Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING
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.
Authorization with the Central Bank of Ireland
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING C447432 is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. 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 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.
Codes of Conduct
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING 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 www.centralbank.ie.
Our Services
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING
Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life, pension, mortgage and investment products. A full list of insurers, product producers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.
Insurance Intermediary Services/Mortgage Intermediary Services
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING acts as a Broker which means that:
a) the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided based on a fair and personal analysis of the market; and
b) you have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee.
Fair & Personal Analysis
The concept of fair and personal analysis 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 reasonably be expected of a professional conducting business, considering 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 and personal 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.
Investment Intermediary Services
We are renumerated by commission for our investment intermediary services.
Insurance based Investment Products
We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance-based investment product.
Life & Pensions/Deposits & Life Wrapped Investments
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING provides life assurance and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e., providing services based on 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.
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.
Statement of Charges
We are 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 for initial advice provided. We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to on-going advice/assistance exceeds 5 hrs.
A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us which have agreed with product providers is available in our office or on our website www.bjrfinancial.ie
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.
If we receive commission from a product provider, this may/will 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 and Investments
You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis.
Principles / Directors €300 Senior Advisers €250 Associates €175
Support staff €150
*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 €250 per hour to a maximum of €500 per hour. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Ongoing Suitability
Investments
Ongoing suitability assessments form part of the service to clients. On an annual basis the firm will issue a client report outlining changes in the services or instruments involved and/or the circumstances of the client.
Insurance based Investment Products
We will provide periodic assessments of the suitability of the insurance-based investment product which we have recommended to you.
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 in relation to changes in your circumstances, 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.
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. 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.
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.
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 in writing 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. If 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), Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2. (www.fspo.ie or info@fspo.ie) A full copy of our complaint’s procedure is available on request.
Data Protection
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING is subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.
Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as BARRY-JOHN RYAN FINANCIAL PLANNING 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, which is available on our website.
We may need to collect sensitive personal information relating to you, or anyone named on your policy. We may share with insurance service providers information we hold about you and your claims history. Our product providers may subscribe to insurance industry databases for fraud prevention purposes.
We may also use your information for complying with regulatory or legislative requirements, offering renewals, for research/statistical analysis and crime prevention. There may also be requirements to contact you for the purposes of discussing renewal terms of an existing policy with us or any other query directly relating to an existing policy with us. When you request a quote from us, you may receive a phone call or text message and/or email in relation to that quote.
You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time, if you wish to exercise this right, please notify us in writing.
If you have more than one e-mail address, telephone number or address please make sure to notify changes for each e-mail, telephone number, mobile telephone number or address you have registered with us. You have the right at any time to request a copy of any “personal data” within the meaning of the GDPR that our office holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in that information corrected. Please contact us by addressing enquiries to the Compliance Officer, Bells Cross Capital Limited trading as mortagelifeqoute.ie.
19, West End, Mallow, Co. Cork. P51 KX77 if you have any concerns about your personal data.
Compensation Scheme
We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. See below for details.
Investor Compensation Scheme
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 able 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.
Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund
We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund. Subject to the rules of the scheme the liabilities of its members firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (or €250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member. Further details are available on request.
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulations – SFDR
Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’) This EU Regulation is effective 10 March 2021.As the area of the SDFR is new and evolving without sufficient information being currently available, we do not currently assess in detail the adverse impact of investment decisions on suitability when providing investment or insurance advice. The key product providers with which we engage have developed responsible investment as part of their investment philosophies and sustainability polices. However, detailed information on specific fund recommendations we recommend is not always available. As further information on the approach being taken by product providers, and their internal/external fund managers, becomes available over the course of the next year, we anticipate reviewing these areas in our assessments.’