Terms of Business
23 July 2024
These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which we will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both ourselves 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.
Authorisation and Codes of Conduct
SYS Financial Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018 and as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995.
Our authorisation can be checked on the Central Bank of Ireland register on www.centralbank.ie or by calling them on 1890 777 777 to verify our credentials. Our reference code is C134232.
We are also 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. We are also a member of Brokers Ireland.
Our Services
We are an Insurance & Investment Intermediary. Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of our clients in relation to life, pensions & investments products.
Fair and 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, 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 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.
We provide life assurance, pensions and investments on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of 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.
We recommend the product that, in our professional opinion, is best suited to your needs and objectives from this selection of products.
As part of the process when giving our clients advice on Investments we will need to gather information with regards your investment knowledge and experience, if this information is not provided, we will not be in a position to determine whether the product is appropriate for you.
For a full list of insurers & product producers see below.
| Aviva Life & Pensions Ire DAC |
Newcourt Ret Fund Mgrs Ltd |
| Bespoke Investment Ltd |
New Ireland Assurance Co plc |
| Bespoke Trustees Ltd |
Omnium Investment Platform |
| BCP Asset Management DAC |
Phoenix Life Ass Europe DAC |
| Blackbee Investments Ltd |
Quest Retirement Solutions Ltd |
| Cantor Fitzgerald Ire Limited |
Quintas Wealth Management |
| Conexim Ltd |
Royal London Insurance DAC |
| Greenman Ltd |
Standard Life Assurance Co |
| Independent Trustee Co Ltd |
Wealth Options Capital Limited |
| Irish Life plc |
Zurich Life Assurance plc |
| MMPI Limited T/A Broker Solutions |
|
Private Health Insurance Advice
We are authorised to provide advice in Private Health Insurance under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018. Our dedicated and experienced Consultant will take you through the process of information gathering and researching the market. We can advise on plans with:
- Irish Life Health
- Laya Health
- VHI
The cost of this service is paid upfront by you:
New Personal Advice: €100
Corporate Scheme Review: €2,500 – €5,000
The options of payment for the corporate scheme review is as follows:
Fully Company paid – €5,000
Employee Funded – €100 per employee
Hybrid: €2,500 paid by company and €50 per employee.
Disclosure of Information
We act as your representative to the companies we have agencies with, and 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, 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.
Material information about medical history, non-smoker status, occupation category and any hazardous pursuits are central to underwriting decisions and it is imperative that all information you provide to the insurer is accurate and complete.
In entering into an insurance policy (including an insurance based investment product) you are required to answer all questions posed by us or the insurer honestly and with reasonable care. Specific questions will be asked. Where you do not provide additional information (after being requested to do so) it can be presumed that the information previously provided remains unchanged. An insurer may repudiate liability or limit the amount paid on foot of the contract of insurance, only if it establishes that non-disclosure of material information was an effective cause of the insurer entering into the relevant contract of insurance and on the terms on which it did. You must inform and disclose any material information including any material changes that might take place between the time you complete an application form and the time your pay the first premium. To assist us in providing you with a comprehensive service and to keep our records as up-to date as soon as possible, please notify us of any changes to your personal circumstances, e.g., name change, change of address, etc.
Remuneration
SYS Financial Ltd is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers on the completion of your 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 ongoing advice with regards to the business we advise you on, we will send you an annual update on your investment business as part of this service.
You can choose to pay by way of a combination of commissions and fees which we will discuss and agree in advance of all transactions.
Our fees range from €250 per hour for CEO/Senior Financial Planner.
Other services which include Retirement Planning/ Inheritance Planning & Investment Advice range from €250 up to a maximum of €1500.
If we receive commission from a product provider, this will 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 us unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.
Details of these payments will be included in a product information document, which you are legally entitled to receive before an application for a product is completed, & for insurance products full details will be included in your cooling off letter & welcome pack.
A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission, other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us by the product producers is available on our website. If you need further explanation on this information, please do not hesitate to call us.
Clawback
If we receive commission from a product provider and off-set the commission against the fee which we would otherwise have charged you but the commission is subsequently clawed-back by the provider because of early encashment by you or because of the transferring of the assets or business to another provider or in any circumstances consequent on your actions or omissions, we will charge a fee to you that is equal to 100% of the clawed-back commission. That fee will be owing in simple contract upon the claw-back of the commission.
Complaints
We have a written complaints procedure in place, a copy of which is available on request. Your complaint can be in writing, email, telephone or face to face.
If your complaint is face to face or by phone, we will write to you to confirm our understanding of your complaint. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 business days, advising you of the name of the person dealing with your complaint on behalf of the company.
Please address any complaint to Sys Financial Ltd, Unit 21, Quintin’s Way Pearse Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary, or email info@sysgroup.ie.
If you are dissatisfied with the outcome of our investigation into your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman, 3rd Floor, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, Lo call 01 5677000 email: info@fspo.ie.
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 which may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments. We would therefore advise that you contact us to ensure that you are provided with up-to-date advice and products best suited to your needs.
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.
Consumers: Duty to provide information when completing documentation for new business for insurance products
In completing an insurance proposal, you are required to answer all questions posed by us or the insurer honestly and with reasonable care. Specific questions will be asked and you should be aware that when a policy is incepted following the completion of a proposal form or on a ‘statement of fact’ basis, we will assume that you have checked the accuracy of all information provided.
An insurer may repudiate liability or limit the amount paid on foot of the contract of insurance, if it establishes that non-disclosure of material information was an effective cause of the insurer entering into the relevant contract of insurance and on the terms on which it did.
Sustainability Factors – Investment/IBIPs/Pension Advice
In accordance with the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (‘SFDR’), we inform you that when providing advice on insurance-based investment products/Investments, we do not assess, in addition to relevant financial risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation the products proposed/advised on. This means that we do not assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment.
When providing advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) or investment advice we do not consider the impacts of our advice that result in negative effects on sustainability factors (namely environmental, social and employee matters, respect for human rights, anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters), because currently, there is limited relevant products on the market which meet these criteria. The area of sustainable is relatively new and as the issue progresses, we will review our position.
We have not assessed the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of Investment/Pensions since we have not been able to identify any sustainability risks that are relevant.
We will review this approach on an annual basis in February.
Completed proposal forms
Completed proposal forms or Statements of Facts will be provided to you. These are important documents as they form the basis of the insurance contract between the insurer and you the consumer. You should review and confirm that the answers contained within are true and accurate.
Post-Contract Stage and Claims
You must cooperate with the insurer in an investigation of insured events including responding to reasonable requests for information in an honest and reasonably careful manner and must notify the insurer of the occurrence of an insured event in a reasonable time.
You must notify the insurer of a claim within a reasonable time, or otherwise in accordance with the terms of the contract of insurance.
If you become aware after a claim is made of information that would either support or prejudice the claim, you are under a duty to disclose it. (The insurer is under the same duty).
If you make a false or misleading claim in any material respect (and know it to be false or misleading or consciously disregards whether it is) the insurer is entitled to refuse to pay and to terminate the contract.
Where an insurer becomes aware that a consumer has made a fraudulent claim, they may notify the consumer advising that they are voiding the contract of insurance, and it will be treated as being terminated from the date of the submission of the fraudulent claim.
The insurer may refuse all liability in respect of any claim made after the date of the fraudulent act, and the insurer is under no obligation to return any of the premiums paid under the contract.
Conflicts of interest
It is our policy 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. As per our remuneration policy we receive commission from the companies we have agencies with for the business you transact.
Data Protection
The data we hold on you will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given. Details are included in our Customer Privacy Notice
Investor Compensation Scheme
We are members of the 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.
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: (a) If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act; and (b) 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 (c) 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 firm 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 available on request.
Governing Law & Business Succession
These Terms of Business shall be governed by and construed in all respects according to the laws of the Republic of Ireland and will be deemed to cover any successors in business to SYS Financial Ltd.
SYS Financial Ltd is regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland.
Reg No. 532539.
CEO Tony Delaney, Directors Mike Perrick, Alan Hannigan & Elaine Barry
Unit 21 Quintin’s Way, Pearse Street, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary
Tel 067 57057
Email info@sysgroup.ie
Website www.sysgroup.ie
SYS Financial Ltd is part of SYS Group Ltd
