Financial Services Guide
The financial services referred to in this financial services guide (FSG) are offered by:
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd
3-5 Railway Street, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153
Phone: 8852 8888 Fax: 8852 8899
info@annisparisi.com.au
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 our associates are paid.
- any potential conflict of interest we may have.
- our internal and external dispute resolution procedures and how you can access them.
General Advice Warning
For retail policies you will receive a general advice warning (GAW). The GAW highlights the fact that we have not taken any personal information regards your financial goals into consideration when suggesting the insurance detailed on the retail policy.
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 and we have not considered your particular financial goals.
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), unless you already have an up to date PDS from the insurer. The PDS will contain information about the particular policy, which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that policy.
1. From when does this FSG apply? |
This revised FSG applies from 1st November 2009 on all of your policies which expire after that date and remains valid unless a further FSG is issued to replace it. We may give you a supplementary FSG. Whilst it may not replace this FSG it will cover services and matters not covered by this FSG.
|
2. How can you instruct us? |
You can contact us to give us instructions by post, phone, fax or email on the contact number or details mentioned at the head of this FSG.
|
3. Who is responsible for the financial services provided? |
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd 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.
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd holds a current Australian Financial Services Licensee No: 243559 The contact details for Annis Parisi Pty Ltd are on the front of this FSG.
|
4. Do we have any relationships or associations with the insurers who issue the insurance policies or any other material relationships? |
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd is a shareholder of Steadfast Group Limited (Steadfast). Steadfast has exclusive arrangements with some insurers under which Steadfast may receive up to 1% commission for each policy arranged by us with those insurers. This is used to operate Steadfast.
Depending on the operating costs of Steadfast (including the costs of member services provided by Steadfast to us and to other Steadfast shareholders) and the amount of total business we place with the participating insurers in any financial year, we may receive a proportion of that commission at the end of each financial year.
As a shareholder of Steadfast we have access to member services including model operating and compliance tools, procedures, manuals and training, legal, technical, banking and recruitment advice and assistance, group insurance arrangements, product comparison and placement support, claims support and group purchasing arrangements. These member services are either funded by Steadfast, subsidised by Steadfast or available exclusively to shareholders for a fee
As Steadfast are considered under legislation to be a secondary service provider you may wish to obtain their Financial Services Guide. This can be found on the Steadfast web-site
www.steadfast.com.au
Additionally, Steadfast are shareholders in Miramar Underwriting Agency, an insurance underwriting agency with whom we may place your insurance business. A percentage of the profit generated by Miramar is distributed to Steadfast and, in accordance with the details above, we may subsequently receive an end benefit
Your business may have been referred to Annis Parisi Pty Ltd by another party. In some cases in circumstances of referral we will pay a referral fee to those referrers. This fee does not affect your premiums. Should you wish to know if these circumstances apply in your case simply contact your Account Manager who will be happy to supply details.
|
5. What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide to me and what kinds of financial product/s do those services relate to? |
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd is authorised to advise and deal in general insurance products to wholesale and retail clients. We will do this for you as your broker unless we tell you otherwise.
|
6. Will I receive tailored advice? |
In relation to wholesale policies, the advice provided will be based on information supplied by you and will be tailored to meet the requirements that you have detailed to us. In the case of a retail policy, the advice given will not be tailored.
You should read the warnings contained in any GAW , or any other warnings that we give you, carefully before making any decision about an insurance policy.
|
7. 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 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 other information or PDS that we give or pass on to you.
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 included in the text of this FSG. A copy is also available on our website, www.annisparisi.com.au
If you wish to look at your file please ask us. We will make arrangements for you to do so.
|
8. How will I pay for the services provided? |
We often receive a payment called commission, which is paid to us by the insurers. However, in most cases we will also charge you a fee. These fees 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.
|
9. 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 Don Crocker on 02 8852 8888 or put your complaint in writing and send it to Don Crocker at the Annis Parisi Pty Ltd address noted at the beginning of this FSG. We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service Limited (FOS). If your complaint cannot be resolved to your satisfaction by us you have the right to refer the matter to FOS.
FOS can be contacted on 1300 78 08 08.
|
10. What influences what we recommend? |
We do not deal with all insurers or consider all available products when we make recommendations to you. We select the insurers that we deal with and the products that we recommend based on research and our knowledge of factors such as product terms and conditions, price and the insurers security, strength and claims handling track record.
|
11. What influencing financial benefits do we get from people other than you? |
We are paid by the insurer and sometimes by the people acting for them. Generally, we are also paid a fee (brokers fee) by you.
The commission that we are paid by an insurer is usually calculated as a percentage of your insurance premium less any fees or charges. If you instruct us to arrange a product, this is when we become entitled to the commission, however we are only entitled to draw the commission when the premium has been paid by you. We get these payments even when we act for you as your brokers.
The commission amount that we receive will depend on the type of product that we arrange for you. Some insurers pay more commission than others for similar products. This means that we may earn more if we recommend the product which pays the highest commission. This will depend on the amount of premium for that product compared to others that we consider.
Commission rates for retail products range from nil to 25% and on wholesale products from nil to 25%. Commissions are calculated on the base premium before charges and levies.
If you cancel any policy before its expiry date, no refund of commission or fees paid on that policy will be made to you.
Should you wish to know the commission amount on a policy, you need only request this information for it to be supplied to you.
If we arrange premium funding for you, we may earn commission from the premium funder. The commission paid is usually calculated as a percentage of the amount of premium funded and is generally between 0% and 3% of the total percentage interest charged. If you ask us to arrange premium funding, we earn commission when the deposit has been paid however, the commission may be reversed if the installments are not made. When we arrange premium funding, you can ask us what we will earn from your particular funding contract.
If we arrange your premium funding through Macquarie Premium Funding Pty Ltd (MPF), we may also achieve additional benefits as MPF are in a partnership arrangement with Steadfast and Steadfast will receive a proportion of the profit generated by the partnership and, in accordance with the information detailed earlier in this FSG, our office may subsequently receive an end benefit.
|
12. 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. A summary of our commission percentages is set out below:
We earn commission on home building and contents, personal property, personal accident and illness, combined risks, marine hull and travel from 0% to 22.5% and on motor vehicle from 0% to 11.5%.
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 generally be a maximum of 10% on total premium including charges plus $50.00 plus GST however this may increase depending on specific circumstances. Irrespective, all fees will be clearly shown on all invoices.
Our employee that will assist you with your insurance needs will be paid a market salary which occasionally may include, for the policies we arrange for you, a small percentage of our commission or fees or some other type of incentive.
See the foregoing for information on the Steadfast association and commission.
|
13. Are there any other financial benefits that we are entitled to? |
In addition to commissions and fees, as is common in most commercial arrangements, underwriters and premium funding companies may from time to time offer individuals within our organization other benefits such as business lunches, attendances at sporting functions or other social occasions. Any costs involved or benefits offered in these activities are borne by the underwriters or premium funding companies and are part of their overall budgeted running costs. As such, any costs to you are minimal and certainly less than the amounts set as thresholds for disclosure.
Some underwriters may offer from time to time an incentive based on such outcomes as policy retention, claims ratios, dollar value income or number of policies placed with them. Annis Parisi Pty Ltd have entered into an arrangement along these lines with both QBE Insurance (Australia) Ltd and with Allianz Australia Ltd.
|
14. What arrangements are in place to compensate clients for losses? |
Annis Parisi Pty Ltd has a professional indemnity (PI) policy in place.
The PI policy covers us and our employees for claims made against us and our employees by clients as a result of the conduct of us and our employees in the provision of financial services. Our PI policy also covers us for claims resulting to the conduct of employees who no longer work for us.
|
Privacy Policy
Our Privacy Policy
We are covered by the Federal Privacy Act and its National Privacy Principles (NPPs), which set out standards for the collection, use, disclosure and handling of personal information.
Personal information is essentially information or an opinion about a living individual whose identity is apparent or can reasonably be ascertained from the information or opinion (e.g. a name and address).
Our Privacy Policy applies to any personal information we collect, use or disclose after 21 December 2001. It does not apply to our employee records.
How and why we collect personal information
We collect personal information either directly from the relevant individuals or indirectly from third parties.
For example we collect information from brokers, sub brokers, people you may refer us to, insurers, reinsurers, assessors, claims handling consultants, Banks, Accountants, Solicitors, witnesses, repairers, medical organisations, doctors, public sources and third party sources to all these providers.
We collect personal information to be able to provide our various services. These include, include insurance, risk management, loss services, claims management, finance, computer hardware and software maintenance companies for data handling needs and others involved in the claims handling process.
We also use it to help to develop and identify products and services that may interest clients, conduct market or customer satisfaction research, develop, establish and administer alliances and other arrangements with other organisations in relation to the promotion, administration and use of our respective products and services. For more information on our services please contact us.
How we use and disclose personal information
We do not use or disclose personal information for any purpose that is unrelated to our services and that you would not reasonably expect (except with your consent).
We have a duty to maintain the confidentiality of our clients' affairs, including personal information. Our duty of confidentiality applies except where disclosure of your personal information is with your consent or compelled by law.
We usually disclose personal information to third parties who assist us or are involved in the provision of our services
For example, in arranging and managing your insurance needs we may provide information to insurers, reinsurers, other insurance intermediaries, insurance reference bureaus, our advisers such as loss adjusters, lawyers and accountants, and others involved in the claims handling process. We may also provide it to a potential purchaser of our business and related companies.
We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete, and up-to-date whenever we collect or use or disclose it.
If the required personal information is not provided, we or any involved third parties may not be able to provide appropriate services.
What we expect of you and third parties we deal with
When you provide us with personal information about other individuals, we rely on you to have made them aware that you will or may provide their information to us, the purposes we use it for, the types of third parties we disclose it to and how they can access it (as described in this document). If it is sensitive information we rely on you to have obtained their consent to the above.
If you have not done either of these things, you must tell us before you provide the relevant information.
If we give you personal information, you and your representatives must only use it for the purposes we agreed to.
Where relevant, you must meet the requirements of the National Privacy Principles set out in the Privacy Act 1988, when collecting, using, disclosing and handling personal information on our behalf.
You must also ensure that your agents, employees and contractors meet the above requirements.
Security of your personal information
We endeavour to protect any personal information that we hold from misuse and loss, and to protect it from unauthorised access, modification and disclosure.
For example - We maintain physical security over our paper and electronic data stores and premises, such as locks and security systems. We also maintain computer and network security for example we use firewalls (security measures for the Internet) and other security systems such as user identifiers and passwords to control access to computer systems.
Transfer of information overseas
We may transfer your personal information overseas where it is necessary to provide our service. For example, we sometimes use the internet to collect and process information. In addition, some insurers or reinsurers are based overseas and we need to provide your personal information to them to arrange your cover. In most cases, we only do this with your consent.
Opting out
If we send you any information about services or products, or you do not want us to disclose your personal information to any other organisation (including related bodies corporate) you can opt out by telephoning our Privacy Manager on 02 8852.8888. We will for security reasons require your option to be advised in writing and to be signed by the same party who first supplied the information relevant to that person.
How to contact us
If you wish to gain access to your personal information, or you want us to correct or update it, or you have a complaint about a breach of your privacy, or any other query relating to our Privacy Policy, contact our Privacy Manager during business hours on:
Telephone: 02 8852 8888
Mail: Annis Parisi Pty Ltd,
3-5 Railway Street, Baulkham Hills NSW 2153
Fax: 02 8852 8899
Email: info@annisparisi.com.au
Requests for information are treated in a time sensitive manner. We may however charge the following rates for information supplied:-
Photocopying at $2.00 per page
Labour is billed at $150.00 plus GST per hour or part thereof.
Postage, courier, and miscellaneous charges apply at the rates incurred.
Where client files have been archived and are to be retrieved at a client’s request, a fee of $250 plus GST will apply additional to the charges specified.
All requests for information must be in writing and be signed by the entity regards which that information is sought.
Where information is not archived, we will attempt to supply all information within 7 working days.
Unless payment is made in advance for retrieval of information and costs, we will not supply the information
These provisions also apply subject to the FOS Facility, and this policy will not override legal privilege where litigation is a consideration of Annis Parisi Pty Ltd or any of its related entities.
Any unresolved complaints should be referred to the Privacy Commissioner.
Terms of Trade
We take this opportunity, for our mutual benefit, to detail the terms of any direction made in relation to the appointment of Annis Parisi Pty Ltd as your insurance brokers.
New Business
If you need cover for property or a risk not currently insured, you will need to advise Annis Parisi as soon as practical. If you want immediate cover, we will endeavour to arrange interim cover under a cover note, but in order to do so we will, in all instances, need to have details of the property or risk (e.g. nature of risk, location, sums insured, etc.) and all information to be disclosed to the insurer. Where required by the insurers, we will then send you a proposal for completion, which we ask you to return to us as soon as possible. Interim cover is provided for a limited period (e.g. one month or sometimes less) and will lapse unless the proposal is submitted to the insurer during its currency. The insurer should issue the policy within approximately two months.
Renewals
We will attempt to give you at least fourteen days notice of expiry of any cover arranged or last renewed by us on your behalf. This is obviously dependant on receiving all information from you and the insurance company.
We do not accept liability for giving you notice of expiry of any cover arranged or last renewed direct with the insurer or through another broker. Our invoice for renewal of the cover will include all details of the cover as expiring. In order for us to secure the renewal on your behalf, we must receive before the expiry date your instructions in writing to renew the cover. If you want the cover to be altered in any way, please contact us immediately.
We do not accept responsibility for following you up to check whether you wish to renew. If we do not receive payment of our invoice or written renewal instructions by the expiry date, cover will not be renewed.
Variations
If you want to vary any cover (e.g. by increasing the sums insured, or adding another location, etc.) please contact us. You will need to give us not only the details of the variation you are seeking, but also details of relevant matters to be disclosed to the insurer that have not been previously disclosed. We will then confirm the variation we have effected with the insurer.
Advice
If you need advice on your insurance covers or rationalisation of your insurance arrangements or if you have any other query please contact your Account Manager (and not one of our junior staff). The Account Manager will be happy to answer minor queries, over the telephone, but written advice or confirmation should be sought in relation to any matter on which you propose to rely. We accept responsibility for written advice, but we accept no responsibility for verbal advice.
We do charge for the service of providing advice if the matter requires a significant amount of time. We shall discuss the charge with you at the time.
Terms of Payment
When we arrange, renew or vary a cover on your behalf, we will invoice you for the premium, statutory charges (eg. stamp duty, fire services levies etc) and our brokerage and/or fees.
In the case of renewal, if you wish to instruct renewal by payment of our invoice, we must receive payment in full before the expiry date.
In all other cases, our invoices are payable by you within thirty days of the date of the invoice (notwithstanding that the invoice may be addressed to some other party at your request). The full amount is payable by you to us, including the premium and statutory charges and/or brokerage and/or fees
If a cover is cancelled before the expiry of the period of insurance we will refund to you only the nett return premium we receive from the insurer, that is nett of any commission and fees. We will not refund any part of the commission or fees we received for arranging the cover.
Some insurers have a minimum premium. In these circumstances, any refund will be based on the refundable amount as advised by the insurer and subject to the same limitations as detailed above.
Notices
In accordance with normal business procedures, we will direct all notices and correspondence in relation to covers we arrange or renew on your behalf to your address as advised by you.
If you wish to change your address, or utilise a postal address please advise us in writing of the new address. Unless you do so, our records will not be altered and notices and correspondence will continue to go to the existing address. We do not accept responsibility for following up responses from you to correspondence or notices sent to your address.
Insurers are not required to give notices to insureds when covers are arranged through a registered insurance broker. Thus you will not receive them from the insurer for covers arranged by our company on your behalf. You will always be supplied with the original policy document. If you do not receive the document within a reasonable time after completing all necessary documentation and payment in full has been made, you should contact this office immediately.
It is imperative that you check all your insurance certificates and policy wordings to ensure that they provide the cover you require and that you fully understand their limitations. In all cases, the documentation provided by Annis Parisi Pty Ltd should be cross checked against any proposal form that you have completed to ensure that all disclosable details have been supplied to the insurer. If you have not retained a copy of the proposals, they are available on request from our office. We again stress that you should feel free to contact us if you have any query.
If you have any further queries about the financial services offered by Annis Parisi Pty Ltd , or its privacy
policy or terms of trade please contact this office using the details provided. This document should be
retained as reference to any current or future dealings with Annis Parisi Pty Ltd
Amended 1.11.09
|
