Terms & Conditions

Protecting your interest

Regulation & status

Rutherford Hughes Ltd of Collingwood Buildings, 38 Collingwood St, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1JF is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under FCA Number 807675.

You can check this by going to the FCA Register at www.fca.org.uk/register or by contacting the FCA directly on 0800 111 6768.

Client category

It is a requirement of the Financial Conduct Authority that all clients are categorised into one of three categories (Retail, Professional or Eligible Counterparty). We have categorised you as a ‘Retail Client’. This affords you the maximum protection under current legislation. You have the right however to request a different categorisation if you wish. Please note that ‘Professional Clients’ and ‘Eligible Counterparties’ may receive a lower level of consumer protection.

Services and products not regulated by the FCA

Some of the products and services we provide are not currently regulated by the FCA and include but are not limited to arranging and advising on certain types of offshore schemes and investments. Because advice given on these products is not regulated by the FCA you may not have any rights to financial redress under the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme with regard to any future disputes. In the event that we recommend such a product or service to you, we will confirm the regulatory protection situation to you in writing before you decide whether to proceed with our recommendation.

Registration of investment / retention of policy documents

Where we arrange an investment, we will register these in your name unless otherwise agreed in writing.  All contract notes and documents of title in respect of your investment will be forwarded to you, unless otherwise instructed in writing, as soon as practicable after being received by us.  Where a number of documents relating to a series of transactions are involved, we will normally retain the documents until the series is complete and then forward them to you.

Client Instructions

We prefer that any instructions be given in writing in order to avoid possible disputes. We may refuse at our discretion to accept certain instructions, although such discretion will not be exercised unreasonably. When we have arranged any transactions on your behalf, we will not give you any further advice or service unless you have specifically agreed to an ongoing service for which we will be remunerated as detailed in a Fee Agreement.

Client money

We do not handle client money. We never handle cash or accept a cheque made payable to us unless it is a cheque in settlement of our fees in accordance with a signed fee agreement. Crossed cheques for investments should only be made payable directly to the investment. You should decline to give money to, or write cheques payable personally to, an individual adviser and any receipt by them personally of such a payment from you will not be regarded by us as being a transaction for which we will have any responsibility.

Conflict of interest & material interest

Occasions can arise where we, or one of our other clients, may have some form of interest in business which we are transacting for you. If we become aware that our interests, or those of one of our other clients, conflicts with your interests, we take all reasonable steps to ensure that you are treated fairly. As a minimum, we will inform you where we believe there could be a conflict of interest and will obtain your consent to proceed. Our conflicts of interest policy is available for inspection upon request.

Verification of identity

As part of our regulatory duties, we are obliged to verify, as a minimum, the identity, place of residence, source of funds and source of wealth of each client. This process may require sight of certain documentation. We are unable to forward any applications or money to third parties/product providers until our verification requirements have been met. We take no responsibility for any delay in investing where Identity Verification is outstanding. In circumstances where sufficient verification is not received in a timely manner after we have received completed applications, the application(s) and any monies may be returned to you un-invested. Please note that verification may include the interrogation of online resources such as the electoral roll and any Government financial sanctions lists or other official source of personal information.

Risk Warnings

You are advised that because investments can fall as well as rise in value, you may not get back the full amount invested. Past performance is not a guide to future performance. Other key risks will be included within our suitability report and in product provider literature. Please ensure that you fully understand all such risks – ask us if you need more information or clarification.

Our services

Advice

Details of the services we provide and how we work with clients are contained in the Information about costs and services document.

Keeping you informed

If we make personal recommendations to you, these will be confirmed in writing to you prior to you deciding whether to proceed with those recommendations. Any transactions carried out on your behalf will be confirmed to you, by us or by the relevant product provider. While we provide an ongoing service for which we will be remunerated as detailed in a Fee Agreement, we will report details of your investments and the costs involved, at least annually.

Payment for Services

When we have agreed a fee for any work or service that we will provide on your behalf, we will require you to sign a Fee Agreement to confirm the services that we will provide and the fees that will apply, how those fees will be paid and what cancellation rights you have.

Termination of your agreement with us

The information on this and other disclosure documents including the fee agreement remain in force until cancelled by you or us, or until superseded by a later version. Please refer to our fee agreement for information about your cancellation rights. Legal Governance of any Agreement is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with English Law and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Product cancellation

Most financial products will carry a right to cancel for a short period, typically 14 days, after the product has been put in place. Please refer to the specific product literature for more information. Please note that in the case of a transfer of safeguarded benefits from an Occupational Pension Scheme, even if you cancel the product within the relevant cancellation period, the Scheme is not obliged to reinstate your membership of the Scheme or to accept the funds back on to the Scheme.

Protecting your privacy

We take your privacy seriously and treat your personal information in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018. Please refer to our Privacy Notice for full details of your privacy rights and how we gather, use and share your personal information.

Complaints procedure

If you have any complaint about the firm, or a service we have provided, please let us know by writing to our office address or by email or telephone. We promise to deal with your complaint in a fair and objective manner. We will provide you with a copy of our complaints procedure upon request or upon receipt of a complaint. If we are unable to resolve a complaint to your satisfaction you have the right to take your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/.

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). You may be entitled to compensation from the scheme if, for any reason, we cannot meet our obligations. This will however depend on the type of business and the circumstances of the claim.

Investments - Most types of investment business are covered up to a maximum limit of £85,000.

Insurance - Advising and arranging are covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit.

Further information about the compensation scheme arrangements is available from the FSCS www.fscs.org.uk/consumer.

Basis of advice

We provide independent advice on packaged retail investment and insurance products (these include but are not limited to pensions, investment bonds, units, annuities, ISAs and savings plans) and structured investment products only. Our recommendations will be based on an assessment of a sufficient range of relevant products that are sufficiently diversified in terms of type and provider to ensure your investment objectives can be suitably met.

Complaints not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service

In the event you have a complaint about our services that is not covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service, other out-of-court dispute resolution and redress procedures may be available to you. We will advise you if this is the case.