1. About this Financial Services Guide
This Financial Services Guide ("FSG") is dated 10 April 2024 and has been prepared and issued by ACA Insight Pty Ltd (ABN: 56 659 909 118; AFSL: 550139) ("ACA Insight, we, us or our") to inform you about the financial services provided by us and to comply with our obligations as the holder of an Australian Financial Services Licence ("AFSL") issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC").
This FSG has been prepared to provide you with information about the financial services that we offer. The FSG is an important document and a regulatory requirement under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ("Corporations Act").
This FSG contains general information only about the services we offer and does not provide any general or personal advice. If you have further questions regarding this FSG, please contact us.
Important general information contained within this FSG includes:
- Who we are and how you can contact us;
- The services we are authorised to provide to you;
- How we are remunerated for these services and the cost to you;
- Who we act for and any potential conflicts of interest we may have;
- Our internal and external dispute resolution processes; and
- Arrangements we have in place to compensate clients for losses.
2. Who we are and the services we offer
ACA Insight is authorised under its AFSL (Number: 550139) to provide general financial product advice to retail clients in relation to general insurance products.
ACA Insight's service in respect of general insurance products is provided via a website (www.choice.com.au) operated by a related body, the Australian Consumers' Association t/a CHOICE ("CHOICE"). We may provide consumers with general advice and information to assist them to compare and review the following general insurance products:
- Home building insurance
- Home contents insurance
- Landlord insurance
- Motor vehicle insurance
- Travel insurance
- Pet insurance
All users who access CHOICE's website will be able to obtain factual information in relation to general insurance products. At times, general advice may also be presented in the form of articles on CHOICE's website, accessible to all users, in relation to general insurance products. Members who subscribe to CHOICE will gain access to product scoring and recommendations generated by our general insurance comparison tools. These product scores and recommendations constitute the general advice provided by ACA Insight.
ACA Insight does not compare all general insurance products available in Australia. We are not an insurance broker.
3. Contact details
ACA Insight Pty Ltd
Office address: 57 Carrington Road, Marrickville NSW 2204
Phone: 1800 069 552
Email: [email protected]
4. Who we act for
We do not act on behalf of you or any insurers when presenting insurance information on our website. Our organisation is a nonprofit entity dedicated to conducting unbiased comparisons of insurance products.
We do not accept instructions directly from you in relation to our services. As an AFSL holder, we act on our own behalf when providing you with financial services.
5. Will I receive personal advice?
We do not provide personal advice1. ACA Insight provides the following services in relation to general insurance products:
- Factual information – via the CHOICE website to all users;
- General financial product advice – primarily via the CHOICE members subscription and also via the CHOICE website to all users.
In making any general financial product recommendations to members, ACA Insight does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs and therefore you should consider the appropriateness of the information or general advice provided prior to acquiring any financial product.
1 As defined at s766B(3) of the Corporations Act 2001
6. Other documentation I may receive
This FSG will be the key document which assists you in making an informed decision about whether to utilise our financial services. We recommend that you read and understand the contents of this document fully. You are able to access the FSG via our website.
7. Fees and other sources of income
a) How do I pay for the services provided?
Payment for the general financial product advice we provide via the member subscription is payable directly to CHOICE. This membership fee is a fixed fee, with the option to pay quarterly or annually. You can choose to pay by any of the payment methods set out on the website.
b) Sources of income
ACA Insight is a related body of CHOICE and is solely funded by the membership fees paid to CHOICE.
We do not receive any referral fees, commissions or benefits from insurance providers listed on our website.
c) Employee remuneration
Our employees are paid fixed salaries only, which are not tied to the number of clicks generated by consumers on links provided on the website to insurance providers.
8. Relationships, associations and conflicts of interest
We are required to disclose any associations or relationships between us, our related entities and product issuers that could reasonably be capable of influencing the financial services we provide to you. No such associations or relationships exist. If such associations or relationships do come into existence, we will disclose them to you in writing.
9. Compensation arrangements
ACA Insight has professional indemnity insurance in place, which satisfies the requirements for compensation arrangements pursuant to section 912B of the Corporations Act. This policy covers claims made against ACA Insight in relation to all of the financial services provided.
10. Privacy policy
In order to provide our services to you, we require you to provide us with personal information. The Privacy Act 1988 sets out standards for the collection and management of personal information. ACA Insight collects, maintains, uses and discloses personal information in the manner described in our Privacy Policy. This is primarily for processing your application and complying with certain legal obligations. Our Privacy Policy is available on our website.
11. Complaints and dispute resolution
We have an internal dispute resolution process in place to resolve any concerns or complaints you may have quickly and fairly. Where appropriate, we also make the process accessible for clients with disabilities or language difficulties.
If you have any concerns or complaints, please contact our Complaints Officer at the contact details in section 3 of this FSG. Your written notice should specify the nature of the complaint, including all relevant details, as well as your desired outcome and how this may occur.
We will consider and investigate the circumstances of your complaint, which may also involve communicating directly with you. We endeavour to resolve all complaints quickly and fairly and will provide a full written response within thirty (30) days of receipt of your complaint, unless the matter is complex or circumstances beyond our control delay the management of your complaint. If this occurs, we will notify you of the reason for the delay and provide you with the option to escalate the matter to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority ("AFCA").
If the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction by ACA Insight through our internal dispute resolution process, you have the right to refer your complaint to AFCA. AFCA is an independent and external disputes resolution scheme, of which ACA Insight is a member.
You may lodge your complaint with AFCA by sending the relevant information and documents to:
Australian Financial Complaints Authority ("AFCA")
Post: The Manager
Australian Financial Complaints Authority Limited GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001
Phone: 1800 931 678
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.afca.org.au
Before AFCA will deal with your complaint, you must first lodge a formal complaint with us and give us time to investigate and resolve the dispute.
If we're still unable to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction, we'll provide you with information about how you can take further action.
12. Any questions?
If you have any further questions about the financial services we provide, please contact us.
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For more than 60 years, we've been making a difference for Australian consumers. In that time, we've never taken ads or sponsorship.
Instead we're funded by members who value expert reviews and independent product testing.
With no self-interest behind our advice, you don't just buy smarter, you get the answers that you need.
You know without hesitation what's safe for you and your family.
And you'll never be alone when something goes wrong or a business treats you unfairly.
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