Terms of Business June 2024
Richard Barr trading as Malahide Insurance Shop.
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
Richard Barr trading as Malahide Insurance Shop C30360 is regulated by the Central Bank of
Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance
Distribution Regulation ) 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
Richard Barr Trading as Malahide Insurance Shop 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
Richard Barr trading as Malahide Insurance Shop is a member of Brokers Ireland.
Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in
relation to life & pension products. A full list of insurers, product producers and 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, Pensions
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.
Financial Brokers
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.
A schedule of our fee is outlined below.
Insurance based Investment Products
We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance based investment
products.
Life & Pensions/Deposits & Life Wrapped Investments
provide life assurance and pensions 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.
We provide advice on the following product providers:
Zurich Life Assurance plc.
Aviva Ireland Life and Pensions ltd.
New Ireland Assurance.
Royal London insurance DAC
Irish Life Assurance plc.
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
Financial Brokers
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/Investments, 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.
Not considering Principal Adverse Impacts on sustainability factors in the advice:
When providing advice on insurance-based investment products (‘IBIPs’) or investment
advice we do not consider the impacts of our advice that result in negative effects on
sustainability factors (namely environmental, social and employee matters, respect for
human rights, anti-corruption and anti-bribery matters), because Currently there is limited
relevant products on the market which meet these criteria. The area of sustainable is
relatively new and as the issue progresses, we will review our position.
The firm will review this approach on an annual basis in January
Impact on Return
If sustainability risks are not deemed relevant:
We have not assessed the likely impacts of sustainability risks on the returns of
Investment/Pensions since we have not been able to identify any sustainability risks that are
relevant.
Statement of Charges
We are 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. We reserve the
right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to on-going advice/assistance
exceeds 2 hours at a charge of €150.00 per hour
Financial Brokers
When assessing products, we will consider the different approach taken by product
providers in terms of them integrating sustainability risks into their product offering. This
will form part of our analysis for choosing a product provider.
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.malahideinsuranceshop.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 the method of calculation of 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 and Pensions
You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis.
Principles / Directors €150.00 per hour
Clawback
If we receive commission from a product provider [and off-set the commission against the
fee which we would otherwise have charged you] but the commission is subsequently
clawed-back by the provider because of early encashment by you or because of the
transferring of the assets or business to another provider or in any circumstances
consequent on your actions or omissions, we will charge a fee to you that is equal to [100%
of] the clawed-back commission. That fee will be owing in simple contract upon the claw-
back of the commission.
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 which may result in
you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments. We would
therefore advise that you contact us to ensure that you are provided with up to date advice
and products best suited to your needs.
Financial Brokers
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.
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.
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 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.
Richard Barr Trading as Malahide Insurance Shop 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.malahideinsuranceshop.ie if this medium is not suitable we will ensure you can easily
receive a copy by hard copy, or telephonic environment. (pre-recorded).
Please contact us at richard@malahideinsuranceshop.ie if you have any concerns about your
personal data.
You are required to answer all questions posed by us or the insurer honestly and with
reasonable care – the test will be that of the ‘average consumer’ 1 .
Financial Brokers
Before renewal of the contract of insurance, specific questions will be asked. Again, you will
be required to answer honestly and with reasonable care. Where you do not provide
additional information (after being requested to do so) it can be presumed that the
information previously provided remains unchanged.
Failure to answer all questions honestly and with reasonable care can result in the Insurer
being able to rely on proportionate remedies for misrepresentation, which include but are
not limited to the insurer voiding the contract of insurance. If a policy is cancelled by an
insurer for any reason including payment default you may encounter difficulty in purchasing
insurance in the future.
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.
Cancellation of a Contract of Insurance
- You may cancel a contract of insurance, by giving notice in writing to the insurer,
within 14 working days after the date you were informed that the contract is
concluded. This does not affect the notice periods already provided under European
Union (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulations 2015 ( S.I. No. 485 of 2015 ) or the
European Communities (Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services)
Regulations 2004 ( S.I. No. 853 of 2004 ) which is 30 days in respect of life policies,
irrespective of whether the sale took place on a non-face to face basis, and 14 days
in respect of general policies and only on sales that took place on a non-face to face
basis (distance sales).
Or - 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.
1 Average consumer as per Directive No. 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 is
reasonably well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, taking into account social, cultural and linguistic
factors.
Financial Brokers
This right to cancel does not apply where, in respect of life insurance the contract is for a
duration of six months or less, or in respect of general insurance, the duration of the
contract is less than one month.
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
the 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
Financial Brokers
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.