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LEA Financial Services Terms of Business

In these Terms of Business, references to “we”, “us”, “our”, LEA FS, LEAF Services. LEAF Loans and Aureus shall mean LEA Financial Services Limited as providers of this service. (LEA FS, LEAF Services, LEAF Loans and Aureus are trading styles of LEA Financial Services). References to “you” and “your” shall mean you as the recipient of this service. References to the “FCA” shall mean the Financial Conduct Authority, to the OIC shall mean the Office of the Information Commissioner and to the NACFB shall mean the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers.

We are directly authorised and regulated by the FCA to advise on and arrange regulated mortgages, secured loans, further advances and unsecured loans, life (non-investment) and general insurance contracts. In addition, we are able to offer small, short-term loans known as ‘home-collected credit’ to some of our clients. We offer completely impartial and independent advice to our customers. Our FCA Reference No is 482614 and our Consumer Credit Interim Permissions Reference Number is 659518.

You can check this on the FCA's Register by visiting the FCA's website www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the FCA on 0845 606 1234.

We also provide advice and arrangement in respect to other services such as Buy-to-Let mortgages, foreign property mortgages, commercial loans and mortgages. Buy-to-Let and commercial mortgages are not regulated by the FCA unless over 40% of the property is occupied by the borrower or a member of his or her immediate family.

We can, on request, appoint conveyancing solicitors to act for you, instruct household or specialist surveys on your behalf, or arrange for Energy Performance Certificates for Buy to Let landlords or if you are selling your home. We also operate a service that is designed to reduce your personal or business energy and communications costs. If there is a service you need, please ask us as we may be able to provide or arrange it!

Our purpose is to meet all your requirements ourselves so that you have a single point of contact and we can ensure that there is a co-ordinated response to your needs. Because of the relationships we have established, we can normally save you significant costs compared to those you would incur if you went directly to one of these service providers. We usually receive an introduction commission from these providers but you will still save money by using us.

Committed to treating our customers fairly

Thank you for choosing LEA Financial Services Limited.

We are committed to offering our customers the highest possible standards of service. In so doing we are pleased to support the FCA initiative ‘Treating Customers Fairly’.

We recognise that both we and our clients have everything to gain if we look after your best interests and treat you fairly in all aspects of our dealings with you.

Our commitment to you

We will:

  • provide you with clear information about the products and services we offer, including fees and charges
  • ascertain your individual needs, preferences and circumstances before recommending a mortgage, loan or protection product
  • only recommend a mortgage, loan or protection product that we consider suitable for you and that you can afford – and always the most suitable from the available options
  • not recommend a mortgage, loan or protection product if we cannot find one we consider suitable
  • encourage you to ask if there is something you do not understand
  • give you access to a formal complaints procedure should you become unhappy with our service

How you can help us

To help us give you the most appropriate advice, we will ask you to:

  • tell us as much as possible about your income and outgoings, to enable us properly to assess how much you can afford and about circumstances that might affect your insurability.
  • let us know about changes that might affect your ability to repay a mortgage, loan or protection product
  • let us know if there is any aspect of our service, or of a product we have discussed or recommended that you do not understand
  • tell us if you think there are ways we can improve or enhance our service

Distance Marketing

The Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council; Directive 2002/65/EC (DMD) places certain restrictions on the way in which financial products can be sold to customers with whom we do not meet ‘face-to-face’.

In the event that you have not met face-to-face with one of our advisors, we will conduct our business in recognition of the DMD. We propose to be guided by the laws of England and to use English as the language of our business.

There are a number of principles by which we have been guided. These are:

1. Before any contract is enacted for the supply of a financial service, you will be advised of the nature and scope of the services we provide and of any fees payable to us for which you will become liable.

2. No service will be provided to you until you have agreed to the above terms. This is to allow you fully to ascertain if the service is appropriate to your needs and the fee acceptable.

3. Contracts can be agreed verbally (by telephone) or by e-mail or other electronic means but will be confirmed in writing.

4. No fees will be charged to you in the absence of a contract.

5. We will not make unsolicited contacts with you, however, if you accept our terms you will benefit from our commitment to review your needs on a regular basis. We will request your acceptance of this commitment.

6. We aim to build a long-standing relationship with you and, as stated above, undertake to conduct regular reviews. Notwithstanding that commitment, you can cancel the arrangement at any time.

7. You have the right to cancel a contract provided you do so within 14 days of engaging us, however, the nature of our service would normally mean that we will have satisfied the terms of the contract within that period. In the case of ‘home-collected credit’ this ‘cooling off period’ is restricted to 5 working days after receiving the second copy of the Agreement. Cancellation can be effected by telephone, e-mail or other electronic means, however, you are recommended to confirm the cancellation in writing to our business address as listed here.

8. If, after engaging our services, you cancel the contract before work has commenced, we will not charge for the service. However, if work has commenced, you will be charged for time expended. If we have delivered the contracted service, the full fee will remain payable.

9. Should you wish to make a complaint over our interpretation or implementation of the DMD, you should in the first instance, contact our Compliance Officer at the business address as listed below. If not satisfied with our response, we will assist you in referring the complaint to the FCA or the NACFB, whichever is the appropriate authority.

Applicable Law

Our Terms of Business and the services we provide are governed by and should be construed in accordance with English Law. All parties agree that the Courts of England shall have exclusive jurisdiction in relation to any claim, dispute or difference arising from these Terms of Business or any matter arising from it or the services we offer or provide that are not within the jurisdiction of the FCA or OIC.

What to do if you have a complaint

If you wish to register a complaint, please contact us:

...in writing to: LEA Financial Services Limited, 6 Keppel Place, Stoke, Plymouth, Devon PL2 1AX

...by phone to: 01752 561981

If you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)

You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if we cannot meet our obligations. This depends on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Mortgage advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £50,000.

Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without upper limit for non-compulsory insurance. For compulsory insurance, protection is for 100% without upper limit.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS.

Instructions from you

We require our clients to give us instructions in writing for our joint referral. We will, however, accept your oral instructions provided they are confirmed in writing.

We are required to verify your identity in accordance with the Criminal Justice Act 1993 and the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. This will be required at the outset of our dealings with you and no mortgage or loan offer or insurance acceptance terms will be produced until such verification has been obtained.

Our Services

We constantly review the mortgage, loan and insurance market in order to select the most appropriate lenders, providers and products to meet your individual circumstances.

During our initial meeting or discussion, we will complete a detailed fact-find questionnaire to enable appropriate advice to be given on the mortgage, loan and related insurance products. Once we have made our recommendations to you, we will confirm our advice in writing. You should keep this as a record of the transaction, which will be confirmed by your provider’s formal offer of a mortgage, loan or insurance contract.

We will work actively on your behalf, liaising with all parties involved (including solicitors and estate agents) to assist the smooth processing of your application. We are not liable for delays, which may be caused by third parties, but will represent your interests to ensure that these may be kept to the minimum. We may recommend a solicitor from a select panel where we believe you could benefit from our agreed service standards with them.

From time to time, we may contact you if we believe that you would benefit from a new review or be interested in other products we can offer. For example, we currently offer:

  • referral to Domestic and Commercial Energy Assessors for the production of Energy Performance & Display Energy Certificates
  • referral to Will Writing Services
  • access to energy, mobile, landline & broadband services via a Discount Club in order to reduce personal and business energy costs
  • a number of other web-based services.

By accepting these Terms of Business, you authorise us to contact you in these circumstances.

Unless you instruct us otherwise we may, where appropriate, communicate with you and with third parties via email or by other electronic means. The recipient is responsible for virus checking emails and any attachments.

With electronic communication there is a risk of non-receipt, delayed receipt, inadvertent misdirection or interception by third parties. We use virus-scanning software to reduce the risk of viruses and similar damaging items being transmitted through emails or electronic storage devices. However, electronic communication is not totally secure and we cannot be held responsible for damage or loss caused by viruses nor for communications which are corrupted or altered after despatch. Nor can we accept any liability for problems or accidental errors relating to this means of communication especially in relation to commercially sensitive material. These are risks you must bear in return for greater efficiency and lower costs. If you do not wish to accept these risks please let us know and we will communicate by paper mail, other than where electronic submission is mandatory.

Any communication by us with you sent through the post system is deemed to arrive at your postal address two working days after the day that the document was sent.

Remuneration

UK Mortgages (Residential, Buy to Let, Holiday Home, Holiday Let, etc.)

Our standard fee is £500; of which £100 is payable at the outset and £400 is payable on confirmation of a mortgage offer. We will also retain any commission paid to us by the lender.

In certain circumstances we may be able to add our fee to the mortgage loan. You will receive a Mortgage or Key Facts Illustration when considering a particular mortgage, which will detail any other fees relating to it such as valuation fees and lender arrangement fees.

Foreign Property Mortgages (Holiday Homes, Holiday Lets, etc.)

Our fee is 0.8% of the loan amount, payable in pounds sterling, with a minimum of £800; of which half is payable at the outset and the balance is payable on confirmation of a mortgage offer. In most cases, we will be using a third party specialist to interface with a foreign lender and they will also have fees, which they will disclose at the time. Typically, these fees amount to 1.5% of the loan size, of which we would receive 25% by way of ‘commission share’. The actual sum will be disclosed in advance of submission of an application.

Secured and Unsecured Loans

We do not normally charge fees for advising on or arranging secured or unsecured loans. However, we will retain any commission paid to us by the lender. Upon occasion, a lender may not pay us a commission on one of these products. Where we, ourselves offer an unsecured loan, the terms of that loan will be put in writing to you, in advance of your acceptance, so that you can make an informed decision.

If we believe that a lender who does not pay a commission represents the best, or only, available route for you, we would require you to pay us a fee, which we MAY be able to include within the loan at your request. In that event, we would charge a fee of 1% of the loan size with a minimum of £100.

Commercial Mortgage and Loans

We charge an initial non-refundable Appraisal fee of £200 for the purposes of assessing and preparing an application for funding on your behalf. This payment is to be made in full on signing these Terms.

We also charge an Arrangement fee of 0.8% of the total facility arranged (with a minimum of £1,000). Half of this fee is payable at the time the Application is submitted and the remainder on confirmation of an offer. We will also retain any commission paid to us by the lender.

Commercial lenders also will charge their own arrangement fees, which they may share with us, and their typical charge is 1-2%. The actual sum will be disclosed in advance of submission of an application.

Finally, where access to a specific lender or product may be limited or we require specialist support, we may use a third-party intermediary in order to gain access. In that event there may be additional fees, which will be disclosed in advance of an application.

Insurances (Protection)

We do not normally charge any fees for advising on or arranging regulated insurance contracts, as we will receive a commission from the product provider. In a rare situation where the insurer does not offer us a commission, you will be provided with a quotation including any fee we would charge, in advance of your acceptance, so that you can make an informed decision.

Other services

We attach a list of products and services which are not of a financial nature. Quotations will, necessarily, be bespoke.

Withdrawal and refund of fees

Loans, Mortgages & Commercial Mortgages

You will not be liable to pay the balance of our fee if we are unable to secure an offer from any lender. However, in the event we are unable to secure a formal mortgage offer due to your non-disclosure of relevant information as required by the lender or as a result of inaccurate information you have provided, the balance of our fee will become payable immediately. We regret that we are unable to refund fees paid at the outset.

In all cases, if you withdraw from the transaction, we reserve the right to charge for the time spent working on your behalf. This charge will never exceed our standard fee for that service. For genuine reasons of withdrawal, this fee may be credited towards a future transaction.

Whether the finance arranged is for you personally (solely or jointly), a Limited Company, Limited Liability Partnership, Limited Partnership, Partnership or Sole Trader, you will be personally liable to pay our fees and may elect, as advised by your legal advisors or accountants, which vehicle you use to pay us.

Insurances

Where you cancel an insurance contract or it lapses within its earnings period (typically the first four years), we reserve the right to charge you a cancellation fee of up to £250 to cover the time spent working on your behalf.

Non-financial services products

You will not be liable to pay any fees, if you cancel or withdraw before work has begun. Otherwise, we reserve the right to charge reasonable fees for the time expended and costs incurred.

Late or Non-payment of fees

In the unlikely event that payments of our fees are not met as they fall due, we reserve the right to charge interest at the simple interest rate of 8% above the prevailing Bank of England Base Rate, until the debt is repaid. In addition, if recovery action is required, these costs will be added to the total debt.

Your Money

We are not authorised to hold client money. Therefore, we cannot accept direct payment of insurance or mortgage premiums or fees payable to third parties. We are able to forward your cheques or submit your credit/debit card details on your behalf for services such as valuation reports and conveyancing fees.

Data Protection Act 1998 and Information Disclosure

We are registered under the Act as a Data Controller with the OIC; our Registration Number is Z1354876. We will treat all your personal information as private and confidential (even when you are no longer a customer), except where we are permitted or required by Law or where disclosure is made at your request or with your consent in relation to arranging your mortgage, loan and / or your insurance.

As part of the FCA’s duties and those of the NACFB, we may be asked to provide them with access to our customer records in order that they may carry out an audit of our activities. The FCA’s and NACFB’s abilities to inspect customer records promotes best practice in our industry and ensures that you continue to receive the best possible service from us. If we disclose your personal information to the FCA or NACFB, they will only use it for the purpose of confirming our compliance with their rules.

In order to process your request for funding or protection, we will need to be supplied with information, including accounts and personal financial details by you and by other sources such as your Bank and credit reference agencies. We may also apply for supplementary information from your professional or other advisers. By your acceptance of these Terms of Business, you authorise us to obtain such information as may be necessary.

We will record the information and retain it while you remain a client and for a minimum of seven years, thereafter. We will keep it as securely as possible and use it to assess the application and recommend to you the most appropriate product(s). Where commercial or foreign property funding is being sought, we will also use the information to approach a number of selected funders and, subsequently, in negotiations for the issue of an offer of funding with them.

You have the right to apply to us for details of information we hold about you. An administrative charge may be made by us for doing so.

Disputes between client parties

On very rare occasions, but too frequently for anyone’s comfort, disputes arise between individuals who have jointly entered into financial or other transactions.

It is our intention to be totally even-handed, non-partisan and non-judgemental in our relationship with you. Should we become or be made aware of any dispute we will treat all parties as below:

  • If the parties are private persons and the transactions we have managed are of a personal nature, we will respond to the enquiring party about their own status and information and offer advice on their way forward. We will treat information on the other party(ies) as personal and sensitive and not release it without written authority from that/those party(ies). If requested by the second or other party, we will respond to them in like fashion. We will be exercise care so as to avoid any potential conflicts of interest or breaches of data protection.
  • If the parties in conflict are principals of the business which is our client, we would not provide information or services to one party on behalf of the business without the express knowledge and permission of all parties. Unless we are provided an instruction that has been agreed by all parties we will continue to supply information to the normal place of business for the attention of the directors and/or proprietors. Should we receive conflicting advice, information or instructions from different directors and/or principals we will refer the matter back to the board of directors/the partnership and take no further action until the board/partnership has agreed the action to be taken.

Credit Checking and Fraud Prevention

All lenders will carry out credit reference checks with credit bureaus in order to assess an applicant’s suitability for mortgage or other lending. They may also carry out other checks to verify your identity, employment status or financial conduct.

  • If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details may be passed to fraud prevention agencies.
  • Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information
  • The proposed lender and other agencies may also access and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, for example, when:
    • Checking details on applications for credit and credit related or other facilities
    • Managing credit and credit related accounts or facilities
    • Recovering debt
    • Checking details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance
    • Checking details of job applicants and employees.
  • Please contact us at 6 Keppel Place, Stoke, Plymouth, Devon PL2 1AX if you want to receive details of the relevant fraud prevention agencies
  • The proposed lender and other organisations may access and use the information recorded by fraud prevention agencies from other countries.

By signing these Terms of Business you

1. Instruct us to provide services in accordance with these terms.

2. Agree that any information we hold about you can be held on computer and / or paper files.

3. Agree that any information, which you give us, may be disclosed to third parties (e.g. credit reference agencies and product providers) for the purpose of processing your application or to another firm upon the sale or transfer of all or part of our business.

4. Agree that we may contact your current lender, insurance provider or other third parties in order to obtain information on your current products and policies to enable us to provide you with advice appropriate to your circumstances.

5. Agree that we may contact your new lender, insurance provider or other third parties following the commencement of any new product or policy in order to obtain information on those products and policies to enable us to provide you with advice appropriate to your circumstances. If you do not wish us to do this, you may opt out.

6. Agree that we may use the information that we hold about you to contact you from time to time by post, fax, e-mail or telephone to review your products or bring to your attention additional products or services, which may be of benefit to you. If you do not wish us to do this, you may opt out.

7. Acknowledge that any consent given by you under paragraphs 4, 5 and 6 above may be withdrawn by you at any time by contacting us in writing at: LEA Financial Services Ltd, 6 Keppel Place, Stoke, Plymouth, Devon PL2 1AX

Ancillary Services

The below listed services can be tailored to meet your needs and specifications.

If you are interested in any of these services – either as a single item or as a combination of services delivered as a package – whether for personal or business use, and would like a personal quotation, please contact us as shown, below.

  • Our fee for Energy Certificates (EPCs) is £85.00 per certificate.
  • Our fee for Company Incorporations is £200.00 per Company or you may make use of our website to incorporate Companies yourself, making use of the options offered and paying for those services online.
  • We also offer a tailored Excel-based Accounting package - designed to track expenditures and income in real-time and assist in making HMRC and Companies House Returns, at £300.00 per Company.
  • Legal firms on our panel have agreed to pay us an introduction fee of £100.00 per successful introduction. This does not result in an increased fee for you.

Business & Property

Business Formation In House

Building Surveys In House

Energy Certificates In House

Specialist Surveys In House

Legal Services Legal panel

Commercial Valuation Surveys In House

e-mail: business@lea-financial-services.co.uk or Telephone us on 01752 569286

Corporate Image

Logo Design In House

Web Design In House

E-mail Hosting In House

Ghost Writing In House

Copy/Content Writing Panel

Translation Services Panel

Web Presence

Website Hosting In House

Web Application Building In House

Web-site Building Enhancement In House

e-Commerce In House

Search Engine Optimisation In House

Technical Support In House

Communication

Mailing Lists In House

Forum In House

Text Messaging In House

Database Design In House

Blogs In House

Project Management In House

e-mail: webservices@lea-financial-services.co.uk Or Telephone us on 01752 559209

For the sake of clarity, we have identified where the services are provided in-house or are referred to a separate organization, whom you would pay directly.

Updated 8th December 2014

"Excellent service directed at our individual needs. We are very grateful that your help & advice has allowed us to purchase a home for our son."
M & E W - 11th December 2014

Please get in contact if you're looking for information about any of our services. Either call us on 01752 561981 or Request a Callback