This document contains important details about J Finance Ltd, how we are regulated and the basis upon which we will provide services to you. Please study this carefully to make sure that our services are right for you, by choosing to transact business with us, you are agreeing to accept and be bound by the terms included in this document.

HOW WE ARE REGULATED

J Finance Ltd 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 https://register.fca.org.uk/s/. Our FCA number is 442742

OUR SERVICES

For mortgages we are independent advisers and we will recommend a product that is suitable for you following an assessment of your personal needs and circumstances.

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 a new first charge mortgage, a further advance or an additional mortgage on a second charge basis.

If we are recommending a Buy to Let mortgage for you, it is important to understand that not all Buy to Let mortgages are regulated by the FCA. We will confirm to you if any product we are recommending is not regulated.

For non-investment protection contracts we are an intermediary and will act on your behalf when providing advice and making our personal recommendation(s) to you. We will do this based on a fair and personal analysis of insurers for term assurance, income protection, critical illness.

For general insurance contracts we are an intermediary and will act on your behalf when recommending an insurer based on your demands and needs from a fair analysis of the market. It will be your responsibility to ensure the policy meets your demands and needs for building and/or contents, private medical insurance, accident sickness and unemployment.

THE COSTS OF OUR SERVICES

INSURANCE PLANNING

We do not charge a fee as we will receive commission from the provider after the policy has been placed on risk.

MORTGAGE PLANNING

We will be paid a procuration fee by the lender we place your mortgage with. If this is sufficient to meet our minimum remuneration policy and the case is not considered complex, this will be the sole method of remuneration.

The exact amount of commission we will receive is not known to us at this stage. We will confirm the actual amount to you as part of the illustration we are required to obtain from the lender.

We will confirm our fees, and when they are payable, prior to the submission of an application.

COMPLEX CASES

We will charge a fee, of up to £799.00, in the following scenarios; but this list is not exhaustive:

• Buy to Let - Personal Name / Limited Company
• Foreign National / Ex-Patriate
• Debt Consolidation
• Non-Standard Income
• Self Build
• Bridging Finance
• Second Charge Secured Loan
• Buying Schemes – Shared Ownership / Equity Share

 MINIMUM REMUNERATION POLICY

We have a minimum required remuneration of £750.00 per mortgage application. If the procuration fee paid by a lender is less than this figure, we will charge the difference as a fee.

NON-PAYMENT OF FEES

If our agreed fee is not paid by the due date, we reserve the right to take reasonable steps to recover the outstanding amount. This may include engaging a debt collection agency or initiating legal action. In such cases, you will be liable for all additional costs incurred in the recovery process, including but not limited to legal fees, collection agency charges, and administrative costs. Continued non-payment may also result in the suspension or termination of our services.

REFUND OF FEES

We do not offer a refund of fees.

HOW WE WILL OPERATE

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.

During our initial consultation we will complete a client questionnaire (fact find) to enable us to better understand your circumstances and your needs; this enables us to give appropriate advice on your mortgage, protection and insurance needs.

We will subsequently conduct research to establish what products are most appropriate for your needs and make these recommendations to you. These recommendations will be confirmed in writing as the advice we provided.

INSTRUCTIONS

We will normally accept your instructions verbally or in writing; however, we always recommend that all instructions are provided in writing for the avoidance of misunderstandings.

CANCELLATION RIGHTS

Depending on the product provided you will have different cancellation rights; these will be explained to you as part of our advisory process and will be disclosed to you by the provider in their communications also. It is your responsibility, however, to exercise these rights in a timely fashion; we cannot do this on your behalf.

COMPLAINTS

If you wish to register a complaint, please contact: The Managing Director, J Finance Ltd, 6a London Road, Newbury, RG14 1JX contact@jfinance.co.uk 01635 521300

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.  The Financial Ombudsman Service is a free and easy-to-use service that settles complaints between consumers and businesses that provide financial services.

FINANCIAL SERVICES COMPENSATION SCHEME (FSCS)

Mortgage advising & arranging

For claims against companies declared in default from 1st April 2019. Mortgage advising and arranging is covered for 100% of the first £85,000 so the maximum compensation is £85,000 per person per firm.

Further information about compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS. Visit www.fscs.org.uk or 0800 678 1100.

Insurance advising & arranging

For firms declared in default on or after 8 October 2020, Protection is at 100% where claims:

a) arise in respect of a liability subject to compulsory insurance; or

b) arise in respect of a liability subject to professional indemnity insurance; or

c) arise from the death or incapacity of the policyholder due to injury, sickness, or infirmity including contracts for Long Term Insurance such as Long-Term Care, pensions and annuities; or

d) arise in respect of a liability subject to building guarantee policies.

Protection is at 90% where claims arise under other types of policy with no upper limit.

CLIENT MONEY

We do not handle client money. We will not accept any payment other than for the payment of your fee, any third-party payments must be made by you to them. Under no circumstances will we handle cash.

CALL RECORDING

Telephone calls made to J Finance may be recorded and used for training and regulatory purposes.

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.

LAW

This agreement is governed and shall be interpreted in accordance with English law, and both parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

FORCE MAJEURE

J Finance 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.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITIES

It is your responsibility to deal with us in an honest and transparent manner. Failure to disclose key facts that relate to your personal circumstances could significantly influence the advice given. In some circumstances failure to disclose information could impact upon your ability to obtain the most suitable product and could even invalidate the product, such as in the event it is interpreted as material non-disclosure that could be considered to be a fraudulent act.

If you have any doubts as to whether you should disclose a matter it is better to notify the provider and allow them to make an informed decision.

It is also your responsibility to check that the product provided is as you expected, therefore you should check the application and ‘offer’ document on a mortgage and the application and policy document on an insurance policy. If it is not as expected, please notify your adviser immediately.

GDPR - WHAT INFORMATION DO WE HOLD?

As a client of J Finance the data we hold has been completed from the services that you have engaged us to provide in the past as per the agreement we have with you. We use this data to enable us to carry out specific functions and report writing for which we are responsible. We will not collect any personal data from you that we do not need in order to provide the services we have agreed to provide you with. You do have the right to object to this processing, but if you do not provide us with this information then we will be unable to provide the services requested.

THE LAWFUL BASIS ON WHICH WE USE THIS INFORMATION

We will process your data in order to complete our obligations under this contract for services which you have entered into. We would be unable to fulfil our obligations under this contract if we did not process your personal data.

WHY DO WE COLLECT THIS DATA?

The main reason we collect this data is to complete the services you have entered into a contract with us for. Without knowing any of this information, we would be unable to fulfil our legal and regulatory obligations. Therefore, it is essential we collect this information. If we need to collect special category data (e.g health or mental conditions, trade union membership, biometric data (verification or identification dat)) we will obtain your explicit consent first.

CONTACT OPTIONS

From time to time we would like to contact you about related services if we feel they may be relevant. You can opt out of this at any time, however we'd like to be able to stay in touch with you. Please note, this does not refer to specific contact during, and regarding, the processing of any applications we are advising on as we need to be able to contact you about this. Your contact options are listed on the signature page, with the ability to choose your preferences.  

DECLARATION

This is our standard agreement upon which we intend to rely. For your own benefit and protection, you should read the terms carefully before signing. If you do not understand any of these, please ask for further information.