Terms of Business
1. Authorisation
The full name, address and contact details of the firm is set out on the bottom of this document. Our firm is authorised in Ireland under Section 31(1) Part V of the Central Bank Act 1997 (as amended) to provide debt management services for remuneration. The Central Bank of Ireland is the competent authority that has authorised and regulated this firm. The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank at 1890 777 777 or on its website www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.
Our firm is subject to the following Codes of Conduct and regulatory regulations issued by the Central Bank of Ireland. These codes offer protection to our clients and all of the codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie: Consumer Protection Code 2012, Minimum Competency Code 2011, Fitness & Probity Standards and Authorisation Requirements and Standards for Debt Management Firms. Our firm is also subject to the following legislation: Data Protection Legislation.
2. Introduction
B.H.F.F. Ltd T/A The Financial Foundation is an Irish company limited by shares. References in these Terms of Business (the Terms) and your separate Engagement Letter to “we” or “us” refer to The Financial Foundation.
Reference to “you” or “your” shall refer to each and every party of the Engagement Letter (other than us). Services shall mean the services which we provide (or are required to provide) to you. The Terms apply to Services delivered or due to be delivered by us to you (unless otherwise agreed in writing) subject to the Engagement Letter which generally sets out the Services to be delivered by us and fees to be charged by us for the Services. The Engagement Letter will prevail to the extent that there is any conflict between it and the Terms.
The Terms will apply from the commencement of your retention of us for the entire period of this engagement (for the purposes of the Terms being our engagement to provide the Services).
This engagement may be terminated by either party by notice, with immediate effect, in writing to the regular correspondence address of the other party marked for the appropriate director or contact.
Termination will not affect accrued rights, existing commitments or any contractual provision intended to survive termination and will be without penalty or other additional payment save that you will pay: (a) our fees to the date of termination; (b) any additional expenses necessarily incurred by us a result of you terminating this engagement; (c) any fees of professional or other third party advisers we have incurred or are liable for in connection with the Services.
3. Our Fees and Invoicing Arrangements
Initial Consultation
Free of Charge
1 x PDH (Private Dwelling House) and up to 10 Creditors
Each Additional RIP (Residential Investment Property)
Review Fee
€295.00
Success Fee
- To Lodge an Appeal in relation to their decision
€75.00
- To Lodge a Formal Complaint
€75.00
- To provide a letter for the Circuit Court
€50.00
- To attend court with Client (Includes Travel & Expenses)
€100.00
- To submit a complaint to the Financial Services Ombudsman
€150.00
Initial Deposit
Success Fee
€495.00
If a repayment plan proposed on your behalf is unsuccessful, there is no refund on fees
INVOICING
Invoices will be sent when we are in receipt of your signed Customer Engagement Letter and we kindly request that payments are made in advance of the preparation of a Standard Financial Statement.
In more complex cases or cases with more than 10 creditors, the firm will need to charge additional fees and those fees will be clearly identified in writing prior to commencing your services.
We will be entitled to submit interim invoices for the Services and disbursement as work progresses. Invoices are payable within 30 days of presentation. We reserve the right to add interest at a rate of 2% a year over 3 month EURIBOR (Euro Inter Bank Offered Rate) for the time being, on any invoice that remains unpaid 30 days after presentation.
4. Data Protection and Privacy
BHFF Ltd T/a The Financial Foundation complies with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. The data which you provide to us will be held on a computer database and paper files for the purpose of arranging transactions on your behalf. 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 and Data Protection policy. We would also like to keep you informed of other services provided by us or associated companies with which we have a formal business arrangement; which we think may be of interest to you. We would like to contact you by way of letter, email or telephone call. If you would like to receive such marketing information, please complete the permission statements contained in the Terms of Business acknowledgement letter attached.
We may receive referrals from such firms and may advise them of any transactions arranged for you. You have the right at any time to request a copy of any ‘personal data’ within the meaning of the GDPR that our office holds about you and to have any inaccuracies in that information corrected. Please contact us at info@thefinancialfoundation.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.
5. Conflict of Interest
It is the policy of this firm to avoid any conflict of interest when providing business services to its clients. However, where a conflict arises we will advise you of this in writing before proceeding to provide any business service. If you have not been advised of any conflict, you are entitled to assume none arises.
6. Default
Our firm will exercise its legal rights to receive payments due to it from clients for services provided.
7. Complaints Procedure
We have a written complaints procedure for the effective handling of all complaints:
- We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint in writing within 5 working days.
- A written update will be issued to you every 20 days by a nominated individual within our firm.
- A comprehensive response to your complaint will be issued within 8 weeks of receipt of your initial complaint.
- In the event of failure to resolve your complaint you may refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman’s Bureau, Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2 for adjudication. The Financial Services Ombudsman Bureau may be contacted on +353 1 567 7000 or via email to info@fspo.ie. Our full Complaints Procedure is available on request.
8. Entire Agreement
With respect to this engagement, our Engagement Letter and the Terms constitute the entire agreement between us and supersede all prior agreements, proposals, oral and written representations and negotiations. Nothing in the Terms makes us your agent or partner or establishes a joint venture between you and us.
A person who is not a party to this engagement shall have no rights to enforce any of the Terms or the terms of the Engagement Letter save that, to the extent that The Financial Foundation so consents, any Indemnified Party may enforce and rely on any of the Terms or the terms of the Engagement Letter as though it were a party to them.