Opes Insurance - Disclosure Document
Licensing Information
Opes Insurance Limited (FSP1004407) is a Financial Advice Provider (FAP) regulated by the Financial Markets Authority. Opes Insurance Limited is authorised under the licence of Opes Group Holding Company Limited (FSP774012) to provide financial advice.
Nature and scope of the advice
Our advisers provide financial advice about insurance provided by the following product providers:
- Accuro
- AIA
- Partners Life
- Fidelity Life
- Asteron Life
- nib
- Chubb Life
Opes Insurance do not provide financial advice services relating to:
- Legal or estate planning (e.g. wills, trusts, contracts, etc.)
- General Insurance advice
- Investment products (e.g. shares, bonds, managed funds, KiwiSaver, etc.)
- Mortgage advice
- Property Investment advice
You will need to consult an appropriate specialist if you would like advice on the above.
Fees or expenses
Opes Insurance does not charge clients fees, expenses or any other amount for the financial advice we provide. You will not be invoiced or asked to pay any fees to us at any time, even if the insurance policy placed through our engagement is terminated.
Conflicts of interest and commissions
If you decide to take out insurance through us, Opes Insurance Limited will receive a commission from the insurer that you choose. The amount of this commission is dependent on the insurer and the amount of your insurance cover. This commission is paid to us upon issue of your insurance policy.
Opes Insurance advisers are remunerated through a salary and receive a set commission percentage of the first year’s total annual premium, as a result of the advice they provide.
We will provide more details about our commissions once we have talked to you and understand your financial needs.
Related companies
We may refer you to related companies within the Opes Group for services such as investment property advice, accounting, mortgage advice or property management services.
Referrals are made with your best interests in mind, and you are under no obligation to use the services of any related company. You are welcome to use your own advisers and may seek alternatives independently should you wish to do so. Opes Insurance does not receive any referral fees or commissions if you decide to use these services.
Because Opes Insurance is part of a group, our directors hold (direct or indirect) ownership interests in the following related companies:
- Opes Mortgages Limited (mortgage advice)
- Opes Licensee Services Limited T/a Opes Property (real estate sales)
- Opes Partners New Zealand Limited (property investment advice)
- Opes Accounting Limited (accountancy services)
- Opes Property Management South Limited and Opes Property Management North Limited.
Sue Foley from Landley Law Limited is one of the lawyers Opes Insurance may recommend to clients. She is also the sole director of the three corporate trustee companies which own Opes Group Holding Company Limited.
Non-Monetary Incentives
Some product providers may provide our company and advisers with certain non-monetary benefits that support our business, such as subsidised training for our advisers. These benefits may also include bottles of wine during Christmas, tickets to sponsored events, or the occasional meal.
How do we manage conflicts of interest?
To ensure our advisers prioritise our clients' interests:
- We follow an advice process that ensures our recommendations are made appropriately, based on clients' goals and circumstances.
- Record most client meetings and review a selection of them to make sure our advisers are doing right by you.
- All our advisers undergo annual training about how to manage conflicts of interest.
- We maintain registers of conflicts of interests and the gifts and incentives we receive. These registers are monitored regularly, and additional training is provided as required.
- We engage an independent compliance provider to check the financial advice we give.
Complaints handling and dispute resolution
If you are not satisfied with our service or financial advice, please tell us as soon as possible.
Call: 0800 676 737
Email: [email protected]
Write to: Level 2, 236 High Street, Christchurch 8011
When we receive a complaint:
- We will consider your complaint and let you know how we intend to resolve it. Where possible, we try to resolve your complaint immediately.
- If we are unable to resolve your complaint immediately, we will acknowledge your complaint within 2 business days. We may contact you to get further information about your complaint.
- We aim to resolve complaints within 10 working days of receiving them. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we will let you know when you can expect to receive a response to your complaint.
- We will contact you by phone, email or letter to let you know whether we can resolve your complaint and how we propose to do so.
If we cannot agree on how to fix the issue, you can contact our external dispute resolution scheme, Financial Services Complaints Limited (“FSCL”). FSCL provides a free and independent dispute resolution service that may help to resolve your complaint.
To contact FSCL:
Call: 0800 347 257
Email: [email protected]
Visit: www.fscl.org.nz
Our duties
Opes Insurance and our advisers have duties under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 relating to the way that we give advice.
We are required to:
- Give priority to your interests
- Exercise care, diligence, and skill
- Meet standards of competence, knowledge and skill set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services
- Meet standards of ethical behaviour, conduct and client care set by the Code of Professional Conduct for Financial Advice Services.
Contact Details
Read our Disclosure Document hereCall: 0800 676 737
Email: [email protected]
Write to: Level 2, 236 High Street, Christchurch 8011
A written copy of this information is available on request and free of charge.