Terms and Conditions | Terms of Business | Product Providers | Privacy Policy | Authorised Status

The following documents set out the terms under which O'Driscoll O'Neil will provide insurance, investment and mortgage services to you. You should read the following documents carefully and if there are any matters on which you require clarification, we will be more than happy to explain them in more detail.

Terms and Conditions - Back to top

Content

Advice

Access to the Site

No Damage Arising from Use

Alterations

Links to Other Sites

Privacy Policy

Force Majeure

Applicable Law

These conditions shall be governed and construed in accordance with Irish Law and any disputes shall fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Irish Courts. If any provision of these disclaimers and exclusions shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable then that provision shall be deemed severable and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.

Terms of Business - Back to Top

Client Protection

The Financial Regulator is the regulatory body for Insurance Intermediaries.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd, which forms part of the O’Driscoll O’Neil Group of companies, is registered as an Authorised Adviser by the Financial Regulator.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd as an Authorised Adviser and Independent Intermediary is free to place business with all the leading insurers. We are not tied to any institution that might compromise our ability to offer impartial or independent advice or to place your business at the best terms and conditions on offer to meet the specific requirements of each client.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd is a member of the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. Scheme (ICCL) which was established under the Investor Compensation Act of 1998. This act allows for the payment in certain circumstances of monies or investments held by this company on your behalf that cannot be returned either for the time being or in the foreseeable future and where the client falls within the definition of an eligible investor within the meaning of the act. In a case where a right to compensation is established under the act the amount recoverable will be limited to €20,000.00 or 90% of the agreed loss whichever the lesser amount is.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd is a member of the Irish Brokers Association (IBA). As a member of the Irish Brokers Association, we are also a member of the IBA Compensation Fund Ltd. Subject to the rules of the scheme, the liability of its member firms, up to a maximum of €65,000 per client (€250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the Fund on its behalf.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd maintain the ISO 9001:2008 standard, the recognised international quality award.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd are subject to the Code of Conduct issued under section 37 of the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995.

Services

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd provides a full range of insurance advice to the corporate and personal sectors including the placing of insurance contracts and related claims handling and risk management services. O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd also offers advice on life, pension, investments, mortgages and financial products.

Mid Term Adjustments/Remuneration

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd charge a documentation fee for each transaction in respect of all products i.e. private motor, household, travel, legal expenses and activity related policies. A minimum documentation fee will be charged in respect of all other policies. The documentation fee is displayed on our invoices.

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd are remunerated by the product producers on a commission basis, the level of which is determined by the policy class being underwritten.  In additional the company may charge a brokerage fee, which will be determined by a number of factors including class of business, specialist skills, complexity value, risk urgency and amount of commission receivable.  Our brokerage fee will be clearly displayed on our invoices.

Commission levels are available upon request.

Remuneration Policy - Products disributed via the Internet

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd may charge an administration fee and/or IT service fee in relation to Insurance sold via the Internet. Additionally the price detailed can include an administration fee charged by the associated organisation or facility. The price quoted also includes the 3% government levy. Administration fees and IT service charges vary depending on the Insurer providing cover, the product and the period of insurance. Click here to view our web pricing structure.

Default/Remedies

All insurances are effected on express condition that, pending receipt of the premium from the insured, the company reserve the right, notwithstanding delivery of policy or certificate of receipt to the insured, to cancel the policy, obtain a refund from the Insurers and apply this refund to the amount due by the Insured.  Financial Regulator regulations mean that we cannot pay Insurers premiums which have not been paid to us.

Some Insurers may include, as a term of the insurance a settlement due date or, in some cases, a warranty under the terms of which the premium must be paid to them by a certain date/dates.  We inform our Clients of any such requirements and the relevant date/dates in good time to enable the payment terms to be met.  Failure to comply with the exact terms of a warranty may mean the Insurers obligations under the policy will be automatically terminated.  When paying premiums, you must specify the transaction to which the payment applies.  In the absence of specific instructions, we will allocate the payment to the longest outstanding transaction on your account and after that, to the earliest transaction due to the Insurers.

Client Rebates

In the event of policy cancellation when a refund is received from the insurance provider, on condition that the premium is paid in full, we will refund our client within 5 working days.  If our client wishes, we can credit the clients account with such an amount. We may charge an administration fee on such a transaction.

Failure to Pay/Default

We reserve the right to instigate cancellation proceedings in following circumstances:

• Your non payment of the premium due, renewal or following a mid term adjustment.

• Your bank returns your cheque due to insufficient funds.

• Instruction received from the Insurance Premium Finance Company for non-payment/arrears.

• Failure to comply with policy conditions imposed by insurers.

Receipts

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will issue a receipt for all payments received in accordance with section 30 of the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995. These receipts are issued for our client’s protection and should be held safely by the client.

Handing Clients Money

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd accept payments by cash, cheque and major credit card in respect of all classes of insurance and assurance contracts in circumstances as set out under section 25G of the Investments Intermediaries Act 1995.

Credit Terms

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd are obliged as Authorised Advisors to operate a policy of strict credit control. Premiums must therefore be paid in full on or before the renewal/ inception/ alteration date of the cover.

• In order to protect the interests of our clients, O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd are prevented from paying any premiums to Insurers, which have not been paid to O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd and/or O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd. 

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd can arrange suitable Premium Finance with an approved institution, subject to terms & conditions.

• Any bank fees charged on unpaid cheques will be charged to the client and are payable in full with all other outstanding balances.  No agency transfer may be effected until the account is cleared in full.

Documentation

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will issue all relevant Insurers documents to its clients. These should be read to ensure that they are in accordance with the insurance requirements.

• It is also of vital importance that these documents be retained in a safe place, as these documents are the basis of the contract between the Insured and the Insurer.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will issue summaries of covers for the benefit of their clients. These summaries are not intended to be a definitive interpretation of the policy cover, terms and conditions. For the full details of the cover, terms and conditions please refer to the policy documents. 

Retention of Documentation

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will retain records of the Insurance contracts(s) we arrange on your behalf. We will automatically destroy these records after specified periods unless you ask us to do otherwise. We are happy to provide this service free of charge for as long as we remain your Broker.

Money Laundering (Criminal Justice Act 1994)

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd are required to comply with the legislation in respect of Money Laundering and are therefore required to seek information from all new clients to comply with the provisions of this legislation.

• A fact find will be completed both to comply with this legislation and in addition to ensure that the covers are arranged to offer the best protection available in the market.

Written Appointment from Product Providers

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd hold letters of appointment from all of the main Insurers.

• O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd also hold letters of appointment to transact business with other brokers who are also Authorised Advisers under the Financial Regulator regulations.

• As the Insurance markets are continually changing, a detailed list of these Product Producers is available on request or on our website (www.odon.ie).

Policy in Relation to Conflicts of Interest

It is the policy of the firm to avoid any conflict of interest when providing services. However, should an unavoidable conflict arise, we will advise you of this prior to providing advice or arranging a transaction on your behalf.

Data Protection

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd is a Data Controller as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 and 2003.

We collect your personal details in order to provide the highest standard of service to you. We take great care with the information provided; taking steps to keep it secure and to ensure it is only used for legitimate purposes. To fulfil these objectives we may share information with other affiliated professionals.

The information and other data provided to our office may be used to advise you of products and services we may offer from time to time.

You have the right at any time to request a copy of any ‘personal data’ within the meaning of the Data Protection Act 1998(as amended or re-enacted from time to time) that our office holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in that information corrected.

Complaints Procedure

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd have an agreed complaints procedure in accordance with ISO procedures and regularly canvas clients for both compliments and complaints. As part of the ISO procedures, O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd also send a comment and complaints card to all clients requesting any comment on service in order to improve the standard of the service provided to clients.

The following persons deal with any complaint within O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd:

If it has not been possible to resolve the customers complaint, and the customer remains dissatisfied with the outcome, we will advise them of their entitlement to refer the complaint to one of the following bodies.

Licensed and Approved Insurers

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will only transact and recommend Insurers who are licensed by the Department of Trade Enterprise and Employment or EU insurers and who are also approved under the EU directives on the freedom of services and which must comply with the solvency and security legislation on their local member state.

In addition to the legislation, which controls the solvency and security, we rely on our own market research in addition to the support from Standards and Poors which independently rate insurers on their stability and claims payments.

Commitment to Clients Best Interests

Insurance contracts are tailored to meet the specific requirements of each client and while similar products may be provided by direct insurers, these may not always be on the same terms and conditions which offer the best protection for the clients.

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd hold letters of appointment from all the leading Product Providers who provide cover in Ireland and at Lloyds. It is the policy and practice at O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd to recommend the various covers to clients irrespective of cost or the Product Providers, based on the various covers, service, stability and consistency of the market involved.

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will highlight any alternative markets to which O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd do not hold written letters of appointment and to which O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd do not have access. However O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd cannot comment on the specific covers which may be provided by these insurers nor on the level of service or security provided as they may be direct insurers.

O’Driscoll O’Neil Ltd & O’Driscoll O’Neil (Life & Pensions) Ltd will be happy to provide advice on any insurance contracts and policy wording provided to them as part of our quotation and insurance review. This work will be undertaken at an agreed fee.

Product Providers

Product Providers may change on an ongoing basis. For an up-to-date list, refer to www.odon.ie

Privacy Policy - Back to top

Information Collected

O’Driscoll O’Neil collects personal information from users of our site through the use of enquiry forms and every time you email us your details.

Use of Personal Information

O’Driscoll O’Neil processes personal information collected via our site for the purposes of dealing with your requests and providing you with information about the products and services we can offer you. So that O’Driscoll O’Neil can deal with your requests and provide this information we may sometimes pass your personal information to other organisations assisting O’Driscoll O’Neil.

How we Protect your Information

The Internet is not a secure medium. However we have put in place various security procedures as set out in this policy. Firewalls are used to block unauthorised traffic to the servers and the actual servers are located in a secure location which can only be accessed by authorised personnel. We also keep your information confidential. Our internal procedures cover the storage, access and disclosure of your information.

Disclosures

We do not sell, trade or rent your personal information to others. It is our policy not to pass e-mail addresses to any third parties without first obtaining your consent. We may provide aggregate statistics about users, traffic patterns and related site information to reputable third-parties, but these statistics will include no personally identifying information.

Internet Based Transfers

The Internet is a global environment. Using the Internet to collect and process personal data necessarily involves the transmission of data on an international basis. Therefore, by using this Site and communicating electronically with O’Driscoll O’Neil, you acknowledge and agree to the processing of personal data in this way by O’Driscoll O’Neil.

O'Driscoll O'Neil Ltd is regulated by the Financial Regulator | P: (01) 6395800 | F: (01) 6395850