Unless we notify you in writing to the contrary, we will be treating you as a “Retail Client”. This means that you are afforded the highest level of protection under the regulatory system.
Staffordshire Independent Financial Advisers LLP will register all investments in your name. All contract notes and documents of title in respect of your investments will be forwarded to you as soon as practicable after being received by us. Where a number of documents relating to a series of transactions are involved, we will normally retain the documents until the series is complete before forwarding them to you.
WE DO NOT HANDLE CLIENTS' MONEY. We never accept a cheque made out to us (unless it is a cheque in settlement of our charges or disbursements for which we have sent you a fee note) or handle cash.
All charges/fees will be fully disclosed to you. These will be disclosed in summary form before we undertake any work for you. The precise charges relating to any recommendations we make will be confirmed your Fee Document or relevant product disclosure information that is provided to you.
In respect of any regular premium policy which we have arranged for you, should you subsequently cease to pay premiums on the policy and in consequence we are obliged to refund the commission that has been paid to us, we reserve the right to charge you a fee representing the amount we have to repay, for a period of up to four years after commencement of the policy. We will not charge any such fee if you exercise your right to cancel in accordance with any cancellation notice sent to you by the life assurance company.
We will endeavour always to act in the best interests of our clients. However, circumstances can arise where we or one of our other customers may have some form of interest in business being transacted for you. If this happens or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other customers conflict with your interests, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.
In most cases you can exercise a right to cancel, by withdrawing from the contract recommended to you. In general terms you will normally have a 30 day cancellation period for a life, pure protection or pension policy and a 14 day cancellation period for all other policies. In most instances, you will not be able to exercise a right to cancel a mortgage contract, unless the contract is concluded at a distance (i.e. no face to face advice), at which point you may have a 14 day cancellation period.
The start of the cancellation period will normally begin, for pure protection policies, when you are informed that the contract has been concluded or, if later, when you have received the contractual terms and conditions. In other cases, the cancellation period will begin on the day the contract is concluded or, if later, the day on which you receive the contractual terms and conditions. Instructions for exercising the right to cancel, if applicable, will be contained in the relevant product disclosure information which will be issued to you.
You, or we, may terminate our authority to act on your behalf under these Terms and Conditions of Business at any time, without penalty. Notice of this termination must be given in writing and will take effect immediately upon receipt of the notice. Termination will not prejudice the completion of transactions already initiated on your behalf or any rights or obligations already arising.
When we have arranged any type of business for which you have given instructions, we will not give you any further advice unless you request it, but will be glad to advise you at any time you ask us to do so.
Should you have any complaint about the advice you receive or a product you have bought, please write to the Compliance Officer, Sterling House, 64 Lichfield Road, Stafford, ST17 4LW Tel: 01785 257257. We will supply a copy of our formal complaint handling procedures upon request. If we are unable to resolve a complaint to your satisfaction you may have a right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.
In order to advise you properly, we must obtain certain information from you about your financial and personal circumstances, to assess your suitability for particular products and services.
By signing these Terms and Conditions of Business:
i. You agree that the information we hold about you can be held on computer and/or paper files.
ii. You agree that any information, which you give us, may be disclosed to third parties (e.g. credit reference agencies and product providers and regulators) for the purpose of processing your application or to another firm upon the sale of all or part of our business.
iii. You agree that we may use the information that we hold about you to contact you from time to time by post, fax, e-mail or telephone to bring to your attention additional products or services, which may be of benefit to you.
iv. We agree that any consent given by you under paragraph iii above, may be withdrawn by you at any time by contacting us in writing:
We may wish to write to you informing you of other products and services available.
However, if you do not wish to benefit from this service, please tick the box
Customer Declaration:
I confirm that the information I have provided is to the best of my knowledge correct. I have provided this information understanding that it is used to form the basis of any advice and recommendations made to me and that I am not under any obligation to take up any recommendations made.
I understand that recommendations may be made which involve a regular financial commitment or the investment of capital. Accordingly, I understand that I must be sure of my ability to meet that commitment having given consideration to all other expenditure, and the provision for any emergencies, which may require access to funds.
I confirm I have received a Business Card, Key Facts ‘about our service’, Key Facts ‘about the cost of our service’ (if investment advice is required), have read the above terms of business and have indicated my attitude to investment risk on the Attitude to Risk Form.
I understand that any agreed fees will be payable within 14 days of receiving an invoice from us and are not refundable.
N.B Please understand that we reserve the right to decline to give advice if full information is not provided.
We will be storing the information from this document on your file, the purpose being to enable accurate advice to be given.