These terms of business set out the general terms under which Carty Cullen will provide business services to you as an individual private client of the firm.  Please ensure you read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries I will be happy to answer them. If any material changes are made to these terms we will notify you.

 

Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland

 

Carty & Cullen Ltd t/a Carty Cullen (C7299) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an Investment Intermediary under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995, as an insurance intermediary under the European Communities (Insurance Mediation Regulations) 2005, as a Mortgage Intermediary authorised under the Consumer Credit Act 1995 and as a Mortgage Credit Intermediary under the European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016. Copies of 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 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.

 

Codes of Conduct

 

Carty & Cullen Ltd t/a Carty Cullen is subject to the Consumer Protection Code, Minimum Competency Code & Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers.  These codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie.

 

Our Services

 

Carty Cullen is a member of the Professional Insurance Brokers Association (PIBA). As a member of PIBA we must be in a position to place insurance with at least five insurers of the relevant form (life/non-life) and therefore can generally give consumers greater choice than agents and tied agents.

 

Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of our clients. The products for which Carty Cullen has appointments for to act in relation to include policies for specified serious illness, life assurance, pensions, savings and investments, health insurance and mortgages. A full list of insurers, product producers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.

 

 

Carty Cullen acts as an Independent Broker which means that:

 

a) The principle regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair analysis of the market, and

b) You have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee.

 

 

 

 

Fair Analysis

 

The concept of fair analysis is derived from the Insurance Mediation Directive.  It describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, general insurance, mortgages, and/ or a specialist area.  The number of contracts and providers considered must be sufficiently large to enable an intermediary to recommend a product that would be adequate to meet a client’s needs.

 

The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and their relative importance in and share of that market.  The extent of fair analysis must be such that could be reasonably expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the accessibility of information and product placement to intermediaries and the cost of the search.

In order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute a fair analysis of the market, we will consider the following criteria:

 

• the needs of the customer,

• the size of the customer order,

• the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers,

• the market share of each of those providers,

• the number of relevant products available from each provider,

• the availability of information about the products,

• the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,

• cost, and

• any other relevant consideration.

Life, Pensions & Investments

 

Carty Cullen provides life assurance, pensions & investments on a fair analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on 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 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 policies 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 it is our policy to 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

 

Carty & Cullen Ltd t/a Carty Cullen provides health insurance on a limited analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a limited number of contracts and product producers available on the market).

 

We provide advice on the following product provider:

 

• Aviva Health

 

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.

 

Mortgages

 

Through the lenders or other undertakings with which we hold an agency, Carty Cullen can provide advice on and arrange mortgage products from the following range: fixed-rate loans, variable rate mortgages, capital & interest mortgages, interest only mortgages, endowment mortgages, pension mortgages and residential investment properties.

Carty Cullen provides mortgage advice on a fair analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable the firm to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs).

 

We will need to collect sufficient information from you before we can offer any advice on housing loans. This is due to the fact that a key issue in relation to mortgage advice is affordability. Such information should be produced promptly upon our request.

 

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, you must advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to

date advice and products best suited to your needs. Failure to contact us of changes in your circumstances, or request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.

 

 

 

Disclosure of Information

 

Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.

 

Carty & Cullen Ltd T/A Carty Cullen is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers or lenders on the completion of business. You may choose to pay in full for our services by means of a fee. Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration of initial advice provided.

 

 

 

In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are listed below for life, non-life business, pensions & investments. 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. If we receive commission from a product provider, this may be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission may become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.

 

Life, Pensions & Investment Fees

 

You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis. The following hourly fees will apply:

 

• Advisor fees: €200 per hour.

• Support staff: €100 per hour.

 

 If we receive commission from a product provider, this may 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.

 

Non-Life Remuneration

 

Carty Cullen is remunerated by commission from insurers on completion of business.  Details of this remuneration are available on request. Carty Cullen do not charge brokerage fees for health insurance services.

 

Mortgages

 

Carty Cullen may receive commission up to 1% (or whatever maximum is applicable) of the loan for arranging mortgage finance. This commission is paid by the Mortgage Lender and this will form part of Carty Cullen’s remuneration for arranging the mortgage.  The actual amount of commission will be disclosed at a later stage in the ESIS (European Standardised Information Sheet) which will be forwarded to you. Information on the variation in levels of commission payable by the different creditors providing credit agreements being offered are available on request.

 

We charge a fee of €250.00 for advising on a mortgage application, this fee is non-refundable. This is not in any way an indication of mortgage/loan approval.  On receipt of approval in principal a further €250.00 will be charged, again non-refundable whether the client drawsdown the mortgage or not. Our fee will be notified to the lender who will include this fee into the calculation of the APRC (Annual Percentage Rate Charge)

 

Please note that lenders may charge specific fees in certain circumstances and if this applies, these fees will be specified in your Loan Offer. You have the right to pay a fee separately and not include it in the loan. Typically, this situation arises in relation to specialist lending.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regular Reviews

 

It is in your best interest that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change. You must advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs. Failure to contact us in relation to changes in your circumstances or failure to request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.

 

 

Conflicts of Interest

 

It is the policy of the firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you.  However, where an unavoidable conflict may arise we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service.  If you have not been advised of any such conflict you are entitled to assume that none rises.

 

Default on payments by clients

 

Carty Cullen will exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to it from clients for business services provided. In particular, without limitation of 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.

 

Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under any products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.

 

Mortgage lenders may seek early repayment of a loan and interest if you default on your repayments. Your home is at risk if you do not maintain your agreed repayments.

 

Complaints

 

Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints, it would be preferable that any complaints are made in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint within 5 business 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 business 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 your complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman or the Pensions Ombudsman. A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

 

 

Data Protection

 

Carty Cullen complies with the requirements of the Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003.

The data which you provide to us will be held on a computer database and paper files for the purpose of arranging transactions on your behalf. The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purpose for which it was given.

 

 

 

We would also like to keep you informed of mortgage, insurance, investment, and other services provided by us or associated companies with which we have a formal business arrangement, and which we think may be of interest to you. We would like to contact you by way of letter, e-mail, telephone call or sms text. If you do not wish to receive such marketing information please tick the box in the Terms of Business acknowledgment letter. We may receive referrals from such firms and may advise them of any transactions arranged for you.

 

Investor Compensation Scheme

 

Carty Cullen is a member of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. See below for details.

 

The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act. The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme. Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.

A right to compensation will arise only:

 

• If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and

• If it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm; and

• To the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.

 

Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:

 

• 90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998; or

• Compensation of up to €20,000.

 

For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carty & Cullen Limited T/A Carty Cullen is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland

Registered Address: Unit 1F, Deerpark Business Centre, Claregalway Road, Oranmore, Co Galway.

Registration Number:  331316 - Registered in Co. Galway.

Directors : Michael Carty & George Cullen

 Phone: (091) 751 067 - email: info@cartycullen.ie

 

• Terms of Business

• Privacy Statement

• Schedule of fees and charges