Terms of Business

Main Street, Ongar Village, Dublin 15, D15 CF82. T – 01 861 3000, E – bernard@okeeffefms.ie

Terms of Business: 

O’Keeffe Financial & Mortgage Service Limited.

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.  

Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland 

O’Keeffe Financial & Mortgage Services Limited C438104 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 and 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 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 

O’Keeffe Financial & Mortgage Services Limited is 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  

O’Keeffe Financial & Mortgage Services Limited is a member of Brokers Ireland.  

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, and mortgage  products. We are not under a contractual obligation to conduct insurance distribution business  exclusively with one or more Insurance undertakings and do not give advice on the basis of a fair and  personal analysis, we do however provide advice from the selection of products provided by the  Companies we have agencies with. We recommend the product that, in our professional opinion, is  best suited to your needs and objectives from this selection of products.

Investment Intermediary Services  

We are renumerated by commission for our investment intermediary services. Insurance based Investment  

We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance-based investment  products.  

Life & Pensions 

We provide life assurance and pensions 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 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 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.  

Mortgages  

Through the lenders or other undertakings with which we hold an agency, O’Keeffe Financial &  Mortgage Services Limited. 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 property.  

We provide mortgage advice on a fair analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a sufficiently  large number of contracts and product producers available in 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.

Statement of Charges 

We may earn our remuneration on the basis of fee, commission and any other type of  remuneration, including a non-monetary benefit or on the basis of a combination of these methods.  A non-monetary benefit will only be accepted if it enhances the quality of the service to our clients. 

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 2 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.  

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 and Pensions  

You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis.  

Principles / Directors: €250.00 Per Hour. 

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 €250.00 per hour to a maximum of €400.00  per hour. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged. The firm’s services  does not include ongoing suitability assessments. 

Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) – Fees  

Where advice is requested for PRSAs, the following hourly fees will apply:  

Advisor fees: €250.00 per hour. 

Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. We  will notify you in advance of providing you with these services. Our scale of fees for such cases  ranges from a minimum of €250.00 per hour to a maximum of €400.00 per hour. 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 the intermediary unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.

Mortgages  

We may receive up to 1% of the loan for arranging mortgage finance. This commission is paid by the  mortgage lender. 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. 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. 

If we provide mortgage advice and obtain a Loan Offer for you and you subsequently do not proceed  with your mortgage application through our firm, we will charge you an arrangement fee of €750.00 for our services. 

Ongoing Suitability 

Investments 

The firm’s services does not include ongoing suitability assessments.  

Insurance based Investment Products 

The firm’s services does not include ongoing suitability assessments. 

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. In the event that 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). A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request. 

Data Protection  

We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish  Data Protection Act 2018. 

O’Keeffe Financial & Mortgage Services Limited 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, this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection.  

We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible. we will ensure you receive a hard copy,  Please contact us at bernard@okeeffefms.ieif 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 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. 

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 member’s 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.

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