Terms & Conditions

TERMS OF BUSINESS LETTER

Commencement
These terms of business will come into force with immediate effect

Our Status
Prism Xpat is a trading style of Xpat Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in respect of Designated Investment Business. Xpat Limited is entered on the FSA register (www.fsa.gov.uk/register/) under reference 459255.

Our Independence
We are independent and will act on your behalf in advising you on Life Assurance, Pensions, Collective Investments, Individual Savings Accounts, Readily Realisable Investments and other Packaged Products. We are also able to advise on other products and services that are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority. There is no Financial Services Compensation Scheme available for such products and services. Under the terms of Financial Services Authority regulation, we regard you as a Private Customer and will act at all times in your best interests.

Our Remuneration
We accept remuneration on a fee basis and/or a commission basis. This will be agreed with you at the outset. In the case of investments in Life Assurance, Pension Plans, ISAs, Unit Trusts and regulated Collective Investment Schemes, you will be advised in writing of the commission amounts we will receive. If we receive any form of benefit from the issuer of a Security, or from another Intermediary, we will advise you of that fact, but only tell you the amount involved if specifically requested.

If we agree to work on a fee basis in place of, or together with commission, we will provide you with a separate fee agreement confirming our charges and any related expenses before carrying out any chargeable work. Details for the payment of our fees are confirmed in the fee agreement.

We reserve the right to charge you a fee, without the need for a separate fee agreement, if you subsequently cease to pay premiums on the policy we arrange for you. This could apply for a period of up to four years and will reduce pro rata in line with the commission we are obliged to return to the Product Provider. The maximum amount of the fee will be no more than the amount of commission disclosed in the illustration.

Where, on receipt of instructions from you, a financial report is prepared or work is undertaken that does not result in commission being paid, or advice is given but no transaction is arranged on your behalf, fees will be costed on a time-spent basis at a rate agreed with you in writing.

Your Protection
Cheques should be made payable to Product Providers only and should not be made payable to ourselves or any individual engaged by us. We do not accept cash. This does not apply to settlement of invoices for agreed fees.

Title documents will be registered in your own name and will be dispatched without undue delay whenever we receive them on your behalf.

If we become aware that our interests or those of one of our customers conflicts with your interests, we will inform you in writing and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions.

Our written Complaints Procedure is available on request or if you should have reason to make a complaint. You do have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service whose contact details we can provide.

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. If you make a valid claim against us in respect of the investments we arrange for you and we are unable to meet our liabilities in full, you may be entitled to compensation from this scheme. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Most types of investment business are covered for 100% of the first £30,000 and 90% of the next £20,000, so the maximum compensation is £48,000. Further information about the compensation arrangements is available from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

We prefer instructions to be given to us in writing to avoid any possible disputes. If any instructions are given verbally then they should be confirmed in writing. We may refuse at our discretion to accept certain instructions, although such discretion will not be exercised unreasonably.

Third Party Rights
These terms of business exclude any rights which may be conferred upon third parties by the contracts (Third Party Rights Act 1999).

Review
Unless you request it we will not review any investment or policy that we have arranged for you. We will provide advice at any time you request us to do so.

Termination
These terms of business may be terminated at any time, by either party notifying the other in writing. This will be without penalty and without prejudice to the completion of transactions already commenced on your behalf. You would be expected to pay for any costs incurred or a due proportion of any fees previously agreed.

Data Protection Act

Collection of Data
You agree we may hold and process personal information for the purposes of providing financial services including designated investment advice, mortgage advice and insurance. This may include sensitive information about racial or ethnic group, physical or mental health, sexual life, criminal proceedings and offences. We gather information from a variety of sources including other financial institutions, employers, professional advisers and licensed credit reference agencies.

Access

You have the right to access information we hold about you. You can access a copy of these records by contacting us or alternatively the Xpat Limited Data Protection Officer.

Contact details are as follows:

Data Protection Officer
Xpat Limited
99 Milton Park
Abingdon
OXON OX14 4RY
Telephone Number: 01235 854 015

Use of Data

Personal information will be passed to Xpat Limited for compliance and monitoring purposes. Information may be passed to other financial firms in the course of providing services. We may provide information to our regulators and their successor. We may also provide information to our auditors, Xpat Limited, auditors & professional advisers, and other firms within the Xpat Group.

We may from time to time contact you by post, fax, e-mail or telephone with details of products and services which may be of interest to you. If you would prefer not to receive this information please indicate your preference by ticking the box here.

We shall disclose information to relevant authorities where we are required to do so by law.

Money Laundering & Financial Crime; we are legally obliged to verify the identity of our customers and retain these records. We will report suspicious transactions to the Xpat Limited Compliance Department who may in turn notify the National Criminal Intelligence Unit.

We are entitled to charge a fee for this service of up to £10. If any of the information we hold is incomplete or inaccurate please tell us and we will correct it. We will retain records for a minimum period of 6 years.