THE PURPOSE OF THIS GUIDE

This Financial Services Guide (FSG) is designed to assist you in deciding whether to use any of our services and contains important information about:

• The services we offer you
• How we and our associates are paid
• Any potential conflicts of interest we may have
• What to do in the event of a complaint
  
  

RESPONSIBILITY FOR SERVICES PROVIDED

We hold an Australian Financial Services Licence No. 247849 and are authorised to advise and deal in the full spectrum of general insurance products.  We are responsible for the financial services provided to you, or through you to your family members, including the distribution of this FSG.  We are required to meet high standards for staff training, organisational competence, management expertise and financial control.

WHO DO WE ACT FOR

We issue insurance polices and act under a binder from Contractors Bonding Limited (CBL) and therefore have a legal obligation to act in the best of interests of CBL rather than in your interests.

CBL

CBL is an insurer based and registered in New Zealand (which has a system of financial supervision of insurers) operating in Australia.  CBL recently applied to Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) for an Australian insurance company authorisation and has been granted authority from APRA to continue to carry on insurance business in Australia until the outcome of their application is determined or until the 31st of December 2008, whichever occurs first. CBL for this period are exempt from the requirement of authorisation, as per regulation 12 of the Insurance Regulations 2002. For full details please refer to the APRA web site www.apra.gov.au

OUR SERVICES

HOW TO CONTACT US

You are able to contact us using the details above or via email – enquiries@dominionunderwriting.com

OUR PRODUCTS

We can arrange and issue a broad range of insurances on your behalf including: Business Insurance, Public Liability, Personal Accident and Trade and Professional Covers.

RETAIL CLIENTS

Under the Corporations Act 2001 (The Act) Retail Clients are provided with additional protection from other clients. The Act defines Retail Clients as:  Individuals or a manufacturing business employing less than 100 people or any other business employing less than 20 people And that are purchasing the following types of insurance covers:  Motor vehicle,  home building, contents, personal and domestic, sickness/accident/travel, consumer credit and other classes as prescribed by regulations.
Some of the information in this FSG only applies to Retail Clients and it is important that you understand if you are covered by the additional protection provided.

RETAIL CLIENT ISSUES

Typically we only 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 new Retail Client purchasing Personal Accident or Sickness insurance and obtain Personal Advice, that is, advice that takes into account your particular circumstances, we will give you 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.
For existing Retail Clients we may not provide an SOA but rather provide the advice to you orally.  In such cases you may request us to provide you with a Record of Advice (via phone or in writing) which we will provide to you within 28 days of such request.
When you ask us to recommend an insurance policy for you, we will usually only consider the policies offered by CBL.  In giving you advice about the costs and terms of recommended polices we have not compared those policies to other policies issued by other insurers.
If we recommend the purchase of a particular financial product, we will also give you a Product Disclosure Statement at that time, which sets out details specific to that product and the key benefits and risks in purchasing the product.

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU

To enable us to provide the right advice we need you to provide us with complete information about the risk(s) that you face and those that you want to be insured for.  You should also tell us about any relevant changes as they occur so that we can review your insurance needs accordingly.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

The Federal Privacy Act 2000 sets out standards for the collection and management of personal information. With your consent, we will only use your personal information for general insurance services.

COOLING OFF PROVISIONS

All retail products are subject to a 14 day ‘cooling off period’. This means that if you are not happy with the product, you have 14 days to withdraw from the contract at no cost to you.

COMPLAINTS

Clients not satisfied with our services should contact our Complaints Officer. We are members of the Insurance Brokers Disputes Limited (IBD), a free consumer service. Further information is available from our office, or contact IBD directly on 1300 780 808 or visit www.ibdltd.com.au.  We also follow The Insurance Brokers Code of Practice.

COMPENSATION

We hold a Professional Indemnity Policy.  This policy is designed to pay claims by Third Parties (including our clients) arising out of our Professional Negligence.  The policy extends to covers us for work done for us by representatives/employees after they cease to work for us and satisfies the requirements for compensation arrangements under Section 912B of The Act.

CONTACT AGREEMENT

To ensure that we provide you with appropriate products and services, you agree to us calling you to discuss any new products and services.  If you do not wish to receive such calls please advise us and we will place you on our Do Not Call Register.

OUR SOURCES OF INCOME

When placing your insurance we usually receive a commission from the insurer.  The amount varies between 0% and 30% of the base premium you pay.  Where a policy is cancelled before the period of insurance has ended we may retain the commission on any return premium involved.
If you are a Retail Client and we give you Personal Advice, commission amounts will be provided in any SOA or (where an SOA is not required to be provided) included on any relevant invoices.  When we give you General Advice, full commission information (including dollar amounts) will be provided on request.
We have a set of standard non refundable Policy Fees that we charge you for services such as:

• Market research on products available.
• Assessing the claims paying ability of insurers.
• Policy Issue and administration
• Claims administration.

All fees payable for our services will be advised to you at the time of providing the advice or service.
If you pay by credit card we may charge you a credit card (incl. arrangement & handling) fee, which is disclosed and shown separately on our invoices, they are non refundable. This fee covers the cost of bank charges etc. associated with such facilities.
Premium funding products enable you to pay your premiums by installments. Premium funders do charge interest.  We can arrange premium funding if you require it. We may receive a commission based on a percentage of the premium from the premium funder for doing so. We will tell you the basis and amount of any such payment if you ask us.

HOW OUR REPRESENTATIVES ARE PAID

Our representatives do not receive any benefit directly from the sale of a product to you.  Our representatives may receive bonuses payable based on the overall performance of our business.  If a person has referred you to us, we may pay them a part of any fees or commission received.  If you are a Retail Client and receive Personal Advice full remuneration details will be disclosed in the SOA or invoices related to the advice.

CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

As a business we have relationships with and receive income from various third parties as detailed in this FSG. For Retail Clients receiving Personal Advice, details of relationships that impact the advice will be included in any SOA or invoice documentation we send you.  All material conflicts that impact our advice, that are not mentioned in this FSG, will be advised to you on the invoices related to that advice.