Financial Services Guide of
Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd AFSL. No 478959
5 Jellicoe Street, Mount Lofty, QLD 4350.
Telephone 07 45649003
Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd holds a current Australian Financial Services Licence No: 478959 and is responsible for the Financial Services Guide. Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd is also responsible for the content and distribution of this FSG. The distribution of this FSG is authorised by Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd.
Our Services and General Information
This FSG sets out the services that we can offer you. It is designed to assist you in deciding whether to
use any of those services and contains important information about, the services we offer you; how we
and others are paid; any potential conflict of interest we may have; our internal and external dispute
resolution procedures and how you can access them.
FSG Validity Date
This FSG applies from the revision date at the bottom of every page of this document, and remains valid
unless a further FSG is issued to replace it. If we give you a supplementary FSG it will not replace this
FSG but will cover services not covered by this FSG.
Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd
Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd 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. The contact details for
Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd are at the top of this FSG.
Our Services
Sphere Insurance Group Pty Ltd is authorised to, as per its licence:
(a) Provide financial product advice for the following classes of financial products:
(i) General Insurance products; and
(b) Deal in a financial product by:
(i) Applying for, acquiring, varying, or disposing of a financial product on behalf of
another person in respect of the following classes of products:
(A) General Insurance products to retail and wholesale clients.
As Authorised Representatives of Sphere Insurance we are authorised to provide these same services.
Insurance Brokers Code of Practice
We adhere to and closely follow the National Insurance Brokers Association Code of Practice (the Code).
The Code sets out standards for brokers to follow when dealing with clients, including requirements to
inform clients of remuneration arrangements and any conflict of interest. The Code is available from the
National Insurance Brokers Association website www.niba.com.au
How we will look after your insurance
You can contact us to give us instructions by post, phone or the contact us page (click here).
Who do we act for?
As your insurance broker we normally act for you in providing our insurance services. We’ll tell you
before or at the time if we are not acting for you in providing any part of our service.
For example, an insurer may give us ‘binding authority’ to arrange or enter into insurance products on
their behalf. We could also agree to handle or settle claims on an insurer’s behalf. We will inform you if
we act for an insurer in this way.
Product Disclosure Statement
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), which contains information about the particular policy in
question, which will enable you to make an informed decision about purchasing that policy.
Further information when personal advice is given
We will provide you with further information whenever we provide you with advice which takes into
account your objectives, financial situation, needs and objectives. This information may include the
advice that we have given you, the basis of the advice and other information on our remuneration and
any relevant associations or interests.
This information may be contained in a statement of advice (SOA).
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.
If we give you personal advice, we will inform you of any fees, commission or other payments we, our
associates or anyone referring you to us (or us to any insurer) will receive in relation to those policies.
Is insurance advice always tailored?
Not in all cases. However, we may need information about your Personal objectives, details of your
current financial situation and any relevant information, so that we can arrange insurance policies for
you or to give you advice about your insurance needs. We will ask you for the details that we need to
know.
In some cases, we will not ask for any of this information. If we do not ask, or if you do not give us all of
the information we ask for, any advice you receive may not be appropriate to your needs, objectives
and financial situation.
You should read the warnings contained in any SOA, or any other warnings that we give you carefully
before making any decision about an insurance policy.
Where we provide you with advice about your insurance arrangements, that advice is current at the
time that we give it. We will review your insurance arrangements when you inform us about changes in
your circumstances, at the time of any scheduled status review or upon renewal of your insurances.
Your duty of disclosure
We rely on your disclosures to us to pass on to the underwriter. We act for you in placing cover. If you
do not answer the questions we ask clearly and truthfully and the risk is undisclosed to the underwriter
your policy could be cancelled or additional premium payable. In that we are acting on your behalf
there could also be ramifications for us for failing to provide correct information to the underwriter.
This could cause us disciplinary action from ASIC or the underwriter.
Contractual Liability and your insurance cover
Many commercial or business contracts contain clauses dealing with your liability (including indemnities
or hold harmless clauses). Such clauses may entitle your insurers to reduce cover, or in some cases,
refuse to indemnify you at all. You should seek legal advice before signing and accepting contracts. You
should inform us of any clauses of this nature before you enter into them.
Conflicts of interest
Conflicts of interest may arise in circumstances where some or all of your interests as our client are, or
may be, inconsistent with some or all of our interests. We have a conflicts of interest policy and
procedure, including training and monitoring, to ensure we are aware of and manage any conflicts of interest. Where a conflict is unavoidable we will consult with you and manage the conflict in such a way
so as to avoid prejudice to any party.
Lack of Independence
We are not independent, impartial or unbiased because.
We or our representatives or associates may receive remuneration or gifts or benefits from:
o The insurer of the product you buy (e.g. commission that we retain); or
o Other third parties for related services provided with the personal advice service (e.g.
premium funding, claims or loss adjusting or reinsurance services).
Which may reasonably be expected to influence the personal advice provided to you?
We or our representatives may be subject to direct restrictions relating to the financial products
in respect of which personal advice is provided; and
We or our representatives or associates have associations with insurers of financial products
and others that might reasonably be expected to influence the personal advice provided to you.
We explain such arrangements in more details in this document and you can ask us for more detail.
However, it is important to note that when providing personal advice we are required under the
Corporations Act to always act in our client’s best interest. We also have policies and procedures for the
proper management of conflicts of interest. (See Conflicts of Interest above) You can ask for more
details.