These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which Grado Financial Services Limited t/a ZINC Mortgages provides its services to all its clients. These Terms of Business apply to all business transactions and services undertaken and provided, and will remain in force until further notice. Should these Terms of Business change or be amended at any time in the future, you will be advised in advance of the changes. We recommend that you read through these Terms of Business, and if you have any questions, issues, or require clarification on any items, please do not hesitate to contact us, or simply ask your sales advisor .
Address: ZINC Mortgages, 5 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4
Telephone: 01 - 254 1830
Fax: 01 - 254 1831
Email:enquiries@zincmortgages.ie
Website:www.zincmortgages.ie
We would also be obliged if you could acknowledge that you have received a copy of these Terms of Business, and that you have read and understand these terms.
AUTHORISED STATUS
Grado Financial Services Limited t/a ZINC Mortgages is regulated by the Financial Regulator as a Mortgage Intermediary and an Insurance Intermediary. A copy of the company's Authorised Status are contained in Appendix 4 of this document.
Grado Financial Services t/a ZINC Mortgages will be referred to as ZINC Mortgages in the rest of this document.
SERVICES
ZINC Mortgages offers advice in relation to mortgage products (commercial & domestic mortgages), life assurance products(term cover, serious illness cover), and general insurance (personal and commercial), and transmits orders on clients behalf to any of the insurance undertakings or product producers from whom the Company hold Letters of Appointment from. A list of all such entities are contained in Appendix 1 of this document.
REMUNERATION POLICY
Mortgage Business
ZINC Mortgages is in receipt of mortgage commissions from lenders at a rate of up to 1% of the value of the amount borrowed. A list of lenders whom ZINC Mortgages holds agencies with is listed in Appendix 1 of this document.
ZINC Mortgages may charge an administrative fee to clients in certain circumstances, but this fee will be agreed with your Sales Consultant upon application.
Life Assurance & Investment Business
ZINC Mortgages may receive commission and other payments from the product producer to whom orders are transmitted. Summary 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, and full details will be included with your cooling off period letter that you will receive from the relevant life company. A list of Life Companies whom ZINC Mortgages holds agencies with is listed in Appendix 1 of this document.
Where the firm is not in receipt of commission, in the case of life assurance / investments contracts, ZINC Mortgages may charge a service fee, agreed with clients, depending on the complexity, time spent, and nature and extent of the transaction. This fee will be agreed with your Sales Consultant upon application.
General Insurance Business
ZINC Mortgages is in receipt of commissions from General Insurers, of up to 25% of the first years premium. In addition ZINC Mortgages, in respect of personal lines business, charges a service fee per policy (at inception and renewal) of up to 5%subject to a minimum of €30. A service fee of up to €20 may charged in respect of mid term adjustment to contracts. A list of General Insurers whom ZINC Mortgages holds agencies with is listed in Appendix 1 of this document.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
It is the policy of ZINC Mortgages to avoid conflict of interest when providing services to clients. Where an unavoidable conflict arises we will advise you of this in writing before providing any business service. If you have not been advised of any such conflict you may assume that none arises. ZINC Mortgages may be in receipt of indemnity commissions /marketing contributions from the life insurance companies / lenders where an agency is held. ZINC Mortgages may additionally receive renewal commissions of 0.1% from some lenders for business placed on an ongoing basis.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Any complaint that you may have in relation to business services provided by ZINC Mortgages should be made in writing to Alan Dolan, Compliance Officer, ZINC Mortgages, 5 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4. Please outlining the nature of your complaint in as much detail as possible, including all relevant dates and contacts. Your complaint will be acknowledged in writing within 5 working days of receipt of your complaint, and your complaint will be investigated fully by ZINC Mortgages, with a full written response provided to you. Details of our complaints handling procedure is listed in Appendix 2 of this document.
In the event that you remains dissatisfied with the handling of and/or response to your complaint, you may refer the matter to the Financial Services Ombudsman, 3rd Floor, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2, Tel. 1890 88 20 90. or to the Pensions Ombudsman, 36 Upper Mount Street, Dublin 2 Tel (01) 647 1650
CONSUMER PROTECTION
ZINC Mortgages is a member of the Investor Compensation Scheme, established under the Investor Compensation Act2998. This legislation provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and to the payment in certain circumstances, of compensation to clients of firms covered by the Act. The main details of the operation and conditions of the scheme can be found in Appendix 3 of this document.
HANDLING CLIENTS MONEY
ZINC Mortgages will accept payments in cash, cheque or bankers draft in respect of all classes of insurance in their circumstances permitted under Section 25G of the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995.Payments must represent premium in respect of either a renewal of a policy, which has been invited by an insurance undertaking or product producer or a proposal accepted by an insurance undertaking or product producer.
ZINC Mortgages is not authorised to accept cash or negotiable instruments in any other circumstances.
CREDIT POLICY
We regret that credit cannot be extended to clients in respect of premiums, initial, renewal or additional. Initial or first premiums must be paid at inception of cover, and renewal premiums must be paid before the policy renewal date. In the event of non payment, ZINC Mortgages will contact the insurance undertaking or product producer involved and advise of the non-payment. The result will be the cancellation of clients cover by the insurance undertaking or product producer. N.B. Please read your individual policy document as this contains the detailed terms and conditions of your policy, including the actions of your insurance undertaking or product producer in the event of your non-payment.
RECEIPTS
ZINC Mortgages will issue a receipt for each non-negotiable or negotiable instrument or payment received pursuant to Section 30 of the "Investment Intermediaries Act 1995" and the Consumer Protection Code issued by the Financial Regulator. These receipts are issued to ensure the protection of the customer, and should be treated as an important record of the transaction, and retained in a safe location.
CLIENT ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I acknowledge and confirm that I have been provided with a copy of the Terms of Business of ZINC Mortgages, and that having read and understood these terms, I accept these as the terms and conditions of using the business services of ZINC Mortgages.
APPENDIX 1 - List of Intermediary Appointments
This is a list of Product Producers and Insurance Undertakings that ZINC Mortgages holds written Letters of Appointment from, and is authorised to act as an intermediary.
Lender Appointments Nature of Products
Lender Appointments
Life Assurance Appointments
APPENDIX 2 - Investor Compensation Scheme 1998
Under Section 38 (1) of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998 I wish to draw your attention to the following:(a) The Investor Compensation Act, 1998 provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment, in certain circumstances to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of the authorised investments firms, as defined in that Act.(b) Grado Financial Services Limited t/a ZINC Mortgages is a member of the compensation scheme.(c) Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owned or belonging to clients and held, or in the case of Investment Instruments, administered or managed by Grado Financial Services Limited t/a ZINC Mortgages cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and there is no reasonable foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.(d) A right to compensation will arise only (i)If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act(ii) If it transpires that ZINC Mortgages is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the client of the firm; and (iii)To the extent that the client's loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.(e) Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of: (i)90 per cent of the amount of the client's loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998: or(ii)Compensation of up to €20,000ZINC Mortgages is in addition bonded for the sum of €250,000, with a maximum per client of €65,000.
APPENDIX 3 - Complaints Procedure
A complaint will be defined as any expression of dissatisfaction (written or verbal) from any client, legal representative, or3rd party in relation to the business services provided by ZINC Mortgages. To ensure that your complaint is dealt with most effectively, please outline the nature of your complaint in writing, in as much detail as possible, including all relevant dates and contacts. All complaints will be dealt with in line with the procedures set out below. All complaints should be made in writing to Alan Dolan, Compliance Officer, ZINC Mortgages, 5 Upper Baggot Street, Dublin 4.Complaints Procedure(a)(b)(c) (d)(e)(f)(g)
All complaints received (both verbal and written) will be logged in our complaints file, which will be available for inspection by the Financial Regulator if required. ZINC Mortgages will acknowledge each complaint in writing within 5 business days of the complaint being received. The complaint will be actively investigated, and the complainant will be given the name of an individual in Alan Dolan who will be the point of contact in dealing with the complaint. The Complainant will be provided with a regular written update on the progress of the complaint at intervals of no later than 20 working days. ZINC Mortgages will attempt to investigate and resolve the complaint within 40 business days of having received the complaint. Where the 40 business days have elapsed and the complaint is not resolved, ZINC Mortgages will inform the Complainant of the anticipated timeframe we hope to resolve the complaint. We will also inform the client of their right to refer the matter to the Financial Services Ombudsman or the Pensions Ombudsman, where relevant, and will provide the contact details of such Ombudsman. ZINC Mortgages will advise the Complainant in writing, within 5 business days of the completion of the investigation of a complaint, of the outcome of the investigation and, where applicable, explain the terms of any settlement. Where it has not proved possible to resolve the clients complaint and the client remains dissatisfied with the outcome(and the firm believes it cannot make any further progress on the matter), the client will be advised of this and will be advised that they are entitled to refer their complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau or the Pensions will also inform the complainant of the right to Ombudsman and will provide the client with the contact details of such Ombudsman. All correspondence regarding the complaints will be filed together on the clients file, and retained a minimum of five years, from the date of the last correspondence about the matter. The firm will provide all correspondence and information about the subject matter of the complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau or the Pensions Ombudsman, if requested to do so, when a complaint has been referred to one of the Ombudsman by a client.
APPENDIX 4 - Data Protection Declaration
Data Protection Acts, 1988 and 2003: ZINC Mortgages will treat all personal information given to it in confidence as confidential information and we will not disclose such information except as permitted by you or as required by law. The personal data you provide to us will be held on paper and electronically and will only be used for the purposes permitted by the Data Protection Acts. Consent to Deal with your Lending Institutions and Introducer. You permit us to share your personal data with lending institutions and / or insurance institutions for the purposes of providing you the services you have requested. Where you are represented by an introducer (e.g. accountant, solicitor or other party) you agree that we may share with your introducer your personal data. Consent to send you information on other services. We may from time to time identify other services which we believe may be of interest to you and which are relevant to you in your circumstances. Please advise us if you do not wish to receive such information.