Terms & Conditions
MORTGAGE & NON-INVESTMENT INSURANCE CLIENT AGREEMENT
The Better Finance Group Ltd is an appointed representative of HL Partnership Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Number 303397
You can check this on the FCA’s Register by visiting the website www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768.
Introduction
This document has been designed by us to help you consider the services we offer you. It explains the type of advice we may give you and how you will pay for it.
Please take the time to read this carefully and ask us if there is anything you do not understand, before signing our consent section at the end.
Our Commitment to You
Prior to providing you with any advice we will take time to understand your current needs, circumstances and attitude to risk. Any advice provided will be confirmed to you in writing.
Data Protection
For details of our Data Protection statement and policy, please see our separate Data Protection Statement and consent form, which will be provided separately to you.
Our Mortgage Advice Service to You
One of our Qualified Advisers will contact and deal with you over the phone and this will be at a mutually convenient time.
Mortgage Products Available
We offer residential, and buy to let Mortgages. Please note that most buy-to-let mortgages are unregulated and would not be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
We do not offer any advice on Equity Release – if this is a requirement we will put you in touch with a specialist firm who will be able to advise and make a suitable recommendation.
Mortgage Providers Available
We will advise and make a recommendation for you after we have assessed your needs
We offer a comprehensive range of Mortgages from across the market, but not deals that you can only obtain by going direct to a Lender
We will not enter or offer Execution Only sales.
Methods of Communication
Unless you advise us otherwise, we will communicate with you via the following methods of communication: – telephone, email, letter; and fax.
Language
All our communications and documents will be provided to you in plain English.
Non-Investment Insurance Services
Client Classification
The Better Finance Group Limited classifies all Clients as ‘Consumers’ for non-investment business, which means you are afforded all protections under the rules of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Your Adviser will inform you should your circumstances dictate that we classify you differently for non-investment business.
Scope of Advice
The Better Finance Group Limited is permitted to advise on and arrange (bring about) deals in non-investment insurance contracts.
With regard to non-investment insurance contracts which we have arranged for you, these will not be kept under review unless we agree otherwise. However, we may contact you in the future by means of an unsolicited promotion to discuss the relative merits of an non-investment insurance contract or service which we feel may be of interest to you.
We can only offer products from a limited number of insurers for life assurance, critical illness cover, income protection, buildings and contents insurance, accident, sickness and unemployment insurance and private medical insurance.
We will provide you with a list of companies whose products we offer, upon request.
Cash
The Better Finance Group Limited does not handle Clients’ money. We never accept a payment made payable to us (unless it is a payment in settlement of charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice). We never handle cash.
Payment for Non-Investment Insurance Services
Payment can be made by fee, commission or a combination of both.
You will receive a Client Specific Illustration which will give detail of any commission relating to your particular insurance policy.
Termination of our Services
You or we may terminate our authority to act on your behalf at any time.
Other Benefits We May Receive
We advise on a range of products from a variety of Providers; some of these provide us with annual training, which allows us to offer you a better service. This year we expect to receive training from a variety of Providers. Some of the cost of this training may be met by you as part of the total charges you pay, should you choose a product provided by one of these Providers. Further information regarding these arrangements is available on request.
Providers may supply us with specialised software and an accompanying amount of training per annum. We use this software in processing your details when you apply for a product. Some of the cost of this software may be met from the total charges you pay. Further information regarding this arrangement is available on request.
Complaints
If you wish to register a complaint, you can do so by contacting our Complaints Department using the following methods:
By post:
The Complaints Department
HL Partnership Limited
2nd Floor, Unit 1
Southern Gate Office Village
Southern Gate
Chichester
West Sussex
PO19 8GR
By email: complaints@hlpartnership.co.uk
By telephone: 03300 552 651
Compensation Arrangements
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.
Mortgages
Mortgage advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim with no upper limit.
Insurance
Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the claim with no upper limit.
Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.
Best Execution Policy
It is our policy to transact your business in order to achieve the most appropriate results in terms of the nature and price of the products selected, transaction charges, administration and service excellence.
Policy
It is our policy to transact your business in order to achieve the best possible results in terms of the price, nature of the products selected, transaction charges and administration and service excellence.
Factors we consider
In doing so we consider the various factors outlined below in order of precedence:
- Price to you
- Reasonable costs and charges to you
- Speed of service and execution of your business
- Size and nature of the transaction
- The nature and procedures of the Provider chosen
- Any other factors relevant to the execution of your transaction
We may defer from the price and cost factors mentioned above if it may assist in delivering the best possible results for your specific current needs and circumstances.
In addition we will also take into consideration:
- Our scope of Advice
- Your Client categorisation and how this affects you
- The nature and characteristics of your transaction
- Where your transaction can be directed
- Any specific instructions you give us, whether received on an individual basis or as a general instruction to be applied to all your transactions
Where we place your Business
Under our policy we will provide you with details, within a ‘Suitability Report’, of where we place your business. This is known as an Execution Venue and can be, for example, a regulated market such as the stock market, or a company or an organisation where your business is placed.
Business can be placed through an appropriate third party business (which may or may not be a subsidiary or group company) such as a firm regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
In applying our execution policy, we may transact business with one or more companies and markets. We monitor firms and organisations on an on-going basis to assess their effectiveness.
Specific Instructions from You
When you give us one or more specific instructions relating to a transaction we shall execute your order according to your instruction. We will need your instructions confirmed in writing or by e-mail should this apply.
In this situation, we can only apply our execution policy with a view to achieving the best possible result in respect of those areas where you have not provided us with specific instructions.
Warnings
It should be noted that your specific instructions may contradict our execution policy and may not necessarily lead to the best possible result for you.
Monitoring and Reviewing
Where we need to update or amend this policy we shall do so immediately. In addition, we will formally review this execution policy no less than once a year to assess its effectiveness in achieving the best possible results for you.
Where we make a material change, this shall be notified to you next time we conduct business together.
Conflict of Interest
Sometimes, we may have an interest in the business we are advising you on. If we find out that our interest in a matter might be in conflict with yours, we will write and tell you immediately and ask for your permission to carry on with our service. Further details about how we treat conflicts of interest can be requested at any time.
How to contact HL Partnerhips Limited
The Better Mortgage Company is a trading name of The Better Finance Group Limited which is an appointed representative of HL Partnerships Limited which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is entered on the FCA register (https://register.fca.org.uk) under 303397.
INFORMATION NOTICE
Please note that Better Mortgage Limited is acting for you as a Credit Broker not a Lender.
Our charges for our services to you
For arrangement of Mortgages and re-Mortgages, we will typically be remunerated by way of Procuration fees payable by the Mortgage Lender.
Where we receive Procuration fees from a Lender, we will disclose this to you so that you know how much we have received for arranging your loan(s).
The lender will pay us a fee for completing and submitting their application, normally electronically and undertaking initial financial underwriting for them in proposing you as a suitable candidate.
The customer will receive a key facts illustration when considering a particular mortgage which will tell them about any costs and fees relating to the application.
There is no Mortgage Advice for our service.
The Better Mortgage Company is a trading style of The Better Finance Group Limited. Registered Address: 3 Chisholm Terrace, West Wick, Weston Super Mare, BS24 7GE. The Better Finance Group Limited is registered in England & Wales. Company Number 13049465.The Better Finance Group Limited is an appointed representative of HL Partnerships Ltd, 2nd floor, Unit 1, Southern Gate Office Village, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SG which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and is entered on the FCA register (www.fsa.gov.uk/register) under reference 303397.