Financial Services referred to in this guide are offered by Brokers National.

Doug Kerr Insurance Consultants P/L T/as BROKERS NATIONAL ABN [42 649 197 372]

Shop 33 / 1^st Floor, Hub Arcade 

Langhorne St. Dandenong 3175

Postal Address: PO. Box 7031 Dandenong 3175

Telephone: 03 9791 6688,   Facsimile: 03 9791 6633

Website: www.brokersnational.com.au

Background of company.

The brokerage commenced trading on the 1^st July 1997, and specialises in both general insurance and life risk products. Brokers National are members of: National Insurance Brokers Association & The Steadfast Group.

The Financial Services Guide (FSG) sets out the services we can offer you.

The FSG assists you in deciding whether you should use any of these services and contains information about:

               The services we offer you, how we and our associates are paid, any potential conflict of interest we may have, and

our internal and external dispute resolution procedures and how you can access them are stated in the guide.

How can you instruct us?

You can contact us to give us instructions by: post, telephone, facsimile or email.

Statement Of Advice (SOA) enables you to make an informed decision.

You will receive a statement of advice (SOA) whenever we provide you with advice which takes into account your objectives, financial situation and needs. The SOA will contain the advice, which will enable you to make an informed decision about your insurance needs. If you have not completed a Needs Analysis we are unable to provide you with advice or our advice may be limited.

When you ask us to recommend an insurance policy for you, we will usually only consider the policies offered by the insurers or insurance providers that we deal with regularly.  In giving you advice about the costs and terms of recommended polices we have not compared those policies to other policies available, other than from those insurers we deal with regularly.

Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) about the insurance coverage.

If we offer to arrange the issue of an insurance policy to you, we will also provide you with, or pass on to you, a product disclosure statement (PDS), unless you already have an up to date PDS from the insurer.  The PDS will contain information about the particular policy of the insurer, which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that policy. 

From when does this FSG apply?

This FSG applies from the date shown on our correspondence and remains valid unless a further FSG is issued to replace it.  We may give you a supplementary FSG.  It will not replace this FSG but will cover services not covered by this FSG.

Who is responsible for the financial services provided?

Doug Kerr Insurance Consultants P/L T/as BROKERS NATIONAL is responsible for the financial services that will be provided to you, or through you to your family members, including the distribution of this FSG.

We hold an Australian Financial Services License No: 246366

Do we have any special relationships with the insurers who issue the insurance policies, or other parties?

Doug Kerr Insurance Consultants P/L is a shareholder of Steadfast Group Limited (Steadfast). Steadfast has exclusive arrangements with some insurers under which an override commission is received up to 2%. This is used to operate Steadfast.  Depending on the operating costs of Steadfast and the amount of total premium we place with the participating insurers in any financial year, we may receive a proportion of that commission for all products arranged with the participating insurers, generally by dividend distrubution.
As a shareholder of Steadfast we have access to member services including model operating and compliance tools, procedures, manuals and training, legal, technical, banking and recruitment advice and assistance, group insurance arrangements, product comparison and placement support, claims support and group purchasing arrangements. These member services are either funded by Steadfast, subsidised by Steadfast or available exclusively to shareholders for a fee.
You can obtain a copy of Steadfast's FSG at www.steadfast.com.au.

How will I pay for the services provided?

You can pay by any of the payment methods set out in the invoice. You are required to pay us before the date shown on the invoice. Remove the remittance slip from the invoice and attach it to your payment.

Will I receive tailored advice?

If you are purchasing a "Retail Product" and a Statement of Advice has not been provided to you with this invoice, then the advice that we are giving you for this transaction is "General Advice". General Advice is advice that has been prepared without considering your current objectives, financial situation or needs. You should read the warnings contained in any Statement of Advice we send to you. However, we will provide you will personal tailored advice for "Retail Products", if you complete a Needs Analysis form about your personal objectives, details of your current financial situation and any relevant information we ask you, so that we can give you personal advice about your insurance needs.

We maintain a record of your personal profile, including details of insurance policies that we arrange or issue for you. We also maintain records of any recommendations or advice given to you. We will retain this FSG and any other FSG given to you as well as any SOA or PDS that we give or pass on to you.

We are committed to promoting privacy and security of your personal information. A copy of our privacy policy is available on request. If you wish to look at your client file, which we retain electronically, please ask us.

What kinds of financial services are you authorised to provide to me and what kinds of financial product/s do those services relate to?

Doug Kerr Insurance Consultants P/L T/as BROKERS NATIONAL is authorised to advise and deal in general insurance products and life risk products to retail clients. We will tell if we change our range of products.

Sometimes we will act under a binder or agency for the insurer. When we act under a binder or agency we will be acting as the agent of the insurer. We will tell you if we are acting under a binder or agency to arrange your insurance when we advise you about your insurance needs.

How are any commissions, fees or other benefits calculated for providing the financial services?

We often receive a payment called commission, which is paid to us by the insurers.
However, in some cases we will also charge you a fee. The words Broker Fee are shown on the invoice sent to you.

Our commission from the insurer is calculated as a percentage of the Base Premium and shown on our Statement of Advice to you. ie. Commission is payable on the premium before government charges and fees are added. 

Any fees that we charge you will be based on time taken by our staff and varies according to the type of policy, its complexity and associated administration costs.
If you are issued with a "Retail Product", you can ask us to disclose the commission and any other payments, we, our associates or referrers will receive. Our brokerage fee is shown on our invoice provided to you.

We may pay part of the commission or fee earned to others that refer you to us for insurance. The amount paid to Authorised Representatives or Referrers is not in addition to the premium payable by you. The amount we pay to Authorised Representatives ranges from 35% to 75% of the commission and fee earned. For Referrers ranging from 0% to 35% of earnings.

Our employees that will assist you with your insurance requirements will be paid a market salary, which may include a small percentage of total earnings for the month as a bonus. Employees may also receive reward points from insurers & participate in prize incentives for sales.
We may receive commission and/or incentives and/or administration fees from premium funding transactions from financiers for clients electing to pay monthly, up to 3.0% of the interest percentage charged in the loan application. The Company deposits monies paid by you into a Trust Account. We earn interest from the bank which varies according to current market rates and the balance of the account. Bank fees and charges are also payable on that account. The interest received from the Trust Account accumulates from the date we deposit the premium paid and the date we pay the insurer which may vary according to the insurer's credit terms.
Other than the issues raised above, there are no other conflicts of interest that need to be declared.

What should I do if I have a complaint?

1.             Contact the staff member at Brokers National you have been dealing with and make every effort to resolve the problem with that person. Our aim is to resolve problems.

2.             If you are still not satisfied with the outcome of your discussion with our staff, then please write to the Managing Director – Doug Kerr or Alicia Tua - Broker Services Manager, about your complaint or make an appointment to come into our office. Your complaint will be addressed in 14 days and discussed with you over the phone and our answer confirmed to you in writing.  We will try and resolve your complaint quickly and fairly.

3.             Doug Kerr Insurance Consultants P/L T/as Brokers National is a member of the Insurance Brokers Disputes Limited (IBDL).  If your complaint still cannot be resolved to your satisfaction by our office you have the right to use this independent facility. Our letter from the Managing Director to you has the IBDL contact details.

Any questions?

If you have any questions about the financial services guide or we can assist you further then please contact us.

Please retain this document for your reference and any future dealings with Brokers National.