Registered Financial Adviser Disclosure and our Standard Terms & Conditions: How We Do Business
Staff Qualifications
Your Broker is acting on behalf of Saffron Business Insurance Limited and is a General Insurance Broker. Under NZ law they are licensed and authorised to carry on a financial service business to provide advice on and deal in general insurance and life insurance products.
We are able to issue, apply for, acquire, vary or dispose of such products to our clients, or on behalf of another person.
We provide these services on your behalf, unless we tell you otherwise. On occasion, we may act under a binder agreement authorising us to effect insurance and/or settle claims on behalf of an insurer. We will tell you whenever we act for the insurer and not for you.
Our quality services are delivered competently with integrity and honesty.
We adhere to the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services in New Zealand.
The Code of Professional Conduct is set by The Code Committee, which is an independent body established by the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act). It is responsible for producing and maintaining the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services in New Zealand.
You can find more information about the Code Committee and its members on the Financial Advice Code website: https://financialadvicecode.govt.nz/about-the-code/
When We Provide Advice
Whenever we give you Advice by considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, we will provide that advice in the appropriate manner e.g. a Statement of Advice (SOA); or a written record of advice; or verbal advice.
In each instance, we will detail our advice; the reasons for that advice; our remuneration; and any potential conflicts of interest. If our advice is verbal, we will record and retain it, and make it available to you upon your written request.
When we give you advice of a General nature, rather than a personal one, we will tell you so and advise you carefully to read the relevant policy documents to ensure the cover is right for you.
Arranging Insurance
We will collect relevant information from you to enable us to arrange quotation/s from suitable insurance markets.
When we submit the quote/s to you, we may also give you advice or recommendations. We will either ask for your instructions in writing or we will confirm your verbal instructions back to you in writing as agreed.
Your instructions will be carried out promptly and confirmed to you by us and/or insurer formal documentation e.g. our Tax Invoice and Schedule of Insurance; Certificate of Currency; and/or Policy.
Confirmation Of Policy Transactions
Any policy transaction will be confirmed to you in writing. At times, we will retain the insurer’s documentation on your behalf; however, we will provide it to you upon request. Alternatively, we will inform you that we are endeavouring to obtain the documentation from the insurer.
Associations and Relationships
We endeavour to avoid any associations or relationships that do not benefit you in some way. In this Document and at other times, we will tell you about those that are capable of influencing our services so that you can make an informed decision.
Where you require financial products outside our specific area of expertise, we may refer you to other financial services professionals, who will be registered or authorised financial advisors. Any products you purchase or advice you receive from a referral partner will fall under their professional jurisdiction.
How We Are Paid
Our main remuneration for services is calculated as either commission paid to us by the insurer or underwriting agency, or a fee paid by you, or a combination of commission and fee. Commission is a percentage of the base premium i.e. the premium before the addition of EQC levy, fire services levy, GST and any other charges or fees. The rates of commission can vary between 0% and 20% and is payable on most transactions We will advise you about any fee we intend to charge you prior to providing the service and it will be shown on the Tax Invoice. Any fee is dependent upon factors such as the type and extent of your insurance program; and the time and costs associated with the administration performed and services provided.
Retention and application of additional fees
We will retain any fee charged for the period of insurance if your insurance is altered midterm.
Each transaction may also attract an additional Administration Fee. If you are owed a refund of premium, we may retain the total commission for the full policy period by charging you an additional Administration Fee to offset any loss of commission due to the refund transaction.
Premium Funding
We can arrange premium funding with preferred companies who charge you interest to enable you to pay premiums by instalment.
Before you enter into a contract with a funding company, you should read it carefully to ensure you agree with its terms and conditions. We may receive commission from the funding company calculated in the range of 0% to 4% based on the amount funded.
Our Professional Indemnity Insurance
Saffron Insurance Limited, its representatives and employees are covered by Professional Indemnity Insurance through the group scheme provided to members of the Steadfast Network.
The insurance, subject to policy terms and conditions, also covers claims in relation to our representatives and employees who no longer work for us, but who did at the time of the relevant conduct.
Client Obligations
Your duty of disclosure
Remember, your premium and insurance cover will be based specifically on the details you provide and the Insurance Contracts Act 1984 sets out your duty to disclose certain matters before you enter into a contract of general insurance with an insurer.
You have a duty to inform the insurer about every matter that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, is relevant to the insurer’s decision about whether to accept the risk and, if so, on what terms. You have the same duty each time you renew, extend, reinstate or vary the policy and during the policy period.
This duty is especially important in matters relating to physical risk including alteration of risk, and new or changed business activities or changed location, past claims, refusal or cancellation of other policies or increased premiums by insurers, fines or penalties, criminal convictions, insolvency or bankruptcy matters.
Under Insurance/Average Condition
Before you buy insurance, you should carefully consider whether your sum insured is adequate to cover any loss. You should insure for the full value of your property taking into consideration the type of insurance cover arranged e.g. replacement, reinstatement, indemnity or market value.
Many policies covering property e.g. Business Insurance, Fire, and Business Interruption contain an Under Insurance or Average Clause. In simple terms, this means that if you are underinsured, your claim may be reduced in proportion to the amount of that underinsurance. As a simple example:
If full Replacement Value of your property is $1,000,000; and you chose a Sum Insured of $500,000, you would effectively be under insured for 50% of the Replacement Value. If a claim occurred for $200,000, the amount payable by the insurer would be50% of the $200,000 i.e. $100,000.
Policy Conditions
We know that reading insurance policies is the last thing you would think about doing but we can’t stress enough that you can’t absolve your responsibility for understanding what you are covered for if you don’t read your policy documents. So read and check all policies to ensure that you are aware of the cover, limits and other terms that as failure to comply with them could invalidate it.
In the event of a claim
In the event of a claim, you should take note of the required procedures, such letting us know as soon as possible. Prompt action could avoid unnecessary cost and distress.
As with any insurance, you have an obligation to take reasonable steps to mitigate any loss.
Your cancellation rights
If you change your mind, and you have received your policy documents within the last 14 days you can cancel your policy and we will return any premium you have paid in full (provided no claims have been made on the policy). At any other time, you can cancel this policy by giving us 30 days’ notice.
Complaints Policy
Our Service Goals
We aim to provide our Clients with excellent service at all times. We aim to be accurate, honest and fair, and provide a duty of care. Occasionally, however, disputes can arise.
If you believe we have not met up to the high expectations we wish to be held to, please let us know, and we will try our best to resolve it by listening to you carefully and responding in a professional, fair and timely manner.
Our goal is to have happy and satisfied long term Clients, by conducting our services competently, with integrity, honesty, care, and skill, and adhering to our statutory requirements as a Financial Advice Provider licensed by the Financial Markets Authority (FSP719612) and relevant best practice codes of professional conduct:
How To Make and Resolve Complaints
In the first instance, you can let us know about your complaint by:
Speaking to the broker who handles your insurance and explain you complaint, or,
By writing to us, explaining your complaint, and attaching any relevant documentation, or,
By visiting us and explaining your complaint.
We will only ask you for relevant information and you will have access to the information we have relied upon in assessing your complaint.
We will also take the opportunity to correct any mistakes in that information. In special circumstances, we may decline to release certain information but will not do so unreasonably. In these circumstances, we will give you our reasons in writing.
We value every client and have always focused on building strong client relationships. We expect that the fair and prompt way our people handle your Complaint and our final decision will reflect that value.
If Your Complaint Is Not Resolved
If your complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, our Complaints Manager will confirm to you in writing whether the dispute must be handled by:
Financial Services Complaints Limited. Legislation requires that, as a registered Financial Service provider, we must be registered with a disputes resolution service. Visit fscl.org.nz for more details.
