Terms of Business

Piccadilly Mortgages Ltd trading as Piccadilly Mortgages

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.

 

Authorization with the Central Bank of Ireland

Piccadilly Mortgages Ltd trading as Piccadilly Mortgages, Central Bank number C490194, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018 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

Piccadilly Mortgages Ltd trading as Piccadilly Mortgages 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

Piccadilly Mortgages Ltd trading as Piccadilly Mortgages is a member of Brokers Ireland. Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life & protection, pensions and mortgage products. A full list of lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.

 

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

 

Mortgage Intermediary Services

We provide mortgage advice on a fair analysis basis (providing services based on 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).

Through the lenders and the undertaking with which we hold an agency, Piccadilly Mortgages Ltd. trading as Piccadilly Mortgages can provide advice on and arrange mortgage products from the following range: fixed-rate loans, variable rate mortgages, capital & interest mortgages, interest only mortgages and residential investment property.

We will need to collect sufficient information from you before we can offer any advice on housing loans. This is because a key issue in relation to mortgage advice is affordability. Such information should be produced promptly upon our request.

 

Life & Pension Intermediary Services

We provide life assurance and pensions advice on a limited analysis basis, i.e. providing services on the basis of a limited number of contracts within the market. We provide advice on the following product providers:

• Royal London
• Zurich Life & Pensions
• Aviva

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.

 

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 (‘IBIP’), 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 because currently there is limited relevant products on the market which meet these criteria. The area of sustainable is relatively new. As the issue progresses, we will review our position and will update our Terms of Business accordingly to reflect any changes made.

 

Fees

We choose to not charge our clients a fee for our service.

We are remunerated by commission by the banks and product providers on the completion of business and/or inception of your policy.

We may receive up to 1% of the loan for arranging mortgage finance from your chosen bank. This commission is paid by the mortgage lender either directly to us or directly to the agency with which we have an undertaking with. The actual amount of commission will be disclosed at a later stage in the ESIS (European Standardized 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.

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.

In respect of Life Assurance products and Pensions a summary of these payments is included on our website and full details will be included with your cooling-off letter from the product provider. Where renewal commission is received from a product producer in respect of a product or service being provided, an annual update can be requested.

A summary of the details of all commission or remuneration paid or provided to us which have agreed with product providers is available in our office or on our website – www.piccadillymortgages.ie.

It is our policy that our customer’s interests at all times comes first. The level of commission earned by Piccadilly Mortgages via the various product providers will not influence in any way the product recommended to you.

 

Regular Reviews

It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. This is most pertinent when there is a change in your personal circumstances e.g. the birth of a child, change of job, change of health status or the cessation of a mortgage fixed interest rate term is due. We would therefore advise that you contact us to ensure that you are provided with up-to-date advice that is the most suitable to you in your new circumstances. Alternatively, you may explicitly confirm to allow us to contact you in relation to any other mortgage, life cover, protection, pensions or savings product which we feel would be deemed suitable for you.

 

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) for services provided. 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. A life cover or protection policy may lapse if you do not keep up your scheduled repayments. This means you may no longer be covered in the event of your premature death, diagnosed with a serious illness or if you are our of work due to illness or disability.

 

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. If 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.

Piccadilly Mortgages Ltd trading as Piccadilly Mortgages 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. Please refer to our website www.piccadillymortgages.ie, if this medium is not suitable/ available we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard/soft copy, or telephonic environment. (pre-recorded).

Please contact us at tracyosullivan@piccadillymortgages.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.

 

The following sections apply to consumer duties and rights arising out of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 which was implemented to protect consumers. Non-Consumer Commercial clients have no duties and rights under this Act, and therefore the following sections do not apply to them.

 

Consumers: Duty of Disclosure when completing documentation for new business/renewals and midterm adjustments

You are required to answer all questions posed by us honestly and with reasonable care – the test will be that of the ‘average consumer’.

 

Completed proposal forms/statement of fact

Completed proposal forms or Statements of Facts will be provided to you. These are important documents as they form the basis of insurance contract between the insurer and you the consumer. You should review and confirm that the answers contained within are true and accurate.

You are under a duty to pay your premium within a reasonable time, or otherwise in accordance with the terms of the contract of insurance.

A court of competent jurisdiction can reduce the pay-out to you if you are in breach of your duties under the Act, in proportion to the breach involved.

 

Cancellation of a Contract of Insurance

If you have taken out a life insurance contract, you may cancel the contract by giving notice in writing to us within 30 days after the date you were informed the contract is on cover. The giving of notice of cancellation by you will have the effect of releasing you from any further obligation arising from the contract of insurance. The insurer cannot impose any costs on you other than the cost of the premium for the period of cover. This right to cancel does not apply where, in respect of life insurance the contract is for a duration of six months or less.

 

Post-Contract Stage and Claims

An insurer may refuse a claim made by you under a contract of insurance where there is a change in the risk insured, including as described in an “alteration of risk” clause, and the circumstances have so changed that it has effectively changed the risk to one which the insurer has not agreed to cover.

Any clause in a contract of insurance that refers to a “material change” will be interpreted as being a change that takes the risk outside what was in the reasonable contemplation of both you and the insurer when the contract was concluded.

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.

 

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 authorized 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 recognized 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 recognized 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 Clients’ Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme (BIC)

We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Clients’ Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme (BIC). 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.