Disclosure
Here is some general information about our business to help you decide if you want to seek our advice.
Licensing information
We operate as a Financial Advice Provider under a current license issued by the Financial Markets Authority in the name of NZ Financial Services Group Limited (FSP286965) There are no conditions attached to this license on the advice that may be given.
Our advice and Product Providers
We provide advice to our clients about life insurance products.
Commission
On issuance of an insurance policy, we usually receive commission from the applicable product provider. The commission is generally of an upfront nature but may also include a renewal or trail commission.
This commission is used to remunerate the financial adviser that provides the advice, and to pay the expenses associated with running our business including any rent, staff costs and IT resources. From this commission we also pay NZ Financial Services Group Limited for services they provide to us in connection with our authorisation under their licence from the Financial Markets Authority.
We take steps to ensure that the receipt of commissions does not influence the advice we give to you and that our advisers prioritise your interests by recommending the best product for your purpose regardless of the type and amount of commission we or they may receive.
We do this by:
- Ensuring our advisers follow an advice process that ensures they understand your needs and goals and that their recommendations on insurance cover meets those needs and goals.
- Ensuring our advisers receive regular training on how to manage conflicts of interest.
- Providing you with a schedule showing commission amounts and types by product provider. This schedule is contained within each Financial Adviser’s personalised Disclosure Guide. A Financial Adviser will provide you with more information about commissions during the advice process.
Fees and Expenses
Generally, we don’t charge you any fee for the advice and transactional solutions that we provide to you. This is possible because, on issuance of an insurance policy, we usually receive commission from the applicable product provider as described above. There are two exceptions to this general position which are explained below.
We may charge you a one-off fee in the following situations:
- No commission: If you request that we provide services in relation to a product or service and we do not receive a commission. Any such fee would be agreed and authorised by you in writing before we complete the services and would be based on an estimate of the time spent providing the advice. This may arise in the rare event that you request that we provide Services in relation to either a product that is offered by a provider that we do not hold an accreditation with, or a product that is outside our usual arrangements with our product providers.
- Repayment of commission: If a product or service provider requires that we repay commission within 28 months of issuance of your risk insurance policy. Any such fee would be no more than $3,000 (plus GST) and would be calculated based on a rate of $250 (plus GST) per hour of the financial adviser’s time spent providing services to you in connection with the applicable insurance. The fee charged will not exceed the amount of commission clawed back from the provider. Should we need to charge you a fee, you will be invoiced and will be given 30 days to make payment.
Conflicts of Interest
Nathan Miglani is a shareholder and director in our sister company NZ Mortgages. We may earn a referral fee for directing business towards this company. We mitigate this conflict of interest by always acting in your best interest and providing unbiased and tailored recommendations to serve your needs.
Complaints
If you have a complaint about our service, you need to tell us about it. You can contact our internal complaints service by phoning us on 027 399 8811 or emailing us at terina@nzinsurances.co.nz with the heading “Complaint - (Your Name)”. Please set out the nature of your complaint, and the resolution you are seeking.
We will acknowledge receipt of this within 24 hours. We will then record your complaint in our Complaints Register and notify our Licence Holder. We may want to meet with you to better understand your issues. We will then investigate your complaint and provide a response to you within 7 working days of receiving your complaint. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we’ll let you know.
If we cannot agree on a resolution, you can refer your complaint to our external dispute resolution service. This service is independent and will cost you nothing and will assist us to resolve things with you.
Details of this service are:
Financial Services Complaints Limited
Phone: 0800 347 257
Email: complaints@fscl.org.nz
Our Duties
Anyone within our business giving advice is bound by and supports the duties set out in the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.
These duties are.
- Meet the standards of competence, knowledge, and skill and the standards of ethical behaviour, conduct, and client care set out in the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Providers.
- Give priority to your interests.
- Exercise care, diligence, and skill.
