Financial Services Guide

From 1st May – Current our FSG can be found via this link:

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From 31 Oct 2021 – 30th April 2023 see below:

The financial services referred to in this financial services guide (FSG) are offered by: Torquay Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd trading as Maven Insurance & Advisory ABN 48 629 136 787 3/110 Geelong Rd, Torquay VIC 3228 03 5264 8173 hello@maveninsurance.com.au

Torquay Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd trading as Maven Insurance & Advisory ABN 48 629 136 787 Is the authorised representative of: SMS Insurance Pty Ltd ATF SMS Unit Trust ABN 32 361 928 456 30 Doveton Street North, Ballarat VIC 3350 03 5333 8000 info@remingtons.com.au

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd holds a current Australian Financial Services Licence No: 425573 and is responsible for the financial services that Maven Insurance & Advisory and their employees provide to you. Maven Insurance & Advisory Authorised Representative No is 1269773. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd is also responsible for the content and distribution of this FSG. The distribution of this FSG by Maven Insurance & Advisory and their employees is authorised by SMS Insurance Pty Ltd.

 

LACK OF INDEPENDENCE

Why we are not independent, impartial, or unbiased in relation to the provision of personal advice and the impact of this on you

We, Maven Insurance & Advisory, are not independent, impartial, or unbiased pursuant to section 923A of the Corporations Act because:

• We or SMS Insurance Pty Ltd may receive gifts or other benefits when we provide personal advice to you in relation to insurance products and other financial products;
• We or SMS Insurance Pty Ltd may be subject to direct or indirect restrictions relating to the financial products in respect of which personal advice is provided; and/or
• We or SMS Insurance Pty Ltd may have associations or relationships with issuers of insurance products and other financial products.

Further information about these benefits and relationships are set out in this Financial Services Guide. If you have any questions about this information, please ask us.

 

This FSG sets out the services that we can offer you. It is designed to assist you in deciding whether to use any of our services and contains important information about:

The services we offer you:

• how we and others are paid.
• any potential conflicts of interest we may have.
• our internal and external dispute resolution procedures and how you can access them.
• arrangements that are in place to compensate clients for losses.

Further information when personal advice is given

We will provide you with further information whenever we provide you with advice, which takes into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. This information may include the advice that we have given you, the basis of the advice and other information on our remuneration and any relevant associations or interests. This information may be contained in a statement of advice (SOA). When you ask us to recommend an insurance policy for you, we will usually only consider the policies offered by the insurers or insurance providers that we deal with regularly. In giving you advice about the costs and terms of recommended policies, we have not compared those policies to other policies available, other than from those insurers we deal with regularly.

 

Product disclosure statement

If we offer to arrange the issue of an insurance policy to you, we will also provide you with, or pass on to you, a product disclosure statement (PDS), unless you already have an up to date PDS from the insurer. The PDS will contain information about the particular policy, which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that product.

 

From when does this FSG apply?

This FSG applies from 1 October 2021 and remains valid unless a further FSG is issued to replace it. We may give you a supplementary FSG. It will not replace this FSG but will cover services not covered by this FSG

 

How can I instruct you?

You can contact us to give us instructions by post, phone, fax or email on the contact number or details mentioned on page 1 of this FSG.

 

Who is responsible for the financial services provided?

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd is responsible for the financial services that will be provided to you, or through you to your family members, including the distribution of this FSG.

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd holds a current Australian Financial Services Licensee no: 425573. The contact details for SMS Insurance Pty Ltd are on the front of this FSG.

 

What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide to me and what kinds of financial product/s do those services relate to?

Maven Insurance & Advisory is authorised to advise and deal in general insurance products to wholesale and/or retail clients under SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s Australian Financial Service Licence. We will do this on your behalf as your broker unless we tell you otherwise.

 

Will I receive tailored advice?

Maybe not in all cases. However, we may need information about your personal objectives, details of your current financial situation and any relevant information, so that we can arrange insurance policies for you, issue insurance policies to you or to give you advice about your insurance needs. We will ask you for the details that we need to know.

In some cases, we will not ask for any of this information. If we do not ask, or if you do not give us all of the information, we ask for, any advice you receive may not be appropriate to your needs, objectives and financial situation.

You should read the warnings contained in any SOA, or any other warnings that we give you, carefully before making any decision about an insurance policy.

Where we provide you with advice about your insurance arrangements, that advice is current at the time that we give it. We will review your insurance arrangements when you inform us about changes in your circumstances, at the time of any scheduled status review or upon renewal of your insurances.

 

Contractual Liability and your insurance cover

Many commercial or business contracts contain clauses dealing with your liability (including indemnities or hold harmless clauses). Such clauses may entitle your insurers to reduce cover, or in some cases, refuse to indemnify you at all. You should seek legal advice before signing and accepting contracts. You should inform us of any clauses of this nature before you enter into them.

 

What information do you maintain in my file and can I examine my file?

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd maintains a record of your personal profile, including details of insurance policies that I/we arrange for you. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd may also maintain records of any recommendations or advice given to you. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will retain this FSG and any other FSG given to you as well as any SOA or PDS that we give or pass on to you for the period required by law.

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd is and we are committed to implementing and promoting a privacy policy, which will ensure the privacy and security of your personal information. A copy of SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s privacy policy is available on request. A copy is also available on SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s website, www.remingtons.com.au

If you wish to look at your file, please ask us. We will arrange for you to do so.

 

How will I pay for the services provided?

Payment for the services we provide you are payable directly to SMS Insurance Pty Ltd. For each insurance product, the insurer will charge a premium that includes any relevant taxes, charges, and levies. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd often receive a payment based on a percentage of this premium (excluding relevant taxes, charges, and levies) called commission, which is paid to SMS Insurance Pty Ltd by the insurers. In some cases, you will also be charged a fee. These will all be shown on the invoice that is sent to you.

You can choose to pay for our services by any of the payment methods set out in the invoice. You are required to pay SMS Insurance Pty Ltd within the time set out on the invoice.

If there is a refund or reduction of your premium as a result of a cancellation or alteration to a policy, or based on a term of your policy (such as a premium adjustment provision), we will retain any fee we have charged you. We will also retain commission depending on our arrangements with the insurer or charge you a cancellation fee equal to the reduction in commission. When you pay us your premium, it will be banked into SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s trust account. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will retain the commission from the premium you pay us and remit the balance to the insurer in accordance with SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s arrangements with the insurer. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will earn interest on the premium while it is in their trust account or SMS Insurance Pty Ltd may invest the premium and earn a return. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will retain any interest or return on investment earned on the premium.

 

How are any commissions, fees or other benefits calculated for providing the financial services

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s commission will be calculated based on the following formula:

X = Y% x P

In this formula:

X = SMS Insurance Pty Ltd ‘s commission

Y% = the percentage commission paid to SMS Insurance Pty Ltd by the insurer. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s commission varies between 0% and 26.5%.

P = the amount you pay for any insurance policy (less any government fees or charges included in that amount).

We will receive up to 100% of SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s commission. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd does not often pay any commissions, fees or benefits to others who refer you to us or refer us to an insurer. If SMS Insurance Pty Ltd does, SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will pay commissions to those people out of its commission or fees (not in addition to those amounts), in the range of 0% to 100% of its commission or fees.

Our employees that will assist you with your insurance needs will be paid a market salary.

If we give you personal advice, we will inform you of any fees, commission or other payments we, our associates or anyone referring you to us (or us to any insurer) will receive in relation to the policies that are the subject of the advice. See below for information on the Steadfast association and commission.

 

Do you have any relationships or associations with the insurers who issue the insurance policies or any other material relationships?

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd is a Steadfast Group Limited (Steadfast) Network Broker

As a Steadfast Network Broker, SMS Insurance Pty Ltd has access to member services including model operating and compliance tools, procedures, manuals and training, legal, technical, HR, contractual liability advice and assistance, group insurance arrangements, product comparison and placement support, claims support, group purchasing arrangements and broker support services. These services are either funded by Steadfast, subsidised by Steadfast or available exclusively to Steadfast Network Brokers for a fee.

Steadfast has arrangements with some insurers and premium funders (Partners) under which the Partners pay Steadfast a fee to access strategic and technological support and the Steadfast Broker Network. Steadfast is also a shareholder of some Partners.

You can obtain a copy of Steadfast’s FSG at www.steadfast.com.au

If we arrange premium funding for you SMS Insurance Pty Ltd may be paid a commission by the premium funder. We may also charge you a fee (or both). The commission that SMS Insurance Pty Ltd is paid by the premium funder is usually calculated as a percentage of your insurance premium (including Maven FSG V1.0 01/10/2021 Page 5 of 5 government fees or changes). If you instruct us to arrange or issue a product, this is when SMS Insurance Pty Ltd become entitled to the commission.

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd’s commission rates for premium funding are in the range of 0% to 3% of funded premium. When we arrange premium funding for you, you can ask us what commission rates SMS Insurance Pty Ltd are paid for that funding arrangement compared to the other arrangements that were available to you.

 

What should I do if I have a complaint?

1. Contact SMS Insurance Pty Ltd and tell SMS Insurance Pty Ltd about your complaint. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will do its best to resolve it quickly.
2. If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 30 days, please contact Max Seery on 03 5333 8000 or put your complaint in writing and send it to him at the address noted at the beginning of this FSG. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd will try to resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.
3. SMS Insurance Pty Ltd is a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). If your complaint cannot be resolved to your satisfaction by us, you have the right to refer the matter to the AFCA. AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to customers. The AFCA can be contacted at:

Mailing address – Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne, VIC 3001

Ph – 1800 931 678

Email – info@afca.org.au

Website – www.afca.org.au

 

What arrangements are in place to compensate clients for losses?

SMS Insurance Pty Ltd has a professional indemnity insurance policy (PI policy) in place.

The PI policy covers SMS Insurance Pty Ltd and its representatives (including authorised representatives) for claims made against them by clients as a result of their conduct in the provision of financial services.

The PI policy will cover us for claims relating to the conduct of former representatives who no longer work for SMS Insurance Pty Ltd.

This policy satisfies the requirements for compensation arrangements under section 912B of the Corporations Act.

Any questions?

If you have any further questions about the financial services Maven Insurance & Advisory or SMS Insurance Pty Ltd provides, please contact us.

Please retain this document for your reference and any future dealings with Maven Insurance & Advisory or SMS Insurance Pty Ltd.