Terms OfBusiness
Terms of Business
MBL Financial Services Ltd t/a Mortgage Xpress.
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 thoroughly and if you have
any queries we will be happy to clarify them. If any material changes are made to these terms
we will notify you if applicable.
Authorisation with the Central Bank of Ireland
MBL Financial Services Ltd t/a Mortgage Xpress(Central Bank 5548) is regulated by the
Central Bank of Ireland as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union
(Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018 ; as an Investment Intermediary authorised under
the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995 and as a Mortgage Intermediary authorised under
the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, and as a Mortgage Credit Intermediary under the European
Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016. Copies of our regulatory
authorisations are available on request. The Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of
regulated firms. You may contact the Central Bank of Ireland on 1890 777 777 or
alternatively visit their website at www.centralbank.ie to verify our credentials.
Codes of Conduct
MBL Financial Services Ltd t/a Mortgage Xpress is subject to the Consumer Protection Code,
Minimum Competency Code and Fitness & Probity Standards which offer protection to
consumers. These Codes can be found on the Central Bank’s website www.centralbank.ie
Our Services
MBL Financial Services Ltd t/a Mortgage Xpress is a member of Brokers Ireland.
Our principal business is to provide advice and arrange transactions on behalf of clients in
relation to life & pensions/mortgages products. A full list of insurers, product producers and
lending agencies with which we deal is available on request.
Insurance Intermediary Services/Mortgage Intermediary Services
We act as an Independent Broker which means that:
a) the principal regulated activities of the firm are provided on the basis of a fair and personal
analysis of the market; and
b) you have the option to pay in full for our services by means of a fee.
Fair and Personal Analysis
The concept of fair and personal analysis describes the extent of the choice of products and
providers offered by an intermediary within a particular category of life assurance, general
insurance, mortgages, and/ or a specialist area. The number of contracts and providers
considered must be sufficiently large to enable an intermediary to recommend a product that
would be adequate to meet a client’s needs.
The number of providers that constitutes ‘sufficiently large’ will vary depending on the
number of providers operating in the market for a particular product or service and theirrelative importance in and share of that market. The extent of fair analysis must be such that
could reasonably be expected of a professional conducting business, taking into account the
accessibility of information and product placement to intermediaries and the cost of the
search.
In order to ensure that the number of contracts and providers is sufficiently large to constitute
a fair and personal analysis of the market, we will consider the following criteria:
the needs of the customer,
the size of the customer 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 information about the products,
the quality of the product and service provided by the provider,
cost, and
any other relevant consideration.
Investment Intermediary Services
We are remunerated by commission for our investment intermediary services.
We are remunerated by commission for the advice we provide on our insurance-based
investment products
Life & Pensions/Deposits & Life Wrapped Investments
We provide life assurance and pensions on a fair and personal analysis basis i.e. providing
services on the basis of a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers
available in the market to enable us to make a recommendation, in accordance with
professional criteria, regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs.
We will provide assistance to you for any queries you may have in relation to the 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 your policy. However, it is your
responsibility to read the policy documents, literature and brochures to ensure that you
understand the nature of the policy cover; particularly in relation to PHI and serious illness
policies.
Specifically on the subject of permanent health insurance policies we will explain to you; a)
the meaning of disability as defined in the policy; b) the benefits available under the policy;
c) the general exclusions that apply to the policy; and d) the reductions applied to the benefit
where there are disability payments from other sources.
For a serious illness policy, we will explain clearly to you the restrictions, conditions and
general exclusions that attach to that policy.Mortgages
Through the lenders or other undertakings with which we hold an agency, MBL Financial
Services Ltd t/a Mortgage Xpress can provide advice on and arrange mortgage products from
the following range: fixed-rate loans, variable rate mortgages, capital & interest mortgages,
interest only mortgages, endowment mortgages, pension mortgages and residential
investment property.
We provide mortgage advice on a fair analysis basis (providing services on the basis of a
sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available in the market to
enable the firm to make a recommendation, in accordance with professional criteria,
regarding which contract would be adequate to meet your needs).
We will need to collect sufficient information from you before we can offer any advice on
housing loans. This is due to the fact that a key issue in relation to mortgage advice is
affordability. Such information should be produced promptly upon our request.
Statement of Charges
We are remunerated by commission and other payments 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 30 hrs.
In certain circumstances, it will be necessary to charge a fee for services provided. These are
listed below. In other circumstances where fees are chargeable or where you choose to pay
in full for our service by fee, we will notify you in writing in advance and agree the scale of
fees to be charged if different from fees outlined below. Where it is not possible to provide
the exact amount, we will provide you the method of calculation of the fee.
If we receive commission from a product provider, this may/will be offset against the fee
which we will charge you. Where the commission is greater than the fee due, the commission
may become the amount payable to the firm unless an arrangement to the contrary is made.
Life and Pensions
You may elect to deal with us on a fee basis
Principals / Directors €250 per hour
Senior Advisers €175 per hour
Support staff €95 per hour
Additional fees may be payable for complex cases or to reflect value, specialist skills or
urgency, our scale of fees for such cases range from a minimum of €250 per hour to a
maximum of €300 per hour. We will notify you in advance and agree the scale of fees to be
charged.Mortgages
We may receive up to 1% of the loan for arranging mortgage finance. This commission is paid
by the mortgage lender. The actual amount of commission will be disclosed at a later stage
in the ESIS (European Standardised Information Sheet) which will be forwarded to you.
Information on the variation in levels of commission payable by the different creditors
providing credit agreements being offered are available on request.
Please note that lenders may charge specific fees in certain circumstances and if this
applies, these fees will be specified in your Loan Offer. You have the right to pay a fee
separately and not include it in the loan. Typically, this situation arises in relation to
specialist lending.
From January 2024 Mortgage Xpress will be introducing a €250 Application Deposit Fee , this
is FULLY REFUNDABLE on closing of your mortgage . As before we will continue to offer
Mortgage Appointments and will review your documents free of charge. The deposit fee will
only be applied when an application is submitted to the lender . This fee will then be
refunded within 7 days of your mortgage closing date. If however you do not proceed with
your mortgage the fee will not be refunded .
Ongoing Suitability
Investments
The firm’s services does not include ongoing suitability assessments.
Regular Reviews
It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we
have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change. You must
advise us of those changes and request a review of the relevant policy so that we can
ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs.
Failure to contact us in relation to changes in your circumstances or failure to request a
review, may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate
investments.
Disclosure of Information
Any failure to disclose material information may invalidate your claim and render your
policy void.
Conflicts of interest
It is the policy of our firm to avoid conflicts of interest in providing services to you.
However, where an unavoidable conflict of interest arises , we will advise you of this in
writing before providing you with any service. A full copy of our conflicts of interest policy
is available on request.
Default on payments by clients
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.Mortgage lenders may seek early repayment of a loan and interest if you default on your
repayments. Your home is at risk if you do not maintain your agreed repayments.
Complaints
We will acknowledge your complaint in writing within 5 business days and we will fully
investigate it. We shall investigate the complaint as swiftly as possible, and the complainant
will receive an update on the complaint at intervals of not greater than 20 business days
starting from the date on which 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 Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO). A full copy of our
complaints procedure is available on request.
Data Protection
We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the
Irish Data Protection Act 2018.
MBL Financial Services Ltd t/a Mortgage Xpress 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 if this
medium is not suitable and we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard copy, or
telephonic environment.
Please contact us at info@mortgagexpress.ie if you have any concerns about your personal
data.
Compensation Scheme
We are members of the Investor Compensation Scheme operated by the Investor
Compensation Company Ltd. See below for details.
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, administered or managed by the firm cannot be returned to those clients
for the time being and where there is no reasonably 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 clients 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.
For further information, contact the Investor Compensation Company Ltd. at (01) 224 4955.
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.
Insurance Undertakings
The following are a list of Insurance Undertakings and Product Producers from which
Letters of Appointment are held;
Life Assurance Appointments
Royal London
Zurich Life
Aviva ( incl Friends First)
New Ireland Assurance Company plc
Standard Life Assurance Company
MacDonaghBoland Crotty Mac Redmond Ltd
BCP Asset Management Ltyd
Irish Life Assurance ( incl Canada Life)
Lender Appointments
Permanent TSB plc
Finance Ireland Credit Solutions DAC
Brokers Ireland Network Services Ltd
The Governor and Company of The Bank Of Ireland
Haven Mortgages Ltd
Dilosk DAC
AvantCard DACName :
Address :
TERMS OF BUSINESS ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Attached are our Terms of Business which outline the basis on which we provide
services to our clients. Please ensure that you read this document carefully. These
Terms of Business apply to all business transactions undertaken for you, or services
provided to you, and will remain in force until further notice. Should we make any
material changes to our Terms, we will advise you in advance of providing any further
services to you.