VAT
Under current legislation, we do not charge VAT on our standard advice and review services. Should this change, we will inform all clients.
Cancellation rights
In most cases you can exercise a right to cancel by withdrawing from the contract. In general terms you will normally have a 30-day cancellation period for a life, pure protection, payment protection or pension and a 14-day cancellation period for all other policies. Instructions for exercising the right to cancel, if applicable, will be contained in the relevant product disclosure information you will receive.
Client money
Macbeth Scott & Co Life and Pension Services Ltd is not permitted to handle client money and we cannot accept a cheque made out to us (unless it is in respect of an item for which we have sent you an invoice) or handle cash.
Documentation
We will endeavour to make arrangements for all your investments to be registered in your name unless you first instruct us otherwise in writing. All investment documentation will be sent on to you as soon as possible after we receive it. If there are several documents that relate to a series of transactions, we will normally hold each document until the series is complete and then forward them to you.
Instructions
We prefer to receive instructions from our clients in writing to aid clarification and avoid future misunderstandings. We will, however, accept oral instructions over the phone as all our telephone calls are recorded and minuted.
Occupational Pension Transfer Advice
We are not authorised to give advice on transferring any occupational pension benefits that you may have accrued during your working life. Should you wish to receive such advice we will refer you to a third party who is authorised to do so.
We will include such benefits within any financial plan/cashflow analysis that we may do for you but this will be based upon an estimate of benefits you are likely to receive – we will not obtain up to date information from the scheme each time we update the financial plan/cashflow analysis.
Please note that we do not conduct any transaction on an insistent client basis.
Material Interest
We will act honestly, fairly and professionally known as conducting business in ‘Client’s best interest’ regulations. Occasionally situations may arise where we, or one of our other clients, have some form of interest in business transacted for you. If this happens, or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflict with your interests, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.
In accordance with the rules of our regulator, The Financial Conduct Authority, we are prohibited from accepting any payment (commission or other non-monetary benefits) that is likely to conflict with the duty of the firm to its clients.
Complaints
If you wish to register a complaint, please write to Macbeth Scott & Co Life and Pension Services Ltd, 3 New Road, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 4AY or telephone 01539 727727.
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.
Compensation Scheme
We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme (FSCS) if we cannot meet our obligations. This is dependent upon the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. Most types of investment business are covered up to a maximum limit of £85,000.
Further information about this compensation scheme arrangement is available from the FSCS.
Data Protection
Read our full data privacy policy here
Anti-money laundering
We are required by the anti-money laundering regulations to verify the identity of our clients, to obtain information as to the purpose and nature of the business that we conduct on their behalf, and to ensure that the information we hold is up-to-date. For this purpose we may conduct these checks from time to time throughout our relationship, not just at the beginning.
