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. 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.
Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland
Curran Delaney Financial Services Ltd (Cl 7108) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 and as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018. 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 0818 681 681 or alternatively visit their website at Central Bank of Ireland to verify our credentials.
Codes of Conduct
Curran Delaney Financial Services Ltd is subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers. These Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website Home | Central Bank of Ireland
Our Services
Curran Delaney Financial Services Ltd is a member of Brokers Ireland.
Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions.on behalf of clients in relation to investments, life & pensions and general insurance products. A full list of product producers with which we deal is available on request.
Investment lntermediary/lBIP’s/Life & Pensions Services
We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance-based investment products.
We provide life assurance and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available in the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs. We provide advice on the following product providers.
Allianz
Aviva
Irish Life
New Ireland
Standard Life
Zurich
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 policy 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 we will 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.
Non-Life
We can provide advice on and arrange products from the following range:
Household
Commercial
We provide general insurance advice on a limited analysis basis providing services on the basis of a limited number of contracts and product producers available on the market, that is to say, while not tied to one product producer the services are not provided on the basis of a fair analysis of the market. We provide advice on the following product providers:
Allianz
In some cases, we may be granted authority from an insurance undertaking to conduct tasks on their behalf, for which we will be remunerated. Where we place your business with this insurance undertaking under this authority you will be notified in advance of the placement. We will also offer assistance to you in relation to processing claims on policies taken out with us and in seeking renewal terms on your cover.
Sustainability Factors -lnvestment/lBIPs/Pension Advice
In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’), we inform you that when providing advice on insurance-based investment products/Investments, we do not assess, in addition to relevant financial risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation the products proposed/advised on. This means that we do not assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment.
Considering Principal Adverse Impacts on sustainability factors in the advice:
When providing advice on insurance-based investment products {‘IBIPs’) or investment advice we assess the PAI information published by product manufacturers as follows: the firm will examine the Product Providers literature to establish the Principal Adverse Impacts for the relevant products. The firm will then compare financial products across available providers to make informed investment decisions about the suitability of ESG products for individual clients.
Impact on Return
We have not assessed the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of Investment/Pensions since we have not been able to identify any sustainability risks that are relevant. The information provided by the product providers is not sufficient enough to make such assessments.
Statement of Charges
We are remunerated by commission from product producers on the completion of business.
In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are listed below. In other 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. Where it is not possible to provide the exact amount, we will provide you the method of calculation of the fee.
IBIP’s/Life and Pensions
Advisory basis only. i.e. no product is provided.
Principles/ Director -€150 per hour or part of
Support staff -€50 per hour or part of
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency, our scale of fees for such cases range from a minimum of €100 per hour to a maximum of €150 per hour. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) -Fees
Where advice is requested for PRSAs, the following hourly fees will apply:
Advisor fees: €100 per hour or part of
Support staff: €50 per hour or part of
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. We will notify you in advance of providing you with these services. Our scale of fees for such cases ranges from a minimum of €100 per hour to a maximum of €150 per hour. If we receive commission from a product provider, this will be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission will become the amount payable to the intermediary unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.
Ongoing Remuneration
We wish to inform you that we receive ongoing remuneration from Product Providers in respect of the financial service provided to you. This remuneration is based on a
percentage of the value of your investment and annual premiums/ contributions and is intended to cover the ongoing service that we provide to you in relation to this product. The nature of the service for which this remuneration is payable includes reviews of your product, updates on performance, and continued access to our advice.
Clawback
If we receive commission from a product provider [and off-set the commission against the fee which we would otherwise have charged you] but the commission is subsequently clawed-back by the provider because of early encashment by you or because of the transferring of the assets or business to another provider or in any
circumstances consequent on your actions or omissions, we will charge a fee to you that is equal to [100% of] the clawed-back commission. That fee will be owing in simple contract upon the claw-back of the commission.
General Insurance
We may be remunerated by commission from insurers on completion of business. Details of the commission arrangements are available on our website. Where an override commission is received, this will be disclosed to you in general terms.
Brokerage fee -€50 -€100
Cancellation or mid-term alteration fee -5% or a minimum of €40
Claims handling fee will depend on the case
We will inform you of the amount of fee to be charged. Where it is not possible to provide the exact amount, we will provide you the method of calculation of the fee.
Insurance based Investment Products
The firm’s services do not include ongoing suitability assessments. The rationale for this decision will be provided to you, the client, through a separate communication, where relevant.
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 upto-date advice and products best suited to your needs.
Consumers: Duty of Disclosure when completing documentation for new business/renewals and midterm adjustments
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’1.
Before renewal of the contract of insurance, specific questions will be asked. Again, you will be required to answer honestly and with reasonable care. Where you do not provide additional information (after being requested to do so) it can be presumed that the information previously provided remains unchanged.
Failure to answer all questions honestly and with reasonable care can result in the Insurer being able to rely on proportionate remedies for misrepresentation, which include but are not limited to the insurer voiding the contract of insurance. If a policy is cancelled by an insurer for any reason including payment default, you may encounter difficulty in purchasing insurance in the future.
Completed proposal forms/statement of fact
Completed proposal forms or Statement of Facts will be provided to you, 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 such as changes of address or use of premises. Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.
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 and the firm will take all steps within its control to appropriately manage the conflict and minimise the impact of the conflict on the consumer. Geoffrey Curran is responsible for managing potential conflicts of interest. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.
Default on payments by clients
We will exercise our legal rights to receive payments due to us from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for services provided. In particular, without limitation to the
generality of the foregoing, the firm will seek reimbursement for all payments made to insurers on behalf of clients where the firm has acted in good faith in renewing a policy of insurance for the client.
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, taking into account social, cultural and linguistic factors.
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.
Complaints
Upon receipt of an oral complaint, we will provide the option to have the complaint addressed through the firms established complaints procedure. We will permit and facilitate submission of complaints in writing by post and by electronic means. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 working days and we will fully investigate it. We shall investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and the complainant will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 working 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 (FSPO). A full copy of our complaint’s procedure is available www.currandelaney.ie and on request.
Data Protection
We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. Curran Delaney Financial Services 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.currandelaney.ie If this medium is not suitable, we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard copy.
Please contact us at dataprotection@abcltd.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.