TERMS OF BUSINESS
Our Mortgage and Insurance Services & Costs
The Financial Conduct Authority
Evolve Financial Services (Scotland) Ltd, t/a Evolve Financial Services, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The FCA regulates financial services in the UK and you can check our authorisation and permitted activities on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA’s website www.fca.org.uk/firms/systems-reporting/register or by contacting the FCA on 0800 111 6768. Our Financial Services Register number is 793208
Our Services
Mortgages
We are independent mortgage advisers and we will recommend a mortgage product that is suitable for you following an assessment of your personal needs and circumstances. This will include a detailed assessment of affordability.
We will consider all products and lenders that we have access to. This means we will not consider those lenders that are only available by you going direct to them.
Where you are increasing your borrowing we will consider the merits of both a new first charge mortgage and securing this by an additional mortgage on a second charge basis. You may have the option of a further advance from your existing lender, however, we will only consider this where we are able to deal directly with the lender on your behalf.
It may be in your best interests to explore this option and look at the further alternative of an unsecured loan, as these may be more appropriate for you.
Insurances
Non-investment protection contracts - we offer non-investment protection including term assurance, critical illness insurance and income protection insurance from a range of insurers. We will provide you with advice and arrange the contract on your behalf after an assessment of your personal needs circumstances
General Insurance Contracts - we offer buildings & contents insurance, accident, sickness & unemployment (ASU) and private medical insurance (PMI) products from a range of insurers. We will provide you with advice and arrange the contract on your behalf after we have assessed your demands and needs for a particular type of insurance
The Costs of our Service
For Regulated Mortgages and Buy To Let we charge a fee of £495 for providing advice and submitting your mortgage application. This fee becomes payable on issue of mortgage offer.
For non-regulated bridging loans we charge no broker fee.
We will receive and retain a commission from the lender when your mortgage completes. This amount will be confirmed by the lender in their disclosure document.
Should you wish you can request to view the commission rates from each of the lenders we have considered at the time that we make our recommendation to you.
Refund of fees
Please note our fee will still be charged should the lender reject your mortgage application due to you not disclosing any material information about your personal situation or you decide not to proceed with the mortgage loan after we have made a recommendation to you.
Non-Investment Protection and General Insurance Contracts
We do not charge a fee as we will receive commission from the provider after the policy has been placed on risk.
Our Ethical Policy
We are committed to providing the highest standard of advice and service possible. The interest of our customers is paramount to us and to achieve this we have designed our systems and procedures to place you at the heart of our business. In doing so, we will:
• be open, honest and transparent in the way we deal with you;
• not place our interests above yours;
• communicate clearly, promptly and without jargon;
• seek your views and perception of our dealings with you to ensure it meets your expectations or to identify any improvements required.
Cancellation rights
Certain protection and insurance contracts allow you the right to cancel after a contract has been put in force. Prior to you entering into a contract of protection or insurance we will provide you with specific details should this apply to include: its duration; conditions, practical instructions and any costs for exercising it, together with the consequences of not exercising it.
Instructions
We prefer our clients to give us instructions in writing, to aid clarification and avoid future misunderstandings. We will, however, accept oral instructions provided they are confirmed in writing.
Complaints
If you wish to register a complaint, please write to Evolve Financial Services (Scotland) Ltd, 2 Walker Street, Edinburgh EH3 7LA or telephone 0131 315 0091
A summary of our internal complaints handling procedures for the reasonable and prompt handling of complaints is available on request and if you cannot settle your complaint with us, you may be entitled to refer it to the Financial Ombudsman Service at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk or by contacting them on 0800 023 4567.
Compensation Scheme
If you make a complaint and we are unable to meet our liabilities, you may be entitled to compensation from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
Further information about the limits applicable to the different product types is available from the FSCS at http://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/products
Client Responsibilities
Mortgage applicants must disclose all present credit arrangements and all other financial commitments they may have (eg child maintenance) and advise of any adverse debt/payment history which may adversely affect the outcome of any formal mortgage application. Evolve Financial Services should be immediately advised of any change to an applicants circumstances (eg change of employment, income etc) that would have n impact on the application. It is imperative that you answer any questions within an insurance application honestly ans fully as this could affect future claims.
Client Verification
We may be required to verify the identity of our clients, to obtain information as to the purpose and nature of the business which we conduct on their behalf, and to ensure that the information we hold is up-to-date. For this purpose we may use electronic identity verification systems and we may conduct these checks from time to time throughout our relationship, not just at the beginning.
Client Responsibilities Regards Mortgage Offer
When you receive a formal offer of mortgage loan, please read the terms and conditions very carefully. If you are in any doubt about the offer of loan you should immediately consult your mortgage adviser to ensure that this is exactly what you require.
All applicants are advised to instruct their solicitors NOT to complete the final missive on any house purchase or submit themselves to this or any other financial commitment related to their mortgage until an acceptable detailed formal offer or loan specific to the property in question has been issued. Evolve Financial Services will not be held liable whatsoever for any direct or consequential losses incurred by the applicant should there be any delay and or non-issue of a formal offer of loan.
Law
This agreement is governed and shall be construed in accordance with the Law of Scotland and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts.
Force Majeure
Evolve Financial Services (Scotland) Ltd shall not be in breach of this Agreement and shall not incur any liability to you if there is any failure to perform its duties due to any circumstances reasonably beyond its control.
Termination
The authority to act on your behalf may be terminated at any time without penalty by either party giving 7 days notice in writing to that effect to the other, but without prejudice to the completion of transactions already initiated. Any
transactions effected before termination and a due proportion of any period charges for services shall be settled to that date.