PHD Financial Services Ltd t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Finance/Ocean 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.
Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland
PHD Financial Services Ltd t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Finance/Ocean Mortgages (38712) 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 and as a Mortgage Intermediary authorised under the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, 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 0818 681 681or alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.
Codes of Conduct
PHD Financial Services Ltd t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Mortgages/Ocean Finance 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
PHD Financial Services Ltd. is a member of the Brokers Ireland.
Our principle business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life & pensions/mortgage products. A full list of insurers, product producers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.
Life & Pension
PHD Financial Services ltd t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Mortgages/ Ocean Finance provides life assurance and pensions on a fair analysis basis i.e. providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet the 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 policies 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 it is our policy to 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.
Investments (article 3)
We provide Investment advice 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.
Mortgages
Through the lenders or other undertakings with which we hold an agency, PHD Financial Services Ltd. can provide advice on and arrange products from the following range: fixed-rate loans, variable rate mortgages, capital & interest mortgages, interest only mortgages, endowment mortgages, pension mortgages, residential investment property.
PHD Financial Services Ltd provides mortgage advice on a fair analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on 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).
We will need to collect sufficient information from you before we can offer any advice on housing loans. This is due to the fact that a key issue in relation to mortgage advice is affordability. Such information should be produced promptly upon request.
Disclosure of Information
Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.
PHD Financial services Ltd is remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers or lenders 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.
In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are listed below for life, pensions & investments, non-life business and Standard PRSAs. 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.
If we receive commission from a product provider, this may 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.
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/Investments, we assess, in addition to relevant financial risks, relevant sustainability risks as far as this information is available in relation to the products proposed/advised on. This means that we assess environmental, social or governance events/conditions that, if they occur, could have a material negative impact on the value of the investment. We integrate these risks in our advice in the following way: We review product provider literature in relation to sustainability risks; we liaise with the providers in relation to any queries in relation to the funds. This information is reviewed by the firm on an ongoing basis.
Considering Principal Adverse Impacts on sustainability factors in the advice:
When providing advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) or investment advice we assess the PAI information published by product manufacturers as follows: the firm will examine the Product Providers literature to establish the Principal Adverse Impacts for the relevant products. The firm will then compare financial products across available providers to make informed investment decisions about the suitability of ESG products for individual clients.
Impact on Return – If sustainability risks -are deemed relevant:
We also assess the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of the IBIPs on which we advise. We estimate that the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of Pensions/Investments are on the basis of the information about the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns in the product documentation provided by the product manufacturer
Statement of Charges
We are remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers or lenders on the completion of business.
Sustainability Factors- Investments/IBIPs/Pension Advice
We take due care so that our internal remuneration policy with respect to investment or insurance advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) promotes sound and effective risk management in relation to sustainability risks and does not encourage excessive risk‐taking with respect to sustainability risks. Pursuant to Regulation 68 of the Consumer Protection Code, a summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission other reward or remuneration paid or provided to us which have agreed with product providers is available in our office or on our website – www.ocean.ie
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 calculating 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, Pensions & Investment Fees
You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis. This fee will be calculated based on the number of hours’ work and the experience of the advisor.
e.g.:
Principals / Directors €300 p/h
Senior Advisers €200 p/h
Associates €100 p/h
Support staff € 50 p/h
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or urgency. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Mortgages
We may receive up to 1% of the loan for arranging mortgage finance. This commission is paid by the mortgage lender. The actual amount of commission will be disclosed at a later stage in the ESIS (European Standardised Information Sheet)
In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Please note that lenders may charge specific fees in certain circumstances and if this applies, these fees will be specified in your Loan Offer. Typically, this situation arises in relation to specialist lending.
If we provide mortgage advice and obtain a Loan Offer for you and you subsequently do not proceed with your mortgage application through our firm, we will charge you an arrangement fee of € 500 for our services.
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 of changes in your circumstances, or request a review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments.
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.
Default on payments by clients
Our firm will exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to it from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for 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.
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 would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.
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.
Complaints
Upon receipt of an oral complaint, we will provide the option to have the complaint addressed through the firms established complaints procedure. We will permit and facilitate submission of complaints in writing by post and by electronic means. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 working 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 working 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. In the event that 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 complaint’s procedure is available on request.
Data Protection
PHD Financial Services t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Finance & Ocean Mortgages complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.
PHD Financial Services t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Finance & Ocean 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 assessible. Please refer to our website www. ocean.ie/about/privacy-policy, if this medium is not suitable we will ensure you can easily receive a hard copy
Please contact us at info@ocean.ie 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
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 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 recognised 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 recognised 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.
Directors: Philip Doyle QFA ALIA, Terry Palmer BA QFA
Registered in Ireland Reg. No. 402679
PHD Financial Services Ltd t/a Ocean.ie/Ocean Mortgages/Ocean Finance is Regulated by The Central Bank of Ireland.
