The financial services referred to in this Financial Services Guide (FSG) are offered by:

Dominion Underwriting Agents Pty Ltd (Dominion Underwriting)
ABN 98 096 824 814
Address: Suite 606, 89 High Street Kew, 3101
Telephone: 03 9852 8966
Email: adelem@dominionunderwriting.com
Website: www.dominionunderwriting.com

This FSG sets out the services that we can 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 you
• how we and others are paid
• any potential conflict of interest we may have
• our internal and external dispute resolution procedures and how you can access them.
  
  

Further information about our advice

We will provide you with further information whenever we provide you with advice which takes into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. This information may include the advice that we have given you, the basis of the advice and other information on our remuneration and any relevant associations or interests. This information may be contained in a statement of advice (SoA).

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 polices we have not compared those policies to other policies available, other than from those insurers we deal with regularly.

Product Disclosure Statement

If we offer to arrange the issue of an insurance policy to you, we will also provide you with, or pass on to you, a product disclosure statement (PDS) or short-form, unless you already have an up to date PDS or short-form PDS from the insurer.  The PDS or short-form PDS will contain information about the particular policy which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that policy.

From when does this FSG apply?

This FSG applies from 1 May 2006 and remains valid unless a further FSG is issued to replace it.  We may give you a supplementary FSG.  It will not replace this FSG but will cover services not covered by this FSG.

How can you instruct us?

You can contact us to give us instructions by post, phone, fax, email or visit our website as detailed above.

Who is responsible for the financial services provided?

Dominion Underwriting is responsible for the financial services that will be provided to you, or through you to your family members, including the distribution of this FSG.

Dominion Underwriting holds a current Australian Financial Services Licence No. 247849. The contact details for Dominion Underwriting are provided above.

What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide to me and what kinds of financial product/s do those services relate to?

Dominion Underwriting is authorised to issue, advise and deal in general insurance products to wholesale and/or retail clients.

Dominion Underwriting has access to a  New Zealand insurance company classified under Australian law as a Direct Offshore Foreign Insurer (DOFI). This access is limited to offer and acceptance where by the Underwriter must agree in writing to cover, terms and conditions. To be able to place business with Dominion Underwriting the insurance contract must full within the guidelines of the Financial Sector Legislation Amendment (Discretionary Mutual Funds and Direct Offshore Insurers) Act 2007 and comply with the outlined exemptions. Dominion Underwriting does not place business with the client directly but through their Broker.

Does Dominion Underwriting act under a binder or agency from the insurer?

No. Although Dominion Underwriting has previously held this type of authority there is no current agreement in place. However, should an existing policy be in place that was bound under these authorities’ endorsements to the original contract can still be applied. This is to say that for this type of business Dominion Underwriting is managing the ‘run off’.

For this type of business we have acted under a binder or agency from the insurer. When we act under a binder or agency we will be acting as the agent of the insurer. This means that we represent and act for the insurer, not for you


Will I receive tailored advice?

Maybe not in all cases.  However, we may need information about your personal objectives, details of your current financial situation and any relevant information so that we can arrange insurance policies for you, issue insurance policies to you or to give you advice about your insurance needs. We will ask you for the details that we need to know.

In some cases we will not ask any for any of this information.  If we do not ask, or if you do not give us all of the information we ask for, any advice you receive may not be appropriate to your needs, objectives and financial situation.

You should read the warnings contained in any SOA, or any other warnings that we give you, carefully before making any decision about an insurance policy.

What information do you maintain in my file and can I examine my file?

We maintain a record of your personal profile, including details of insurance policies that we arrange or issue for you. We also maintain records of any recommendations or advice given to you.  We will retain this FSG and any other FSG given to you as well as any SOA, PDS or short-form PDS that we give or pass on to you for the period required by law.

We are committed to implementing and promoting a privacy policy, which will ensure the privacy and security of your personal information. A copy of our privacy policy is available on request.  A copy is also available on our website at www.dominionunderwriting.com.

If you wish to look at your file please ask us. We will make arrangements for you to do so.

How will I pay for the services provided?

For each insurance product the insurer will charge a premium that includes any relevant taxes, charges and levies. We often receive a payment based on a percentage of this premium (excluding relevant taxes, charges and levies) called commission, which is paid to us by the insurers. However, in some cases we will also charge you a fee. These will all be shown on the invoice that we send you. You can choose to pay by any of the payment methods set out in the invoice. You are required to pay us within the time set out on the invoice.

If there is a refund of premium owed to you as a result of a cancellation or alteration to a policy, we will retain any fee we have charged you. We may also retain commission depending on our arrangements with the insurer.

When you pay us your premium it will be banked into our trust account. We retain the commission from the premium you pay us and remit the balance to the insurer in accordance with our arrangements with the insurer. We will earn interest on the 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.

How are any commissions, fees or other benefits calculated for providing the financial services?

Our commission will be calculated based on the following formula: X = Y% x P
In this formula:
X =         our commission
Y% =     the percentage commission paid to us by the insurer.                Our commission varies between 0% and 30%.
P =         the amount you pay for any insurance policy (less any               government fees or charges included in that amount). 

Any fees that we charge you will be shown separately and may include:

• an administration fee in addition to commission when you enter into an insurance policy;

Generally we pay commissions, fees or benefits to others who refer you to us or refer us to an insurer. When we do, we will pay commissions to those people out of our commission or fees (not in addition to those amounts), in the range of 0% to 15% of our commission or fees.

Our employee that will assist you with your insurance needs will be paid a market salary.

If we give you personal advice, we will inform you of any fees, commission or other payments we, our associates or anyone referring you to us (or us to any insurer) will receive in relation to the policies that are the subject of the advice.

Do you have any relationships or associations with the insurer who issue the insurance policies or any other material relationships?

Yes. The shareholders of Dominion Underwriting are also shareholders either directly or indirectly in Western Pacific. 

Under the arrangement with the Insurer Dominion Underwriting will receive between 0.5 -30% commission for each product arranged by us with the insurer. These payments are used to operate Dominion Underwriting.

What should I do if I have a complaint?

Contact us and tell us about your complaint. We will do our best to resolve it quickly.

If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 20 days, please contact Adele McNally on 03 9852 8966 or put your complaint in writing and send it to her at the Dominion Underwriting address noted above.  We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.

Dominion Underwriting is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). If you have a complaint about a policy that we placed on your behalf that can’t be resolved to your satisfaction by us you have the right to refer the matter to FOS at no cost to you.
FOS can be contacted on 1300 780 808.

Any questions?

If you have any further questions about the financial services we provide, please contact us. Please retain this important document for your reference and any future dealings with Dominion Underwriting.


This FSG applies from 1st January 2009