This Financial Services Guide (FSG) is an important document that we must give to you under the requirements of our Australian Financial Services License. It is designed to help you make an informed decision about whether to use us. It includes details about the financial services we are able to provide to you, the remuneration that may be paid to us and other relevant persons for providing those services and how any complaints are dealt with. The information in the FSG is current at the preparation date and is general information only. In this FSG, the words “we”, “our” or “us” is a reference to Insurance Brokers Australia (IBA). “You” and “your” refer to you as our client or the insured person. If you ask us to act as your general Insurance Broker, we will do so on the terms set out in this FSG. Unless you tell us otherwise in writing, we assume that you agree with these terms. If there are any alterations to these terms, we will advise you in writing.
The financial services in this financial services guide (FSG) are offered by:
Insurance Brokers Australia Pty Ltd (IBA) AFSL: 309265; ABN: 58 123 301 806
Location: Pegasus Centre, Suite 29, 42 Bundall Road, Bundall QLD Australia 4217
Location: Oxford Centre, Suite 8, 133 Leichhardt street, Spring Hill QLD Australia 4000
Email: info@IBAcorp.com.au
Telephone: (07) 55 046 888 – 1300 674771
WebQuery@IBAcorp.com.au
This FSG sets out the services that we can 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
- Arrangements we have in place to compensate clients for losses.
Statement of Advice
You will receive a statement of advice (SOA) whenever we provide you with advice which takes into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. The SOA will contain the advice, which 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 polices we have not compared those policies to other policies available, other than from those insurers we deal with regularly.
Code of Practice
IBA is a member of the National Insurance Brokers Association (NIBA). As a member of NIBA, we subscribe to the Insurance Brokers Code of Practice (Code). The Code sets out the minimum service standards you can expect when you use an insurance broker and outlines what you need to do in the unlikely event you have a complaint to make. The Code sets out our commitment in a number of areas including:
- Managing conflicts of interest
- Explaining what our services will be
- Acting for you diligently, competently, fairly and with honesty and integrity
- Informing you how we are paid for the services we provide
- Ensuring our staff are competent and adequately trained
- Providing an opportunity to resolve complaints and disputes. A copy of the Code can be obtained from the NIBA website (niba.com.au)
Further information when personal advice is given
We will provide you with further information whenever we provide you with advice which takes into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. This information may include the advice that we have given you, the basis of the advice and other information on our remuneration and any relevant associations or interests. This information may be contained in a statement of advice (SOA).
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 from 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 on to you, a product disclosure statement (PDS), unless you already have an up to date PDS. The PDS will contain information about the particular policy which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that product.
Frequently Asked Questions
From when does this FSG apply?
This FSG applies from 1st of July 2019 and remains valid unless a further FSG is issued to replace it. We may give you a supplementary FSG. It will not replace this FSG but will cover services not covered by this FSG.
How Can you instruct us?
You can contact us to give us instructions by post, phone, fax or email on the contact number or details mentioned on page 1 of this FSG.
Who is responsible for the financial services provided?
Insurance Brokers Australia 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. Insurance Brokers Australia Pty Ltd holds a current Australian Financial Services License (No. 309265). The contact details for Insurance Brokers Australia are at the commencement of this FSG.
What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide to me and what kinds of financial product/s do those services relate to?
Insurance Brokers Australia is authorised to advise and deal in general insurance products to wholesale and/or retail clients. We will do this for you as your broker unless we tell you otherwise.
Will I receive tailored advice?
Maybe not in all cases. However, we may need information about your personal objectives, details of your current financial situation and any relevant information, so that we can arrange insurance policies for you, or to give you advice about your insurance needs. We will ask you for the details that we need to know.
In some cases, we will not ask for any of this information. If we do not ask, or if you do not give us all of the information we ask for, any advice you receive may not be appropriate to your needs, objectives and financial situation.
You should read the warnings contained in any SOA, or any other warnings that we give you, carefully before making any decision about an insurance policy.
Where we provide you with advice about your insurance arrangements, that advice is current at the time that we give it. We will review your insurance arrangements when you inform us about changes in your circumstances.
Before you make any decisions about whether to organise any policy, we recommend you should obtain and read the Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) of the policy.
Contractual Liability and your insurance cover
Many commercial or business contracts contain clauses dealing with your liability (including indemnities or hold harmless clauses). Such clauses may entitle your insurers to reduce cover, or in some cases, refuse to indemnify you at all. You should seek legal advice before signing and accepting contracts. You should inform us of any clauses of this nature before you enter into them.
What information do you maintain in my file and can I examine my file?
We maintain a record of your personal profile, including details of insurance policies that we arrange for you. We may also maintain records of any recommendations or advice given to you. We will retain this FSG and any other FSG given to you as well as any SOA or PDS that we give or pass on to 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. A copy is also available on our website, www.IBAcorp.com.au.
If you wish to look at your file, please ask us. We will make arrangements for you to do so.
How will I 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. However, in some cases we will also charge you a fee. These will all be shown on the invoice that we send you. You can choose to pay by any of the payment methods set out in the invoice. You are required to pay us within the time set out on the invoice.
If there is a refund or reduction of your premium as a result of a cancellation or alteration to a policy, or based on a term of your policy (such as a premium adjustment provision), we will retain any fee we have charged you. We will also retain commission depending on our arrangements with the insurer, or charge you a cancellation fee equal to the reduction in our commission.
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.
How are any commissions, fees or other benefits calculated for providing the financial services?
Our commission will be calculated based on the following formula:
X = Y% x P
In this formula:
X = our commission
Y = the percentage commission paid to us by the insurer. Insurers may remit a commission between 0% and 26.5%
P = the amount you pay for any insurance policy (less any government fees or charges included in that amount)
Any fees that we charge you will be on the basis of staff and professional input and management and commission rebate by the arranged Insurer, at the Insurer’s determined rate.
We do not pay any commissions, fees or benefits to others who refer you to us or refer us to an Insurer. If we do, we will pay commissions to those people out of our remuneration fees (not in addition to those amounts) and advise you of that amount of commission or fees.
Our employee that will assist you with your insurance needs will be paid a market salary.
If we give you a SOA, we will list in that document any fees, remuneration or other payments we will receive in relation to the policies that are the subject of the advice.
Do you have any relationships or associations with the insurers who issue the insurance policies or any other material relationships?
Insurance Brokers Australia is a Steadfast Group Limited (Steadfast) Network Broker. Steadfast has exclusive arrangements with some insurers and premium funders (Partners) under which Steadfast will receive between 0.5 – 1.5% commission for each product arranged by us with those Partners. Steadfast is also a shareholder of some Partners.
We may receive a proportion of that commission from Steadfast at the end of each financial year (or other agreed period).
As a Steadfast Network Broker we have access to 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 broker services are either funded by Steadfast, subsidised by Steadfast or available exclusively to Steadfast Network Brokers for a fee.
You can obtain a copy of Steadfast’s FSG at www.steadfast.com.au
If we arrange premium funding for you, we may be paid a commission by the premium funder. We may also charge you a fee (or both). The commission that we are paid by the premium funder is usually calculated as a percentage of your insurance premium (including government fees or changes). If you instruct us to arrange or issue a product, this is when we become entitled to the commission.
Our commission rates for premium funding are in the range of 0% to 3% of 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.
What should I do if I have a complaint?
First Step:
Contact us and tell us about your complaint. We will do our best to resolve it quickly.
Second Step:
If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 10 days, please contact the Complaints Officer on Complaints@IBAcorp.com.au or put your complaint in writing and send it to the Complaints Officer at the address noted at the beginning of this FSG. We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.
Third Step:
Insurance Brokers Australia is a member of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). If your complaint cannot be resolved to your satisfaction by us, you have the right to refer the matter to the AFCA. AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to customers. The AFCA can be contacted at:
Mailing address – Australian Financial Complaints Authority, GPO Box 3, Melbourne, VIC 3001
Phone – 1800 931 678
Email – info@afca.org.au
Website – www.afca.org.au
What arrangements do you have in place to compensate clients for losses?
Insurance Brokers Australia has a professional indemnity insurance policy (PI policy) in place.
The PI policy covers us and our employees for claims made against us by clients as a result of the conduct of us, our employees or other representatives in the provision of financial services. Some of our distributors and authorised representatives have their own PI policies to cover them for claims made against them by clients as a result of the conduct by them in the provision of financial services, whilst others are covered under our PI policy.
Our PI policy cover us for claims relating to the conduct of representatives who no longer work for us.
These policies satisfy the requirements for compensation arrangements under section 912B of the Corporations Act.
Any Questions?
If you have any further questions about the financial services Insurance Brokers Australia Pty Ltd provides, please contact us.
Please retain this document for your reference and any future dealings with Insurance Brokers Australia Pty Ltd
