terms of business

The Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store, the insurance store and the investment store

These Terms of Business set out the general terms and basis under which our firm will provide business services to you as a client.  It contains details of our regulatory and statutory obligation and the respective duties of both the firm and you in relation to such services.  Please note that by engaging our firm you agree to the terms laid out in this Terms of Business document.  By accepting these Terms of Business you acknowledge that you will read and have understood the information contained within your chosen quotation and/or policy. Please ensure that you read these terms thoroughly.  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

The Pensions Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store (C163951) is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations, 2005 (as amended); and as an Investment Intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. 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

The Pensions Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store 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

Engagement

We offer an initial consultation (without charge) where we will describe our services more fully explore your current circumstances, desired outcomes and explain your options.  If you decide to engage with us, this will be with a view to taking advantage of our complete range of advice, research, personal recommendations and implementation services in respect of your personal financial planning needs.  An example of a typical transaction is modelled below for you.

Our Services

Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to life & pensions and general insurance products. A full list of insurers, product producers and lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.

The Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store acts as an Independent Broker which means that:

  1. the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair analysis of the market; and
  2. you have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee.

Fair Analysis

The concept of fair analysis is derived from the Insurance Mediation Directive.  It describes the extent of the choice of products and providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, general insurance, 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 be reasonably 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 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.

Life & Pensions, PRSAs and Investments

The Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store provides advice on life assurance, pensions and PRSAs, and Investment 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 your needs.

Where we arrange to establish policies for your benefit we will provide assistance to you in relation to any queries you may have with regard to such policies or in the event of a claim during the life of the 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 Permanent Health Insurance (income protection) and serious illness policies.

Specifically on the subject of Permanent Health Insurance policies it is our policy to explain to you: –

  1. the meaning of disability as defined in the policy;
  2. the benefits available under the policy;
  3. the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and
  4. the reductions applied to the benefit where there are disability payments from other sources.

Disclosure of Information

It is your responsibility to provide complete and accurate information for insurers when arranging an insurance policy, throughout the life of that policy, and when you are renewing it.  It is important that you ensure that all information provided, and all statements made on proposal forms, statements of fact, claim forms, and other documents are, to your knowledge and belief, complete and accurate.  Failure to disclose any material information to your insurers could invalidate you insurance cover and could mean that all or part of a claim will not be paid or your policy cancelled.  If you have any doubts as to whether any information is material it should be disclosed.  Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim or render your policy void.

Remuneration and Fees

The Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store is remunerated by commission and other payments by product producers 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.  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 will be offset against the fee which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission will become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.

We are remunerated by commission and other payments from product producers. 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.

Sustainability Factors – Investment/IBIPS/Pension Advice

When providing advice, the firm considers the adverse impact of investment decisions on suitability. As part of our research and assessment of products, the firm will examine the Product Providers literature to compare financial products and to make informed investment decisions about ESG products. The firm will at all times act in the client’s best interests and keep clients informed accordingly. The consideration of sustainability risks can impact on the returns of financial products.

Advisory Fees

You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis.  Fees are charged on an hourly basis for services rendered and will reflect the seniority of the individual employee providing the advice or service. The current charge out rates are as follows: –

Directors                     €150 per hour

Senior Advisors          € 95 per hour

Support Staff              € 65 per hour

These rates will be reviewed from time to time and you will be notified of any changes implemented to the above scale.  Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect the value, specialist skills or urgency.

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 in relation to changes in your circumstances or failure to 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. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy is available on request.

Money Laundering

The Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store reserves the right to request additional information that may be required to comply with the Anti-Money Laundering requirements of the Criminal Justice Act, 1994 (as amended) and the Financing of Terrorism Act 2015.

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.

Complaints

We ask that you make any complaint against our firm, relating to services provided by us, in writing.  Each complaint will be recorded and acknowledged in writing within 5 working days of receipt, updates will be advised in intervals of not more than 20 days and will endeavour to resolve a complaint within 40 business days and findings will be furnished to you within 5 working days of completion of the investigation.  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 Ombudsman or the Pensions Ombudsman.  A full copy of our complaints procedure is available on request.

Data Protection

The Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.

We are 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 of our clients at the time of data collection.

We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily assessible.  Please refer to our website www.thepensionstore.ie.  If this medium is not suitable we will ensure that you can easily receive a copy by hard copy.

Please contact us at dataprotection@thepensionstore.ieif 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 Pension Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store is a member of the investor compensation scheme established under the Investor Compensation Act, 1998 (“the Act”).  The Act 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 there.

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.

Governing Law and Language

The laws of Ireland form the basis for establishing relations between you and the Pensions Store Ireland Limited trading as the pension store.  All contracts, terms, conditions and communications relating to any policy or services you may enter into with the firm will be in English.

Force Majeure

You agree that we cannot be held liable for any loss resulting from third party insolvency or failure of a third party to act with due skill, care and diligence.  This is subject to our having exercised reasonable skill and care in selecting third party for this role, in accordance with our due diligence procedures.

If any Institution with who you have a policy or with whom you hold an investment becomes insolvent, you may be limited in the amount of compensation against loss that you can receive.  You may ask us for details of the compensation schemes relevant within our jurisdictions.

Termination of This Agreement

It is agreed that either party can terminate this agreement at any time having given 30 days’ written notice to the other party, without penalty but without prejudice to the completion of transactions already initiated.  Any transactions effected before the termination of the agreement and all charges for services provided to the date of termination will be due immediately, and payable within 14 days.

If this agreement is ended and we are involved in an incomplete transaction, we reserve the right not to complete the transaction and return all documents relating to the incomplete transaction.