Financial Services Guides

From when does this FSG

apply?

This FSG applies from 01/01/2009 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. 

Cooling Off Period

A cooling off period may apply to an insurance policy issued to you as a retail client.  During the period you may return the policy.  Details of your cooling off rights will be included in the relevant Product Disclosure Document.

Who is responsible for

the financial services

provided?

Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone 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.

Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone holds a current Australian Financial Services License no: 244427. The contact details for Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone are on the front 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?

Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone 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.

Sometimes we will act under a binder or agency from the insurer. When we act under a binder or agency we will be acting as the agent of the insurer.   This means that we represent and act for the insurer, not for you.  We will tell you when we act under a binder or agency to arrange your insurance or advise you about your insurance needs.

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 issue insurance policies to 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.

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 or issue 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, PDS or short-form 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.wataystone.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 of premium owed to you as a result of a cancellation or alteration to a policy, we will retain any fee we have charged. We will also retain the commission received for arranging the cover.

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. Our commission varies between 0% and 25%.

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 based on the amount of time to place and maintain the policy of insurance for the insured period.

We do not often 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 commission or fees (not in addition to those amounts), in the range of 0% to 50% of our commission or fees.

Our employee that will assist you with your insurance needs will be paid a market salary.

If we give you personal advice, we will inform you of any fees, commission or other payments we, our associates or anyone referring you to us (or us to any insurer) will receive in relation to the policies that are the subject of the advice.

See below for information on the Steadfast association and commission.

Do we have any

relationships or

associations with the

insurers who issue the

insurance policies or

any other material

relationships?

Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone is a shareholder of Steadfast Group Limited (Steadfast). Steadfast has exclusive arrangements with some insurers under which Steadfast will receive between 0.5 - 1% commission for each product arranged by us with those insurers.  These payments are used to operate Steadfast.

Depending on the operating costs of Steadfast (including the costs of member services provided by Steadfast to us and other Steadfast shareholders) and the amount of total business we place with the participating insurers in any financial year, we may receive a proportion of that commission at the end of each financial year.

As a shareholder of Steadfast we have access to member 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 member services are either funded by Steadfast, subsidised by Steadfast or available exclusively to shareholders for a fee.

You can obtain a copy of Steadfast's FSG at www.steadfast.com.au.

Steadfast is also a shareholder of Miramar Underwriting Agency Pty Limited (Miramar). As a shareholder, Steadfast may receive dividends from Miramar. These amounts will indirectly contribute towards the benefits we receive from Steadfast.

Steadfast has a shareholding in Macquarie Premium Funding. If we arrange premium funding with Macquarie Premium Funding for you, under its agreement with Macquarie Premium Funding, Steadfast will receive 0.5% of your insurance premium (including government fees or charges). As an equity shareholder of Macquarie Premium Funding, Steadfast may also receive dividends from profits of Macaquarie Premium Funding. The amount of the Steadfast dividend is based on the share of profit attributable to funding arranged by Steadfast shareholders. The payments (commissions and dividends) that Steadfast receives from Macquarie Premium Funding are used to operate Steadfast. Depending on the operating costs of Steadfast and the amount of total business we place with Macquarie Premium Funding in any financial year, we may receive a portion of those amounts at the end of each financial year.

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 2% 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.

Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone has a financial interest in Combined Premium Funding Pty Limited.  This is an insurance premium finance company that allows Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone to provide competitive premium finance contracts to its clients.  The directors of Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Limited T/As Watkins Taylor Stone are Officers of Combined Premium Funding Pty Limited.

Profit Share Program

We are obliged to advise you that we have entered into a profit share agreement with QBE Insurance (Australia) Limited (QBE), which will provide additional benefits to our business.  QBE is seeking to form a closer relationship with Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone by providing the following benefits:-

*    Greater access to senior Underwriting staff for a faster response to queries and

        acceptances of risks,

*    Priority Claims Services,

*    Ongoing assistance, education and training in meeting our legislation compliance 

        requirements,

*    The potential for us to earn a profit share (assessed annually).

We may earn additional income above the level of our standard commission, although this is not guaranteed.

We will only recommend products, where we feel that they are appropriate to our clients needs. Irrespective of this agreement we are maintaining our relationships with all of our supporting insurers and would always seek to place business in the best interest of our clients.

Are there any other

financial benefits

that we are entitled to?

Insurers and other companies sometimes provide other benefits such as wine, lunches and sporting events in an effort to foster good business relations.

If you instruct us to arrange Insurance Premium Funding, we may receive commission from the funder.

Some insurers give us and our advisors other benefits such as resources for training.  These benefits may change from year to year.

What should I do if I

have a complaint?

What arrangements do you have in place to comensate clients for losses?

1.   Contact us and tell us about your complaint.  We will do our best to resolve it quickly.

2.   If your complaint is not satisfactorily resolved within 21 days, please contact Terry Stone on (02) 9488 8300 or put your complaint in writing and send it to Terry Stone at the Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone address noted at the beginning of this FSG.  We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.

3.   Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS).  If your complaint cannot be resolved to your satisfaction by us you have the right to refer the matter to FOS. FOS can be contacted at Level 5, 31 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, on 1300 780 808, fax 03 9613 6399, email info@fos.org.au or website www.fos.org.au.

4.   If you have a complaint about a policy that we arranged under a binder that can't be resolved to your satisfaction by us you have the right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) at no cost to you. FOS can be contacted at Level 5, 31 Queen Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, on 1300 780 808, fax 03 9613 6399, email info@fos.org.au or website www.fos.org.au.

Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone has a professional indemnity policy (PI policy) in place.

The PI policy covers us and our employees for claims made against us and our employees by clients as a result of the conduct of us or our employees in the provision of financial services.

Any questions?

If you have any further questions about the financial services Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone provides, please contact us.

Please retain this document for your reference and any future dealings with Watkins Insurance Brokers Pty Ltd T/As Watkins Taylor Stone.