

Date and currency of this FSG

This FSG applies from (insert date) and remains valid unless another FSG is issued to replace it. If we give you a supplementary FSG or other documents relating to our services or any products, they will not replace this FSG however you should read them carefully.

Receiving instructions

We are able to receive your instructions personally, or by any of the contact methods shown above.

Retail Client

The Corporations Act 2001 (The Act) provides Retail Clients with additional protection than other clients. Under The Act, a Retail Client is defined as:

Individuals or a manufacturing business employing less than 100 people; and
A business employing less than 20 people; and
who are purchasing the following types of insurance cover:
- Motor vehicle,
- home building,
- home contents,
- sickness and accident,
- travel,
- pleasure craft,
- caravan,
- personal property
- consumer credit,
- (Life and Superannuation if applicable).

It is important that you understand if this definition applies to you or your business, as some of the information and additional protection in this FSG only applies to Retail Clients.

Who we act for

We act for you as your insurance broker unless we advise you otherwise. Sometimes we may arrange with an insurer to act under a binding arrangement or as their agent.

When we do this we will be representing the insurer, and not you. We will tell you at the time when we are acting for the insurer and not for you.

The advice we give

If you are a Retail Client, then typically you will be provided with General Advice. General Advice does not take into account your personal needs and financial circumstances at the time therefore you will need to consider whether this advice suits your requirements prior to acting upon it. On these occasions we will give you a General Advice Warning.

If you are a retail client and we agree to give you Personal advice, we will give you a Statement of Advice (SOA). The SOA will contain advice we have given, the basis on which it was given, and details of relationships, associations, remuneration and other interests that may have influenced the advice we have given.

If we arrange an insurance policy for you, or if we recommend you buy a particular insurance policy, we will also give you, or give you access to a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS). The PDS is produced by the insurer, and is designed to give you important information about the policy you are considering purchasing.

Our Remuneration

For placing your insurance we usually receive a commission paid by the insurer as a percentage of the premium you pay. This is the standard way insurance brokers are remunerated and depending on the type of insurance our rates of commission typically range from X% to X%, before any government fees or charges.

On occasions we may also charge a broker service fee, which varies according to the level of services rendered and the commission we receive. This fee will always appear on your invoice.

Payment arrangements

You can pay for the insurance premium and services provided by any method described on the invoice. You need to pay us within the time stipulated on the invoice.

When you pay the premium to us it will be banked in our trust account where as allowed by law we will earn interest or we may earn a return by investing the premium. Any interest or investment return will be retained by us.

Cancellation and refunds

This version is in accordance with Rule 4 of the NIBA Membership Rules therefore you should consider your position vis-à-vis your company’s policy on the subject and formal Terms of Engagement

If your policy is cancelled, or altered, and there is a refund of premium due, unless before cancellation we have a written agreement with you that varies this statement, we will refund the proportion of return premium due including brokerage.

No fee or penalty will be charged by us relating to cancellation unless before cancellation we have a written agreement with you that varies this statement.

We have the discretion to retain or refund part or all of any fee relating to the arrangement of the policy.

Relationships, Associations and Referrals

Choose the most appropriate

There are no specific relationships, associations or referrals existing which have influenced us in providing this product.

There are relationships and associations and referrals which may have influenced us in providing this product. These are:

List as applicable, and describe nature of relationship, e.g.

We have entered into a profit share agreement with XXX Insurance Ltd., providing that if we meet certain productivity and profitability criteria we will receive a profit share bonus of X% of profit to be paid on the XX date of each year.

Other remuneration information

Insert what information applies to your business.

In addition to the above, we may receive commission from a premium funder if we arrange this service on your behalf. We may also charge you a fee for the service. The commission we receive from the premium funder is usually calculated as a percentage of the total amount funded and the rates are in the range of X% and X%.

Our employees are paid a market salary that may include bonuses based on performance. We and our staff may also receive non-monetary benefits such as sponsorships of conferences and functions, and meals and entertainment. We closely monitor these activities to ensure they do not create a conflict with your interests.

Where a third party such as a trade association or other business has referred you to us or endorsed our services to you, we may share a part of our remuneration with them or pay an agreed referral rate. We will pay the third party out of our total commission and/or fees and never in addition to these amounts.

Protection against giving you negligent wrong advice

As an AFS licensee we must maintain adequate Professional Indemnity insurance to compensate you or your beneficiaries for loss or damage suffered as a result of our giving you negligent advice.

We and our representatives are covered under professional indemnity insurance that complies with the requirements of section 912B of the Corporations Act, 2001.

Insert the relevant options and/or amendments

The insurance (subject to its terms and conditions) will continue to cover claims in relation to our representatives/employees who no longer work for us but who did at the time of the relevant conduct. or

The insurance (subject to its terms and conditions) does not cover claims in relation to our representatives /employees who no longer work for us but who did at the time of the relevant conduct.

Authorised Representatives’ version

We and our authorising licensee(s) are covered under professional indemnity insurance that complies with the requirements of section 912B of the Corporations Act, 2001.

Insert the relevant options and/or amendments

The insurance (subject to its terms and conditions) will continue to cover claims in relation to the representatives/employees of the authorising licensee(s) who no longer work for them but who did at the time of the relevant conduct. or

The insurance (subject to its terms and conditions) does not cover claims in relation to the representatives /employees of the authorising licensee(s) who no longer work for them but who did at the time of the relevant conduct.

The NIBA Code of Conduct

Insert your company’s name is a member of the National Insurance Brokers Association and is bound by their Code of Conduct (The Code). The Code sets out standards for brokers to follow when dealing with clients, including requirements to inform clients of remuneration arrangements and possible conflicts of interest. You can ask us for a copy of the Code, or go to the NIBA Website, www.niba.com.au

Complaints and disputes

If you should have any concern or complaint or dispute (complaint) about the service we have provided you, then contact us and tell us about it. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 24 hours, ask to be put in touch with our Complaints Manager/Officer, insert name and contact details or put your complaint in writing to us at insert name and address, email address who will attempt to resolve the matter satisfactorily within 21 days.

If you are still not satisfied with our determination, you have the right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).

FOS can be contacted on 1300 780 808. You can write to them at Level 5, 31 Queen Street, Melbourne, Victoria. 3000, or fax (03) 9613 6399. Website address is www.fos.org.au

Privacy Policy

We collect personal information to ensure we can offer or provide you with products and services most appropriate to your needs, as outlined in this FSG. We value your privacy and have adopted the principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988 as part of our commitment to maintain client confidentiality in the collection, use, disclosure or handling of personal information. For further information about our privacy policy, please insert details of how the client can obtain a copy of or view your Privacy Policy

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