Financial Services Guide
The financial services referred to in this financial services guide (FSG) are offered by:
Milne Alexander Pty Ltd
Level 7, 117 York Street
Sydney NSW 2000
PHONE:02 9279 4399
FAX:02 9279 4944
EMAIL: sydney@milnealexander.com.au
Our ABN is 12 089 060 524 and our Financial Services License Number (AFSL) is 277932.
This FSG sets out the services that we offer you. It is designed to assist you in deciding whether to use any of those services and contains important information about:
- the services we offer you
- how we and our associates are paid
- any potential conflict of interest we may have
- our internal and external dispute resolution procedures and how you can access them.
It is an important document. Please read it carefully and keep it in a safe place.
From when does this FSG apply?
This FSG applies from 1st January 2009 and remains valid unless another FSG is issued to replace it.
Statement of Advice
You will receive a statement of advice (SOA) whenever we provide you with advice which takes into account you objectives, financial situation and needs. This will contain our advice, the basis of our advice, and information on our remuneration and any relevant associations or interests. This will enable you to make an informed decision about your insurance needs.
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 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 onto you, a product disclosure statement (PDS) or short-form PDS, unless you already have an up to date PDS or short-form PDS from the insurer. The PDS or short-form PDS will contain information about the particular policy which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that policy.
What kinds of financial services are we authorised to provide and who is responsible for the services provided?
Milne Alexander Pty Ltd is authorised to advise and deal in general insurance products to wholesale and retail clients. We will do this for you as your broker unless we tell you otherwise.
Sometimes we will act under a binder or agency from the insurer. When we act under a binder or agency we will be acting as the agent of the insurer. This means that we represent and act for the insurer, not for you. We will tell you when we act under a binder or agency to arrange your insurance or advise you about your insurance needs.
Milne Alexander 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.
Milne Alexander Pty Ltd holds a current Australian Financial Services License No: 277932. The contact details for Milne Alexander Pty Ltd are on the top of this FSG.
How can you give us instructions?
You can contact us to give us instructions by post, phone, fax or email on the contact number or details mentioned above.
What information do we maintain about you and how can you access it?
We maintain a record of your personal profile, including details of insurance policies that we arrange for you. The record may also contain details of your objectives, financial situation and needs collected for the purpose of giving you advice. We also maintain records of any recommendations or advice given to you including any FSG, SOA, PDS or short-form PDS that we have given or passed onto you for the period required by law.
We are committed to implementing and promoting a privacy policy, which will ensure the privacy and security of your personal information. A copy of our privacy policy is available on request and also located on our website for your information - www.milnealexander.com.au . If you wish to access your file, please ask us. We will make arrangements for you to do so
How will you pay for the services provided?
For each insurance product the insurer will charge a premium that includes any relevant taxes, charges and levies. We often receive a payment based on a percentage of this premium (excluding relevant taxes, charges and levies) called commission, which is paid to us by the insurers. The rate ranges between 0 and 23%.
However, in some cases we may charge you:
- an administration fee in addition to commission when you enter into an insurance policy;
- a flat fee for arranging an insurance policy or a fee based upon the time we spend advising you; or
- an annual management fee.
These fees will be shown on the invoice that we send you. You are required to pay us within the time set out in our letter by any of the payment methods shown.
If there is a refund of premium owed to you as a result of a cancellation or alteration to a policy, we reserve the right to retain our remuneration earned prior to the cancellation or adjustment. If you need further explanation please ask us.
When you pay us your premium it will be banked into our trust account. We retain the commission from the premium you pay us and remit the balance to the insurer in accordance with our arrangements with the insurer. We will earn interest on the premium while it is in our trust account or we may invest the premium and earn a return. We will retain any interest or return on investment earned on the premium.
Our employees that will assist you with your insurance needs will be paid a market salary that may include bonuses based on performance criteria.
Where a third party has referred you to us, we may share part of our commission or fees, ranging from a minimum of 10 % to a maximum of 50%, with them or pay them an agreed referral fee. Where we provide personal advice to you, we will inform you of any remuneration that we and our associates are to be paid for providing the advice in the Statement of Advice.
Do we have any relationships or associations with product issuers which might reasonably influence us?
Milne Alexander Pty Ltd is a shareholder of Steadfast Group Limited (Steadfast). Steadfast has exclusive arrangements with some insurers under which Steadfast will receive between 0.5-1% commissions for each product arranged by us with those insurers. These payments are used to operate Steadfast. Depending on the operating costs of Steadfast (including the costs of member services provided by Steadfast to us and other Steadfast shareholders) and the amount of total business we place with the participating insurers in any financial year, we may receive a proportion of that commission at the end of each financial year.
As a shareholder of Steadfast we have access to member services including model operating and compliance tools, procedures, manuals and training, legal, technical, banking and recruitment advice and assistance, group insurance arrangements, product comparison and placement support, claims support and group purchasing arrangements. These member services are either funded by Steadfast or available exclusively to shareholders for a fee. Steadfast has a shareholding in Macquarie Premium Funding.
You can obtain a copy of Steadfast’s FSG at www.steadfast.com.au.
When we arrange Premium Funding on your behalf we may receive commission from the Premium Funding Company. The commission that we are paid by the premium funder is usually calculated as a percentage of your insurance premium (including government fees or charges). When you instruct us to arrange or issue a product, we become entitled to the commission.
Our commission rates for premium funding are in the range of 0 to 2% of the funded premium. When we arrange premium funding for you, you can ask us what commission rates we are paid for that funding arrangement compared to the other arrangements that were available to you.
Steadfast has a shareholding in Macquarie Premium Funding. Under the Steadfast agreement with Macquarie Premium funding Steadfast receive 0.5% of your funded insurance premium (including government fees or charges). As an equity shareholder of Macquarie Premium Funding, Steadfast may also received dividends from profits of Macquarie Premium Funding. The amount of the Steadfast dividend is base on the share of profit attributable to funding arranged by Steadfast shareholders.
What should I do if I have a complaint?
If you have any complaints about the service provided to you, you should take the following steps.
- Contact us and tell us about your complaint. We will do our best to resolve it quickly.
- If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 24 hours, please contact the Complaints Officer on telephone number 02-9279 4399 or put your complaint in writing and send it to us at:
Complaints Officer – Notice of Complaint
Milne Alexander Pty Ltd
PO Box Q1434
QVB Post Office
SYDNEY NSW 1230 - Milne Alexander Pty Ltd is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service. If the complaint can’t be resolved to your satisfaction within 21 days, you have the right to refer the matter to Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). FOS can be contacted on 1300 780 808 or
Level 5, 31 Queen Street,
Melbourne Vic 3000
Fax (03) 9613 6399
Email info@fos.org.au
Website www.fos.org.au
Additional Information
The introduction of the Financial Services Act 2002 make it necessary that certain notices be given when a contract of insurance is entered into, renewed, and extended, varied or reinstated. Please note carefully the following in conjunction with any attached Insurance Company correspondence. If applicable, please contact this office immediately should further advice be necessary.
What arrangements do we have in place to compensate client’s for losses?
Milne Alexander Pty Ltd has a professional indemnity insurance policy (PI policy) in place. The PI policy covers Milne Alexander Pty Ltd and its employees for claims made against them by clients as a result of their conduct in the provision of financial services. The PI policy also covers Milne Alexander Pty Ltd for claims relating to theconduct of former employee who no longer works for Milne Alexander Pty Ltd.
YOUR DUTY OF DISCLOSURE:
Before you enter into a contract of general insurance with an insurer, you have a duty, under the Insurance Contracts Act 1984, to disclose to the Insurer every matter that you know, or could reasonably be expected to know, is relevant to the Insurer’s decision whether to accept the risk of the insurance and, if so, on what terms. You have the same duty to disclose those matters to the insurer before you renew, extend, vary or reinstate a contract of general insurance.
Your duty however does not require disclosure of matter
- that diminishes the risk to be undertaken by the Insurer:
- that is of common knowledge
- that your insurer knows or, in the ordinary course of his business, ought to know
- as to which compliance with your duty is waived by the insurer.
NON-DISCLOSURE:
If you fail to comply with your duty of disclosure, the Insurer may be entitled to reduce his liability under the contract in respect of a claim or may cancel the contract. If your non-disclosure is fraudulent, the Insurer may also have the option of avoiding the contract from its beginning.
INTEREST OF OTHER PARTIES:
This policy does not provide insurance cover in respect of the interest of any person not named in the policy.
If you have any further questions about the financial services Milne Alexander Pty Ltd provides please contact our compliance officer on 02-9279 4399. Please retain this document for your reference and any future dealings with Milne Alexander Pty Ltd.