Terms of Business of LHW Financial Planning Ltd.

These Terms of Business set out the basis on which LHW Financial Planning Ltd will provide services to you as a private client of the firm. Please take a few minutes to read through them and if you have any questions, we will be happy to answer them. If any material changes are made to these terms, we will notify you.

About Us

The offices of LHW Financial Planning Ltd are situated at 3rd Floor, Avoca Court, Temple Road, Blackrock, Co Dublin. Our telephone number is (01) 2170130, our email address is info@lhw.ie and our website address is www.lhw.ie

Regulation

• LHW Financial Planning Ltd is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland (C27894) as an insurance intermediary registered under the European Union (Insurance Distribution) Regulations 2018, as an investment intermediary authorised under the Investment Intermediaries Act, 1995. Copies of our authorisations are available on request. Alternatively, the Central Bank of Ireland holds registers of regulated firms which can be viewed on their website www.centralbank.ie 
• LHW Financial Planning Ltd is subject to the Central Bank of Ireland’s Consumer Protection Code 2012 (& updates), the Minimum Competency Code 2011 and the Fitness and Probity Standards which offer protection to consumers. These codes and the Fitness & Probity Standards can be found on the Central Bank of Ireland’s website www.centralbank.ie
• The firms’ services as financial planners which are covered under the Central Bank of Ireland’s authorisation are:

1. Advising you in relation to the nature of each of the protection and investment products in the market and advising you as to which products are suitable for your needs;
2. Identifying and selecting suitable product providers;
3. Receiving and transmitting orders on your behalf.

• LHW also provide other services which are not regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland. Should we be discussing or recommending such services, we will always make it clear that this is the case.

Our Service

• LHW Financial Planning Ltd provides advice on insurance and non-insurance based products on a fair analysis basis as we may receive commission and other payments from the product provider of these products.  Summary details of these payments will be included in a product information document, which you are legally entitled to receive before an application for a product is completed, and full details will be included with your cooling-off letter.
• A full list of insurers, product producers and other undertakings with which we deal is available on request.
• LHW Financial Planning Ltd offers a range of fee-based services including but not restricted to Pension or Investment reviews, Financial Planning reports and general financial/protection reviews. Depending on your requirements and the services you require, LHW Financial Planning Ltd may charge a fee for the service. If you choose to pay by way of a fee, we will agree the fee basis with you in writing prior to providing you with the required service. Our fee will be based on rates determined by the nature and complexity of the required work and the seniority of the employees required to provide the service.

Fair and Personal Analysis

LHW Financial Planning Ltd will conduct a fair and personal analysis of the market for financial products on your behalf before providing advice and/or recommendations in relation to these products. This analysis will focus on key issues such as price, product features, investment or other risks and potential penalties where a contract is surrendered/encashed. The analysis will also take account of your own personal and financial circumstances and your particular needs and requirements. A fair and personal analysis means that we:

• Assess your needs and objectives, your attitude to risk, and where relevant your capacity for loss, based on the information you provide
• Consider a sufficiently large number of contracts and product producers available on the market for the relevant product type, to enable us to recommend those which are adequate to meet your needs and objectives
• Base our recommendation on professional analysis of the features, benefits, limitations, costs and risks of the products considered, and
• Provide you with a recommendation that is suitable for you, together with an explanation of the reasons for the recommendation.

Regular Reviews

We provide ongoing suitability assessments for investments and insurance-based investment products. It is in your best interests that you review, on a regular basis, the products which we have arranged for you. As your circumstances change, your needs will change which may result in you having insufficient insurance cover and/or inappropriate investments. We would therefore advise that you keep up regular contact with us to ensure that you are provided with up to date advice and products best suited to your needs.

Data Protection

We are subject to the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation 2018 and the Irish Data Protection Act 2018. LHW Financial Planning Limited is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. We wish to be transparent on how we process your data and show you that we are accountable with the GDPR in relation to not only processing your data but ensuring you understand your rights as a client. The data will be processed only in ways compatible with the purposes for which it was given and as outlined in our Data Privacy Notice, which will be given to all our clients at the time of data collection. We will ensure that this Privacy Notice is easily accessible. Please refer to our website www.lhw.ie. If this medium is not suitable, we will ensure you can easily receive a copy by hard copy, or telephonic environment. Please contact us at info@lhw.ie if you have any concerns about your personal data.

Sustainable Factors – Investment/Pension Advice

When providing advice, LHW Financial Planning Limited will consider the adverse impacts of investment decisions on sustainability. We will consider your preferences on sustainable investing and create a statement of suitability for you showing our recommendations to you. Ultimately, it is the Product Producers we have agencies with that create the Investment products we advise on, and it will be their documentation we are relying and providing on when advising you on sustainability investments. All information regarding Sustainability Finance Disclosures will be adhered to by the product producers and their brochures and documents will outline their disclosures.

Conflicts of Interest

During the course of our business dealings with clients, it is the policy of LHW Financial Planning Ltd to take all reasonable steps to avoid any potential conflicts of interest which might adversely affect the interests of our clients. Where conflicts arise which cannot be reasonably avoided, LHW Financial Planning Ltd will disclose the general nature and/or the source of the conflict to you. In such circumstances, we will only proceed with the provision of the service or product where there is directly or indirectly a conflict of interest, when you have confirmed in writing that you are aware of the conflict and that you still wish to proceed. LHW Financial Planning Ltd will also undertake to ensure that the conflict does not result in damage to your interests.

Complaints

Any complaint that you may have in relation to the business services provided should be made in writing to the firm outlining the nature of your complaint.  Please address any such complaints to John Dunne who is our Compliance Officer. Any such complaint will be acknowledged within 5 business days. The complaint will be fully investigated by LHW Financial Planning Ltd and a full written response will be provided to you.  We will aim to complete the investigation and resolution of a complaint within 40 business days from the date of receipt of your complaint. In the event that you remain dissatisfied with the firms handling and response to your complaint you are entitled to refer your complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman. Their offices are located at Lincoln House, Lincoln Place, Dublin 2. They may also be contacted by telephone on (01) 567 7000 or by email at www.fspo.ie

Compensation Scheme

LHW Financial Planning Ltd is a member of the Investor Compensation Company DAC scheme and is also a member of the Brokers Ireland Clients Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme. These arrangements are designed to provide certain remedies to eligible clients in the event that a firm is unable to return money or investment instruments owed to, or belonging to, clients and held on their behalf. Your legal rights as a client are not affected by these arrangements.

Under the Investor Compensation Scheme, compensation may be payable to eligible investors of up to 90 percent of the net loss, subject to a maximum of €20,000 per eligible investor.

In addition, subject to the rules of the Brokers Ireland Clients Compensation and Membership Benefits Scheme, the liabilities of member firms up to a maximum of €100,000 per client, and €250,000 in aggregate, may be discharged by the fund on behalf of a member firm if the member firm is unable to do so, where the Investor Compensation Scheme has failed to adequately compensate an eligible client. Further details are available on request.

Personal Customers Duty of Disclosure

As a personal customer, you have a duty to answer all questions asked by us or by the insurer honestly and with reasonable care. This duty applies when you apply for a new policy, at renewal, and when you request any change to your policy during the policy term. If you do not comply, the insurer may be entitled to apply remedies which may include declining all or part of a claim, voiding the policy, or changing the terms of the policy or the premium, depending on the circumstances.

Commercial Customers Duty of Disclosure

If you are a commercial customer, you have a duty to disclose all material information and to answer all questions asked by us or by the insurer honestly and with reasonable care. This duty applies when you first arrange cover, at renewal, and when you request any change to your policy during the policy term. Material information is information that would influence an insurer in deciding whether to accept the risk and, if so, on what terms and at what premium. You must also disclose material changes that occur before inception or renewal, and during the period of insurance where notification is required under the policy terms. If you fail to disclose material information or provide inaccurate or incomplete information, the insurer may be entitled to apply remedies which can include declining all or part of a claim, amending the terms of cover, charging an additional premium, or treating the policy as void from inception, depending on the circumstances.

Other Term of Business

• LHW Financial Planning Ltd will, if necessary, exercise its legal rights to receive any payments due to it from clients for business services provided by it and, to be reimbursed for any value obtained by the firm for clients arising from payments by the firm on behalf of clients who subsequently default in any payment due to the firm.
• Product producers may withdraw benefits or cover on default of any payments due under any products arranged for your benefit.  Details of these will be included in your product terms and conditions.
• LHW Financial Planning Ltd will issue a receipt for each non-negotiable or negotiable instrument or payment received.  This is required pursuant to Section 30 of the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995, (as amended).
• LHW Financial Planning does not provide advice on the discharge of debts. No statement made by us in relation to debts should be construed as advice and should not be relied upon when taking action in relation to debt discharge.  

The effective date of this version of our Terms of Business Document is 10/03/2026