Terms of Business of Vista Financial Services Ltd

(Effective from October 2018)

 

These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which Vista Financial Services Ltd 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

Vista Financial Services Ltd (C53852) 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 a register of regulated firms.  You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or alternatively visit their website on www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.

 

Codes of Conduct

Vista Financial Services Ltd 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

Vista Financial Services Ltd is a member of Brokers Ireland.  Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to Life, Investment & Pension Products.  A full list of insurers and product producers with which we deal with is available on request.

 

Insurance Intermediary Services

We act as a Broker which means that:

(a) the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of 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 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 these 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 remunerated 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 products.

 

Life & Pensions, Investments & Life Wrapped Investments

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.

 

Statement of Charges

Vista Financial Services Ltd is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers 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 should the services exceed standard hours.  At present we do not charge a fee but should the need arise any fee payable will be discussed in detail and agreed in writing prior to doing business.

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 with 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 – Fees

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

Principal/Advisor Fees: €100 per hour

 

Investment Fees

Principal/Advisor Fees: €100 per hour

 

Personal Retirement Savings Accounts (PRSAs) – Fees

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

Principal/Advisor fees: €100 per hour

Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency.  We will give an estimate of this rate in advance of providing you with services.  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.

 

Ongoing Suitability

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.

 

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 or failure to request a review, 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 Vista Financial Services Ltd to avoid any conflict of interest when providing business services to its clients. However, where an unavoidable conflict may arise we will advise you of this in writing before proceeding to provide any business service. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.

 

Default on Payments by Clients

Vista Financial Services Ltd will, if necessary, exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to us from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for business services provided. In particular, without limitation to the generality of the foregoing the firm will seek to be reimbursed 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 of any payments due under any products arranged for your benefit. Details of these provisions will be included in your product terms and conditions.

 

Complaints

Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints, it would be preferable that any complaints are made in writing. Any such complaint will be acknowledged within 5 business days. The complaint will be fully investigated by Vista Financial Services Ltd and an update will be provided to you at intervals of not greater than 20 business days starting from the date on which the complaint was made.  In the event that you remain dissatisfied with the firms handling and response to your complaint you are entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

 

Data Protection

Vista Financial Services are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.  Vista Financial Services Ltd 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 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 assessable.  Please contact us 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

Your legal rights against the firm are not affected by this 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 that scheme.

Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held, administrated or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where is no reasonably foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.

A right to compensation will arise only:

1. if the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act;and
2. if it transpires that this firm is not in a position to return client money or investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm;and
3. to the extent that the clients loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act.

Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of:

1. 90% of the amount of the clients loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act 1998; or
2. compensation of up to €20,000.

 

Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund

Vista Financial Services Ltd is 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 available on request.