Lee Insurance Brokers
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Terms of Business

TERMS OF BUSINESS – Effective 1st September 2021
These Terms of Business set out the general terms under which our firm will provide business services to you and the respective duties and responsibilities of both the firm and you in relation to such services. Please ensure that you read these terms and if you have any queries, we will be happy to clarify them. If any material changes are made to the terms, we will notify you.
By transacting business, we assume that you accept the terms of business presented.
Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers, is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland, as an Insurance Intermediary under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018) Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 (as amended). Copies of our authorisation are available on request and are displayed in the public area of our office. We are a member of Brokers Ireland.  The Firm is subject to Central Bank’s Code of Conduct as per the Consumer Protection Code, the Minimum Competency Code and Fitness and Probity standards for regulated entities, The codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie  
Our Services:  Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in relation to general insurance products, life and pensions and financial services.  A full list of our product providers is available on request. 
Life/Pensions/Investments – Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers acts as a Broker. The principle regulated activities are provided on the basis of a “Fair and Personal Analysis” of the Market.  We consider the extent of the market and select an appropriate amount of providers that would constitute a Fair and Personal Analysis of that market.  We will consider the following criteria: 
  • The need of the customer, the size of the customer’s order, the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers, the market share of each of those providers, the number of relevant products available from each provider, the availability of insurance about the products, the quality of the product and service provided by the provider, cost, and other relevant information.
  • Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers, endeavours in all transactions to act honestly and fairly in the best interests of our clients and the integrity of the market while complying with all regulatory requirements applicable to the conduct of our business activities. We are remunerated by commission for Investment Intermediary Services. 


We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to your policies or in the event of a claim during the life of the policy and we will explain to you the various restrictions, conditions and exclusions attached to the policy. 
However, it is your responsibility to read the policy documents and supporting schedules, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy cover and the restrictions which may apply, particularly in relation to Serious Illness.  Please note that if you receive a quotation for a new business insurance product or for a change to an existing insurance, cover should not be assumed to be in place until it is confirmed by us.


Life/Pensions/Investments – Remuneration and Fees: 
The Firm is remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our Insurance based investment products, from our Product Providers - outlined on our website. www.leeinsuranebrokers.ie  Where we receive recurring commission, this forms part of the remuneration for initial advice provided.   
General Insurance - Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers acts as a Broker. The principle regulated activities are provided on the basis of a “Fair and Personal Analysis” of the Market.  We consider the extent of the market and select an appropriate amount of providers that would constitute a Fair and Personal Analysis of that market.  We will consider the following criteria: 
  • The need of the customer, the number of providers in the market that deal with brokers, the market share of those providers, the availability of insurance about the products, the quality of the product and service provided by the provider, cost, and other relevant information.
  • Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers, endeavours in all transactions to act honestly and fairly in the best interests of our clients and the integrity of the market while complying with all regulatory requirements applicable to the conduct of our business activities.
We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to your policies.  
However, it is your responsibility to read the policy documents and supporting schedules, literature and brochures to ensure that you understand the nature of the policy covert and the restrictions which may apply.  Please note that if you receive a quotation for a new business insurance product or for a change to an existing insurance, cover should not be assumed to be in place until it is confirmed by us.  The Firm is a member of Brokers Ireland.
Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers is not registered for VAT purposes. 

Remuneration and Fees:
Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers is remunerated by commission from Product Producers or lenders on the completion of business. We reserve the right to charge additional fees if the number of hours relating to on-going advice/assistance exceeds 3 hours. In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided.  Where fees are chargeable, our scale of fees for such cases range from a minimum of €100 per hour to a maximum of €150 per hour, as outlined on our website www.leeinsurancebrokers.ie We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be charged.
Non-Life -Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers is remunerated by commission from Insurers on completion of business.  Details of this remuneration are available on our website. It will be necessary to charge a fee for administration costs, risk management advice and ongoing service of your business, these are listed below for non-life business.  
General Insurance policies:  Fee per policy - Motor - €30-€50, Home  - €20-€50,  Shops/Offices - €50- €100, Property Owners/Commercial Combined or Liability - €100 - €500 depending on the time spent, Motor Fleets 5% of the premium - Larger Commercial Risk – fees would be discussed prior to arranging cover – 5% -10% of the premium, usually, pending on the time spent. Rebates/ Cancellation/ mid-term adjustments: minimum €25 charge become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made. As soon as the fee has been agreed we shall advise the client. All such fees and charges are non-refundable in the event of policy alteration and /or cancellation. A summary of the details of all arrangements for any fee, commission, other reward or renumeration paid or provided to us as agreed with Product Providers is available on our website www.leeinsurancebrokers.ie
Direct Debit Administration: An Administration charge of €30-50 for the setup of DD payments. Some Insurance Companies may collect our administration charge on our behalf for DD policies.


Sustainability Factors – Investment/IBIP’s/Pension Advice.
When providing advice, the firm does not consider the adverse impact of investment decisions on sustainability. The Firm will review this approach on an annual basis.


Ongoing Suitability – We will provide periodic assessments of the suitability of the Insurance based investment product which we have recommended to you.


Conflicts of Interest – It is the policy of Our Firm to avoid conflict on interest in providing services to you.  However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest may arise, we will advise you of this in writing before providing you with any service. A full copy of our Conflict of Interest policy is available on request


Payment of amounts Owing – Under current legislation, very strict rules apply to the payment of premiums to product providers. We will not be able to pay premiums to Insurers which have not been received from clients, with the result that cancellation instructions may be given to product providers, in the absence of payment of the premium in full.  Insurers may with draw cover or impose penalties in the event of default of any payments due for products arranged for your benefit. 


Default on payments by clients
We will exercise our legal rights to receive payments due to us from clients (fees and insurance premiums) for services provided. In particular, without limitation to the generality of the foregoing, the firm will seek reimbursement for all payments made to insurers on behalf of clients where the firm has acted in good faith in renewing a policy of insurance for the client. Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover in the event of default on payments due under policies of insurance or other products arranged for you. We would refer you to policy documents or product terms for the details of such provisions.


Handling Clients Money – We accept payment in cash, cheque or Electronic fund transfer. Monies received from clients are retained on our Client Premium Account which is a bank account solely for client’s monies. We issue a receipt for all payment received into our Client Premium Account.


Complaints:   Whilst we are happy to receive verbal complaints it would be preferable that any complaints are in writing. We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 business days and we will fully investigate it and swiftly as possible and the client will obtain an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 business days from the date the complaint is made.  On completion of our investigation, we will provide you with a written report of the outcome.  In the event, that you are still dissatisfied with our handling of, or response to your complaint, you are entitled to refer the matter to the Financial Services and the Pensions Ombudsman. (FSPO) A full copy of our complaint’s procedure is available on request.


Data Protection 
We Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018.
Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client. The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice, this will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection. We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible.

Please refer to our website (www.leeinsurancebrokers.ie), if this medium is not suitable we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard copy, or telephonic environment. Please contact us at info@leeinsurancebrokers.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.


Regular Reviews
It is in your best interests that our review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you.  As your circumstances change, your needs will change which may result in you have insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments. We would therefore advise that you contract us to ensure that you are provided with up to date advise and products best suited to your needs.
Consumers:  Duty of Disclosure when completing documentation for new business/renewals and midterm adjustments:
Section 14 (1) – (5) of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act which is effective from 1st September 2021 alters consumers duty of disclosure:
  • You are required to answer all questions posed by us or the Insurer honestly and with reasonable care – the test will be that of the “average consumer”.  Average consumer as per Directive No 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 in reasonable well informed and reasonably observant and circumspect, taking into account social, cultural and linguistic factors.
  • Specific question will be asked. Where you to not provide additional information (after being asked to do so) it can be presumed that the information previously provided remains unchanged.
An insurer may repudiate liability or limit the amount paid on foot of the contract of insurance only if it establishes that non-disclosure of material information was an effective cause of the insurer entering into the relevant contract of insurance and on the terms on which it did.


Completed proposal forms/statement of fact
Completed proposal forms or Statements of Facts will be provided to you.  These are Important documents as they form the basis of insurance contract between the Insurers and you the consumer.  You should review and confirm that the answers contained within are true and accurate.
Commercial Customers: Non-Consumer Disclosure of Information
It is essential that you should bring to our attention any material alteration in risk such as changes of address or use of premises. Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your policy void.

The following sections apply to consumer duties and rights arising out of the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 which was implements to protect consumers. Non-Consumer Commercial Clients have no duties and rights under this Act, and therefore the following sections do not apply to them.


New Business & Renewal.  (Life and General)

You may cancel a contract of insurance, by giving notice in writing to the Insurer, within 14 working days after the date you were informed that the contract is concluded.  This does not affect the notice periods already provided under the European Union (Insurance and Reinsurance) Regulations 2015 (S.I. No. 485 of 2015) or the European Communities (Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services). Regulation 2004 (S.I. No. 853 of 2004) which is 30 days in respect of life policies, irrespective of whether the sale took place on a non-face to face basis, and 14 days in respect of General policies and only on sales that took place on a non-face to face basis (distance sales).  
The giving of notice of cancellation by you will have the effect of releasing you from any further obligation arising from the contract of insurance.  The Insurer cannot impose any costs on you other than the cost of the premium for the period of cover.  The right to cancel does not apply where, in respect of life insurance the contract is for a duration of six months or less, or in respect of general insurance, the duration of the contract is less that one month.
You are under a duty to pay your premium within a reasonable time, or otherwise in accordance with the terms of the contract of insurance.
A court of competent jurisdiction can reduce the pay-out to you if you are in breach of your duties under the Act, in proportion of the breach involved.


Post-Contract Stage and Claims – (General Brokers only.)
If in respect of the insurance contract the Insurer is not obliged to pay the full claim settlement amount until any repair, replacement or reinstatement work has been completed and specified documents for the work have been furnished to the Insurer, the claim settlement deferment amount cannot exceed:
  • 5% of the claim settlement amount where the claim settlement amount is less than €40,000. 
  • or 10% of the claim settlement amount where the claim settlement amount is more than €40,000.
An Insurer may refuse a claim made by you under a contract of insurance where there is a change in the risk insured, including as described in an ‘Alteration of risk’ clause, and the circumstance have so changed that it has effectively changed the risk to one which the insurer has not agreed to cover.
Any clause in the contract of insurance that refers to a “material change” will be interpreted as being a change that takes the risk outside what was in the reasonable contemplation of the both of you and the Insurer when the contract was concluded.
You must co-operate with the Insurer in an investigation of Insured events including responding to reasonable requests for information in an honest and reasonable careful manner and must notify the insurer of the occurrence of tan insured event in a reasonable time. If you become aware of a claim is made of information that would either support or prejudice the claim, you are under a duty to disclose it. (The Insurer is under the same duty). If you make a false or misleading claim in any material respect (and know it to be false or misleading or consciously disregards whether it is) the Insurer is entitled to refuse to pay and to terminate the contract.
Where an insurer becomes aware that a consumer has made a fraudulent claim, they may notify the consumer advising that they are voiding the contract of insurance, and it will be treated as being terminated from the date of the submission of the fraudulent claim. The insurer may refuse all liability in respect of any claim made after the date of the fraudulent act, and the insurer is under no obligation to return any of the premiums paid under the contract.
Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund – We are also members of the Brokers Ireland Compensation Fund. Subject to the rules of the scheme the Liabilities of its members firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client (or €250,000 in aggregate) may be discharged by the fund on its behalf if the member firm is unable to do so, where the above detailed Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate any client of the member.  Further details are available on request.


Investor Compensation Scheme - The Investor Compensation Act, 1998, provides for the establishment of a compensation scheme and the payment in certain circumstances, of compensation to certain clients (known as eligible investors) of authorised investment firms, as defined in that Act. The Investor Compensation Company Ltd. (ICCL) was established under the 1998 Act to operate such a compensation scheme and our firm is a member of this scheme. 
Compensation may be payable where money or investment instruments owed or belonging to clients and held or administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients for the time being and where there is no reasonable foreseeable opportunity of the firm being able to do so.
A right to compensation will arise only: If the client is an eligible investor as defined in the Act and if it transpires that the firm is not in a position to return client money or Investment instruments owned or belonging to the clients of the firm, and to the extent that the client’s loss is recognised for the purposes of the Act. 
Where an entitlement to compensation is established, the compensation payable will be the lesser of: 
  • 90% of the amount of the client’s loss which is recognised for the purposes of the Investor Compensation Act, 1998,
  • or Compensation of up to €20,000. You can contract the Investor Compensation Company Ltd at (01) 2244955


Email: info@leeinsurancebrokers.ie      Web:  www.leeinsurancebrokers.ie
Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.
Registration No: 28545. Member of Brokers Ireland. 
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(01) 274 5666
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Closed for lunch 1 pm - 2 pm
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Copyright © Lee Insurance Brokers 2020 
Patrick Lee trading as Lee Insurance Brokers is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Registered Office: 34 Vevay Road, Bray, Co. Wicklow. Registered No: 304412
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