Terms of Business

Terms Of Business

Terms of Business

TERMS OF BUSINESS LETTER            

Declan & Barry Goggin t/a Goggin Insurances, 48, Dublin Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin

Phone 01 8730600. Email info@goggin.ie. www.goggin.ie

 

These Terms of Business set out the terms under which our firm will provide General Insurance and Financial Services business services to you. It details the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Please ensure to read these terms thoroughly and if you have any queries, please contact us at the above address and we will be happy to clarify any questions you may have. If any material changes are made to these terms, we will notify you, at the earliest opportunity. We commit to providing you with an excellent and professional level of service. We believe in acting only in the best interests of our clients to ensure that a relationship as important and fundamental as ours is maintained for life.

Central Bank of Ireland Authorisation

Goggin Insurances is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 (as amended and the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations, 2018. Our Central Bank reference number is C1443. Copies of our Authorisations are available on request; alternatively, the Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms which can be viewed on their website www.centralbank.ie. We are registered as a credit intermediary by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission under the Consumer Credit Act, 1995.

Statutory Codes

Goggin Insurances is subject to and comply with the Consumer Protection Code, the Minimum Competency Code 2011 and the Fitness and Probity Standards. These Codes offer protection to consumers and can be found on the Central Bank of Ireland website www.centralbank.ie.

Our Services

As Insurance Intermediaries we provide advice in relation to General Insurance and Life Assurance products and services including pensions and investments.  We do not guarantee nor make representations in regard to, and expressly disclaim responsibility for the financial security of Insurance Companies and Product Producers with which we place business. Goggin Insurances are members of Brokers Ireland.

General Insurance Services

Inception & Renewal

We provide advice in relation to the following general insurance products: Household, Motor, Commercial, Public Liability and Employers Liability. Depending on your instructions we can advise you in relation to the products of the Insurance Companies and Product Producers listed in Appendix 1 and we will work on your behalf to negotiate competitive renewal terms on your insurance cover.  We offer general insurance services based on a fair analysis of the market which means that we request quotes and research the product offerings of a number of providers before making a recommendation as to which is most suitable for your needs.

We will also offer assistance to you in relation to processing claims, on policies taken out through with our firm. This assistance is provided either directly by our staff and/or with the assistance of an appointed loss assessor.

Important Notice: To ensure continuity of cover, where you have an existing policy which is due to expire and we have been unable to contact you, we may put continuing cover in force whilst awaiting your instruction. You will be liable for any premiums payable to the relevant insurer for the period of time between renewals and when we receive your instruction. You have the right not to avail of this service and should advise us accordingly.

Credit Finance

If you require credit terms, we may be able to arrange finance on your behalf, our list of Credit Finance appointments is listed in Appendix 1.  Alternatively, a monthly direct debit facility (if available) may be operated by the insurance company. We cannot accept instalments paid to our office.

Life Assurance, Investments & Pensions

Life Assurance companies provide many products such as Life Cover, Specified Illness cover, Income Protection, Savings, Investments, Pensions and PRSA’s. Depending on your individual circumstances, we may provide you with advice in relation to any of these products and recommend product(s) that are suitable for your needs. With your agreement, we may review the policies you take out on a periodic basis to ensure you are kept informed as to their benefit and to check whether they are still suitable for your needs. We will also 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. While Goggin Insurances considers the approach taken by Life Companies in terms of integrating sustainability risks into their product offering, as we have selected one preferred provider for Investment Products, analysis when choosing a suitable investment product for you will be limited to products provided by Irish Life Assurance PLC. However, should you specifically seek a financial product which has sustainable investment as its sole/specific objective, and no such product is available from the range of products offered by Irish Life PLC, Goggin Insurances will conduct analysis of the product offerings available from other insurance undertakings, lenders and product producers with whom Goggin Insurances hold written appointments.

Goggin Insurances hold written appointments with the following Life Assurance companies.

Aviva Life and Pensions

Irish Life Assurance PLC

New Ireland Assurance

Royal London

Standard Life Assurance

Zurich Life

 

Goggin Insurances has selected one preferred product producer, Irish Life Assurance PLC, for life insurance plans (including life assurance, specified illness cover, income protection cover, unit linked savings, investments and pension plans), tracker bonds and personal retirement savings accounts (PRSAs). Analysis of the market will be limited to products provided by Irish Life Assurance PLC. However, in the event that Irish Life is unable to accept a particular plan in relation to life assurance, pension or investment we will place your business elsewhere if possible.

Conflict of Interest

It is the policy of Goggin Insurances to avoid conflicts of interest in providing you with general or life insurance and services and we take all reasonable steps to do so. If this is not possible, we will notify you in writing before providing you with any product or service and if you do not wish to continue because of the conflict we will not proceed with the product or service. .

Complaints

Goggin Insurances has a written complaints procedure for the effective handling of all complaints. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing within 5 working days. A written update will be issued to you every 20 days by a nominated individual within our firm. A comprehensive response to your complaint will be issued within 8 weeks of receipt of your initial complaint. In the event of failure to resolve your complaint you may raise the matter with the Financial Services & Pensions Ombudsman, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2. 01 5677000. www.fspo.ie. Our full Complaints Procedure is available on request

Failure to Pay or Default

Our firm will exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to it from clients for business services provided. In particular, without limitation of 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. Insurers and other 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 refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.

Disclosure of Information

In order to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, before we provide any regulated financial services, we are obliged to request such information and documents from you as we consider necessary. We are also obliged to keep a record of this information. Should you not provide the information requested, we may not be able to provide any services to you. It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information to insurers when arranging an insurance policy and/or where a Statement of Fact is completed on your behalf. Failure to disclose any material information to your insurers could invalidate your insurance cover; all/or part of the claim may not be paid.

Premium Handling & Receipts

When receiving and transmitting orders in relation to insurance policies Goggin Insurances may accept payment from clients payable to itself where an insurance undertaking has invited renewal of a policy of insurance, or the proposal for insurance has been accepted by an insurance undertaking. A Section 30 receipt is issued for all monies received. In relation to any credit due to you, this will be refunded to you by way of a company cheque unless otherwise requested by you i.e., by Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT). In the event that your credit is up to and including €20 this will be refunded to you by Electronic Fund Transfer.

Remuneration and Charges

General Insurance: Goggin Insurances is remunerated by the Insurance Companies and Product Producers to whom orders are transmitted for new business, on renewal of existing business and/or based on the levels of business introduced; remuneration details are available on request. A full list of the commission arrangements we have in place is maintained by the firm and is available for inspection or review at our offices at 48 Dublin Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin. The firm will charge you a fixed fee or a percentage of the insurance premium and levies for the

following services provided: We also charge an administration fee of €30 for any mid term adjustments.

Scale of Fees

 

Initial Fee

Renewal

Policy Alterations /Cancellations

Motor

Up to Max €100

Up to Max €100

Up to Max €100

House

Up to Max €100

Up to Max €100

Up to Max €100

Commercial/Fleet/Motor Trade

Up to 20% of Premium or €250

Up to 20% of Premium or €250

Up to 20% of Premium or €250

 

We may need to charge rates different to the above if the case is particularly complex, if that will be the case we shall advise you of these charges in advance and before business is transacted.

On settlement of your account, we will forward to you all documents showing ownership of your policy i.e., Motor Certificate & Disc and Policy Schedules. Where a series of transactions are involved, we will normally hold each document until the series is complete and then forward them to you.

Credit Intermediary: As a credit intermediary we may be remunerated by the premium/credit finance provider for arranging finance on your behalf.

Life Assurance, Investments & Pensions: Goggin Insurances is remunerated by the Insurance Companies to whom orders are transmitted. Summary details of these payments will be included in a product information document which you will receive before an application form for a product is completed, and full details will also be included with your cooling-off letter.

For complex case we may charge a fee, if that will be the case, we shall advise you of these charges in advance and before business is transacted the fees that will apply are as follows.

Senior Financial Adviser €200 per hour.

General Staff €75 per hour.

Data Protection

Goggin Insurances complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. The data which you provide to us will be held on a computer database and paper files for the purpose of arranging transactions on your behalf. Your data will be passed to the relevant product producers with whom Goggin Insurances has agencies for the purpose of arranging general or life insurance policies on your behalf. Your data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice and Data Protection Policy and Procedures. This information will only be used to provide you with the contracted business services, to meet any legal and regulatory obligations and for legitimate business reasons. From time to time, we would like to send you information about other products and services, provided by us or associated companies with which we have a formal business arrangement, which we think may be of interest to you. We would like to contact you by letter, email or a telephone call. We will not do so without your consent which is requested in the permissions statements contained in The Terms of Business Client Acknowledgement Letter attached. You have the right to ask us not to send you this marketing material and at any time you can “opt out” of receiving marketing material.

You have the right at any time to see or request a copy of any personal data within the meaning of GDPR that our office holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in that information corrected. Please contact us at info@goggin.ie if you have any queries about your personal data.

We collect your personal details in order to provide the highest standard of service to you. We take great care with the information provided; taking steps to keep it secure and to ensure it is used only for legitimate purposes. To fulfil these objectives, we may share information with other affiliated professionals.

Investor Compensation Scheme

We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme established under Section 38 of the Investor Compensation Act 1998. The Act provides that compensation shall be paid to eligible investors (as defined in the Act) to the extent of 90% of an investor’s net loss or €20,000, whichever is the lesser and is recognised as being eligible for compensation. We are 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 are available on request

Insurance Undertakings

The following is a list of Insurance undertakings we have letters of appointment with:

Ace Europe

Liberty Insurance

AIG Ireland

Locktons

Aiken Insurances

Marsh

Alan Tierney & Partners Ltd

Motor Insurance Services

Allianz

New Ireland Assurance

AON Insurance Company

Octane

ARACHAS

O’Driscoll O’Neill

ARB Underwriting Ltd

O’Callaghan Insurances

AVIVA Insurance

Optis Insurance

AVIVA Life & Pensions

Patrona Underwriting Ltd

Atradius

Permanent TSB

AXA Insurance

Phoenix Ireland

Benchmark Underwriting

Prestige Underwriting

BJP Insurances

Roberston Low

Blue Insurance

Royal London

Broker Options

RSA Group

Brophy’s

Securus

Capital IM

Sparrow Insurances

Covercentre Insurance Ltd

Standard Life Assurance

Dolmen Insurance

The Underwriting Exchange

Fingal Insurance

Thomond Underwriting Ltd

Friends First Life Assurance Company

Travelers Insurance

Frost Underwriting

Wealth Options Ltd

Gallagher Heath

Willis Towers Watson

Hickey Clarke & Langan

Wrightway Underwriting Ltd

HSB Haughton

XS Direct

Irish Life Assurance Ltd

Zurich Insurance

ISURE Underwriting Ltd

Zurich Life

Jardine Lloyd Thompson

 

Kidd Insurance

 

Kennco Underwriting Ltd

 

 

Credit Providers

The following is a list of credit providers we can arrange credit with:

   Premium Credit Limited

These Terms of Business are effective from 2st March 2022

Declan & Barry Goggin t/a Goggin Insurances is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.

CLIENT REF:

CLIENT ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I/We acknowledge and confirm that I/we have been provided with a copy of the Terms of Business of Declan & Barry Goggin T/A Goggin Insurances and that I/we have read through, understand and consent to these terms.

I/We acknowledge and confirm that I/we have been provided with a copy of the Privacy Notice of Declan & Barry Goggin T/A Goggin Insurances and that I/we have read through and understand the document contents.

 

Signed: __________________________________     Date: ______________________

 

Signed: __________________________________     Date: ______________________

 

TOB 4.11

DIRECT MARKETING

I / We consent to Goggin Insurances making contact with me/us in relation to the Motor, Household, Commercial and Life & Pension products provided by Goggin Insurances.

Please tick each of the ways in which you wish us to contact you;

Letter           Landline           Mobile Phone           Email           

Signed: __________________________________     Date: ______________________

 

Signed: __________________________________     Date: ______________________

If you do not wish to be contacted via direct marketing please tick:            

 

We are in the process of updating your records, can you please advise us of the following:

Email: ____________________________________

Mobile: ___________________________________

Landline: _________________________________

 

Important Information about the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019

The consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 (“CICA”) was introduced to increase protection for consumers  entering into contracts of insurance – whether the insurance is for house, car, health or travel (“general insurance”) or for life insurance which including mortgage protection, income protection, serious illness cover and insurance based investment products such as pensions and investment products. CICA applies to “consumers” which includes private individuals and business that have turnover of less than €3m.         

CICA is being implemented in 2 parts in September 2020 and September 2021. CICA will apply to new contracts of insurance entered into after 1 September 2020 e.g. car or home insurance renewal after 1 September 2020 or a new life insurance policy entered into after that date. The most significant changes will be implemented in September 2021.

What you need to know

The main changes brought about by CICA in September 2020 that should be aware of are summarised below. Insurance companies are obliged to reflect CICA requirements and changes in their policies and as your (broker/adviser) we should draw your attention to them also.

  1. Change to “Insurable Interest” requirement: It has been a standard requirement that in order to make a claim on an insurance policy the person making the claim must have “an insurable interest” in the policy. Put simply, insurable interest means that the person making the claim must suffer a financial loss or certain other kinds of losses arising from the loss or damage to what is insured. So, for example, you have an insurable interest in your house or in the life of your partner/spouse but you do not have an insurable interest in your next door neighbour’s house. Under CICA a claim cannot be rejected simply on the basis that the consumer does not have a valid interest in the subject matter of the insurance contract at the time the contract was entered or at the time of the loss. A policyholder will still be required to demonstrate loss in order to make a valid claim and, in an exception to the change, a consumer may be required to have an interest in the subject matter of a contract of insurance where that insurance contract is a contract of indemnity1.
  2. Cooling Off Period: Under CICA consumers now have the right to cancel insurance policies within 14 days of the contract of insurance being concluded. In order to do this, consumers must give notice in writing. It is important to note that prior to CICA consumers already have the benefit of a 30 day cooling off period in respect of life policies, and 14 days of general insurance policies that were sold on a non-face to face basis (distance sales). The CICA cooling off right does not apply to life insurance contracts with a duration of less than 6 months or general insurance contracts with a duration of less than a month. Insurance companies cannot impose charges for cancelling a policy, but they are entitled to the portion of the premium that was due between the policy being issued and cancelled.
  3. Post contractual rights and duties: Consumers are required to pay premiums within a reasonable time (which is typically specified at point of sale or in the policy) of the insurance contract being entered into. CICA allows an insurer to include an “alteration of risk” policy in a contract, which may be used as grounds for declining a claim. This clause would cover circumstances where there has been such a material change to the risk insured that, on the true construction of the policy, the insurer did not agree to cover that risk. An example of a material alteration of risk might be building a wooden extension to a house close to a forest where there is history of forest fires and not informing the insurer.
  4. Claims Handling – duties of insured and insurer: Consumers are required to cooperate with the insurer in the investigation of claims, including by responding to reasonable requests for information in an honest and reasonably careful manner; and to notify claims in a reasonable time. Both consumers and insurers are obliged to share any material information about the claim they become aware of after the claim is submitted. Insurers cannot reject claims solely on the grounds that they were notified late. Insurers are required to handle claims promptly and fairly, to engage fully with the consumer including providing an opportunity to the consumer to submit relevant evidence which could inform the insurer’s determination as regards the claim. Insurers are required to inform consumers of the amount a claim has been settled for and the reason(s) for its being settled or so disposed of in the way it was. Insurers must pay any agreed settlement promptly. Claims that are either wholly or partly based on information that are false or misleading entitle the insurer to cancel the insurance contract and reject the claim.
  5. Property claims – withholding of claim proceeds pending completion of works: Where there is a provision in a policy whereby the insurer is not obliged to pay the full amount unless and until, the repair, replacement or re-instatement work involved has been completed and specified documentation has been furnished to the insurer; the claim settlement deferment amount cannot exceed 5% of the claim settlement amount where the claim settlement amount is less than €40,000, or 10% of the claim settlement amount where the claim settlement is more than €40,000.

Please note that information above is provided for general guidance only, it is not legal advice. If you are uncertain about whether any of the changes in CICA apply to your personal circumstances please bring these to my/our attention and I/we will assist of we can. We may however direct you to the insurer or suggest that you get legal advice.

1*A contract of indemnity basically involves one party promising the other party to make good its losses. These losses may arise either due to the conduct of the other party or that somebody else. To indemnify something basically means to make good a loss.