About this Financial Services Guide
This FSG contains important information about AFA Pty Ltd (AFA). Please read it carefully as is designed to help you decide whether to use our services.
This Guide includes information about:
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The services we offer you
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The financial services we are authorised to provide
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What information we maintain about you
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Product Disclosure Statements
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How we and our associates are remunerated
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Our internal and external complaints and dispute resolution procedures and how you can access them
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Our client compensation arrangements
What kinds of financial services is AFA licensed to provide me and what kinds of financial product/s do those services relate to?
AFA is licensed to provide you with ‘general advice’ on general insurance products, which includes both personal and business insurance covers. ‘General advice’ is a recommendation to you to purchase an insurance product, that is defined as being ‘general’ because it does not take into account your personal situation, needs or objectives – and as such it may not be appropriate to your needs, objectives and financial situation.
AFA does not offer a ‘personal’ advice service; that is, we don’t consider your personal situation when recommending our insurance products. If you would like to receive personal advice, then you will need to contact an insurance broker. If you don’t have an insurance broker, please call the National Insurance Brokers Association “Need a Broker” on 1300 53 10 73 or go to their website www.needabroker.com.au. It is important that you obtain a copy of the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and read it carefully before deciding to purchase an insurance product.
If you have any further questions about the financial services that AFA provides, you can contact us on 1300 728 997.
Who is responsible for the recommendations made to me about insurance products?
AFA is responsible for the recommendations we provide, as well as the distribution of this Financial Services Guide (FSG).
Can you arrange Insurance for me?
No. As the only service we offer is ‘general advice’, AFA cannot arrange insurance for you. You will need to ask your insurance broker to arrange for the purchase of any AFA insurance product. An insurance broker can also provide you with more information about the appropriateness of an insurance product in relation to your own personal financial situation.
How will I pay for the advice provided?
AFA does not charge you for any ‘general advice’ provided to you.
What benefits does AFA receive for providing general product advice?
AFA does not receive any remuneration in return for providing you with general financial product advice. AFA representatives who provide you with general advice are salaried employees of AFA and do not receive any commission, fees or any other benefits as a result of providing you with ‘general advice’.
What Information Do We Maintain About You and How Can You Access It?
AFA is committed to protecting your privacy. We maintain a record of your personal profile from information supplied to us by you (or your intermediary). We only use it for the purposes of providing our services to you and administering your and our rights under your insurance policies. That record contains information provided by you and, about insurance policies that we have arranged for you.
AFA does not trade, rent or sell your information and you can check the information we hold about you at any time. AFA’s complete Privacy Policy can be accessed on our website www.afainsurance.com.au or by writing to us at the address shown in this FSG.
If you wish to access your file, please contact our Privacy Officer on 02 9259 8222.
Product Disclosure Statement (PDS)
If you are a retail client and decide to acquire an insurance policy from our company, you will be given a Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) before or at the time you acquire the insurance. The PDS is designed to assist you to make informed choices about your insurance needs.
It gives a summary of the features, benefits and risks associated with, including general information about, the insurance as well as a policy wording (that sets out the specific terms, conditions and exclusions of the cover provided).
How AFA is Renumerated?
Unless we tell you otherwise AFA will receive commission, which is percentage of the Insurer’s gross premium (i.e. premium excluding stamp duty, fire services levy, GST or other government charges, taxes, fees or levies) each time you buy a policy (including renewals) and for some variations. This does not increase the amount of premium paid by you.
Commission will be received only after the contract has been entered into and is payable to us at the end of each month.
Other remuneration information:
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Our staff receive an annual salary.
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If you were referred to us, we may pay the person who referred you up to half of the commission that would normally be payable. This does not increase the amount payable by you.
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If there is a refund of premium payable as a result of the cancellation or adjustment of a policy, we reserve the right to retain our remuneration earned prior to the cancellation or adjustment. This is a percentage of the base premium for the period elapsed on the insurance contract as at the time of cancellation or adjustment.
You can ask us for further details of the remuneration that we receive. If you are interested in this information, you must ask us for it within a reasonable timeframe after receiving this FSG. You must ask us before we provide any financial services to you, such as placing your insurance.
Cooling off Period
After you apply for a AFA product and you have received the policy document, you have 21 days to check that the policy meets your needs. Within this time you may cancel the policy and receive a full refund of any premium paid, unless you have:
Your request will need to be in writing and forwarded to us via your intermediary or to AFA Pty Ltd, P.O. Box 463, North Sydney NSW 2059.
You can cancel your policy at any time after the cooling–off period.
Renewals
In some cases we may automatically renew your insurance to ensure you continue to be covered. At that time we will send you an offer to renew the insurance policy and invoice you for the cost of renewal. If there is a change to your circumstances or if you want to change the details of the cover, contact us as soon as you receive the renewal offer. This will allow us to assess whether your insurance is appropriate for your circumstances.
What should I do if I have a complaint?
If you have a complaint about an insurance product we have issued or service you have received from us, please contact your insurance broker to initiate your complaint with us. If you are unable to contact your insurance broker, you can contact us directly on 1300 728 997. We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 24 hours or as soon as practicable. If you are not satisfied with our initial response, you may access our internal dispute resolution process. Please refer to the general insurance fact sheet available on our website for details of our internal dispute resolution process. We expect that our internal dispute resolution process will deal fairly and promptly with your complaint, however, you may take your complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) at any time. AFCA is an independent external dispute resolution scheme.
We are a member of this scheme and we agree to be bound by its determinations about a dispute. AFCA provides fair and independent financial services complaint resolution that is free to you.
Their contact details are:
