Financial Services Authority (FSA) Information

ACL Property Finance is authorised by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) to advise and arrange regulated mortgages and general insurance. 

On 31st October 2004 new legislation came into force that any person or firm who is neither authorised direct with the FSA or an approved adviser operating within an FSA authorised network will be committing a criminal offence by giving any advice, however small, or recommendations to clients on regulated products which comprise main residence mortgages and life and property protection insurance.

The purpose of the new legislation is to provide greater protection to personal customers when applying for a home mortgage. It sets standards of good practice and aims to ensure that they receive qualified advice and a transparent service which gives all the necessary information in a standard format approved by the FSA. This allows clients to easily compare terms from different sources. 

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.

With our direct authorisation and a team of qualified advisers we can provide advice with access to the whole market for mortgages and general insurance.

What is FSA Regulated Business?

FSA regulation applies to all residential mortgages which completed after 31st October 2004 and which are secured on the home. These new regulations also include Buy to Let properties if owned in your personal name and occupied by close relatives whether they pay rent or not. The regulations also cover loans on commercial properties which incorporate living accommodation either occupied by you or your close family relatives, provided that the floor area of the living accommodation exceeds 40% of that of the whole property. 

We are compelled by the FSA to follow a specified procedure which involves the completion of a Fact Find and Initial Disclosure Document (IDD) which confirms the terms on which we are instructed by you. This is followed by a Key Facts Illustration (KFI) which sets out all the terms of the mortgage facility we have recommended. We will also write to you separately to confirm why we have recommended a particular lender and facility. 

On 14th January 2005 the FSA also became responsible for regulating all types of general insurance.  The FSA requires us to emphasise that your home can be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage.  Mortgage Protection insurance provides cover against unforeseen eventualities that could affect your ability to maintain repayments on your mortgage such as death, illness, accident or unemployment.  General insurance also includes buildings damage cover which all lenders insist on being in place to protect their security, and contents insurance which is normally optional where a main residence or Buy to Let property is the lenders security, but essential on most owner-run business securities.  

ACL is qualified to advise and arrange all regulated insurance business.

By researching the whole market ACL is able to give you advice and effectively arrange all regulated mortgage and insurance business under one roof.

Regulated Business Procedure

The FSA has dictated strict procedures which all authorised firms must adhere to.  Whilst designed to protect consumers these procedures have become lengthy and paper intensive.   We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause our clients but we have no option other than to follow the FSA regulations on form filling which we detail as follows:

Initial Disclosure Document (IDD) this confirms the level of service and terms on which we have agreed to work for you. The precise format is dictated by the FSA and used by all authorised firms.

The Fact Find a fairly long and detailed document that must be completed to take all your circumstances into account when we provide advice and our recommendation.  You may choose not to answer questions if you consider them irrelevant or too personal.  In this instance the FSA obliges us to state that such omissions could affect the advice we give you.  If you decline to answer we have to note this on the Fact Find.

The Key Facts Illustration (KFI) a precise format dictated by the FSA and used by all authorised firms to enable like for like comparisons. The KFI incorporates all the terms of the mortgage or insurance we recommend based on the information you have given us. Each KFI has an expiry date. If the mortgage application or insurance proposal is not submitted to the Lender/Insurance Company before the expiry date a new KFI must be issued.  

The Mortgage Application Form at this stage, whilst the lender will have agreed the proposal in principle, ACL must submit a formal application to the lender requesting the written Offer. To save time, this process can often be dealt with electronically over a secure connection with the lender. However, in all cases we are required by law to undertake a process of formal identification to satisfy Money Laundering regulations and the lender will require proof of identity and address by submission of copy documents certified by us. 

The Insurance Proposal Form having completed a separate Fact Find and offered you a choice of Insurance Companies prepared to give cover, a formal application has to be completed and submitted to obtain a Key Facts Illustration from the Insurance Company. It is very important that you disclose fully any health condition or material information otherwise failure to do so could result in a claim being rejected.   Again, formal proof of identity and home address will need to be provided to satisfy Money Laundering regulations.  

The Suitability Letter sent by us to you after you have received and accepted the lender's offer and / or Insurance Company's acceptance of your Proposal.  The Suitability Letter will explain the reasons why we have recommended the lender and the particular facility and / or insurance policy which will have been based on the information and preferences you have disclosed in the Fact Finds.

Confidentiality

We will treat all of your personal information as private and confidential, even when you are no longer a customer, except where disclosure is made at your request or with your consent in relation to arranging your mortgage.  However, we may disclose details to the regulatory authorities and auditors for the purpose of compliance.

You have a right of access, under the Data Protection Act 1998, to your personal records held by us in hard copy and/or on our computer files.

Complaints

We have internal procedures for handling complaints fairly and speedily and when requested we will tell you what these are.  These will include establishing a set time for an initial acknowledgement of your complaint and we will tell you how long it might take us to respond more fully.

If you wish to make a complaint you may do so orally or by letter, fax or email to:

The Compliance Officer
ACL Property Finance

Eastbury House
3 Eastbury Road
Northwood
Middlesex
HA6 3BG

Telephone: 01923 820012
Fax: 01923 845234
Email: info@aclfinance.com