ABOUT US (“we, us, our”)
Search Finance Pty Ltd, Australian Credit Licence Number 388144
Search Finance is located at Suite 30713, 9 Lawson Street, Southport QLD 4215
This document provides you with information relating to our activities and those of our credit representatives. It contains information about various fees and charges that may be payable by you to us, as well as about certain commissions we may receive from a licensee when we are acting as a credit representative, or we pay to certain third parties. It also contains information about what you should do if you have a complaint or dispute in connection with our services as a credit representative.
WHAT IS A CREDIT REPRESENTATIVE?
A ‘credit representative’ is a person who has been authorised by a credit licensee to engage in specified credit activities on behalf of the licensee.
The licensee is Search Finance Pty Ltd .
WHAT IS CREDIT ASSISTANCE?
We give you credit assistance when: ‘
we assist you to apply for a particular loan or lease;
we suggest you apply for a particular loan or lease (or suggest you apply for an increase to an existing loan); or
we suggest you remain in your current loan or lease.
THE ASSESSMENT WE DO BEFORE GIVING YOU CREDIT ASSISTANCE
Before we provide credit assistance to you, we assess whether the particular loan or lease is suitable for you. To do this, we need to make reasonable inquiries and verify that:
the loan or lease or increase will meet your requirements and objectives; and
you can meet the proposed repayments.
We won't be able to give you credit assistance if our assessment shows that:
you won't be able to meet the proposed repayments without substantial hardship; or the loan or lease won't meet your requirements or objectives.
GETTING A COPY OF OUR ASSESSMENT
If we provide you with credit assistance, you can ask us for a copy of our assessment any time up to 7 years after we provide you with a credit assistance quote.
To request a copy please contact us.
We will provide you with a copy within 7 business days after the day we receive your request – provided you make the request within 2 years of the date of our credit assistance quote; or otherwise, within 21 business days after the day we receive your request.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE LICENSEE AND ITS CREDIT REPRESENTATIVES
We act as a credit representative for the licensee but we are also the licensee. We are authorised to engage in credit activities including providing credit assistance on behalf and as the licensee.
Subject to meeting credit criteria, we are able to assist you to obtain loans and leases for you from a broad range of lenders and lessors.
The following are the lenders or lessors with whom we generally conduct the most business:
Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank, St George, 1800 Bad Credit, Finance One, Center One, Liberty Financial, Macquarie Leasing, Money 3 Pty Ltd, Watts National Pty Ltd, ANZ/ Esanda, Ezy Capital, MKM Capital, Pepper Home loans, Resimac, La Trobe, Vic Mortgage, Think Tank, Assist Finance, Angas Securities and many others.
INFORMATION ABOUT THE ROLE OF A MORTGAGE MANAGER
We act as mortgage managers. Mortgage managers have written agreements with credit providers, lessors and other third parties but do not act for you in relation to contracts and leases obtained from these parties. Mortgage managers offer consumers a comprehensive range of residential mortgage products under our own brand and service platforms, a mortgage manager is a home loan specialist, providing you with services such as advice regarding product selection through to application, settlement and post settlement customer service, including resolving issues that you may have with your loan.
FEES AND CHARGES
FEES PAYABLE FOR THE PROVISION OF CREDIT ASSISTANCE
We will not charge you any fees for providing credit assistance to you.
FEES PAYABLE IN RELATION TO ACTING AS A CREDIT REPRESENTATIVE
We are receive remuneration from our employee, licensee and broker group and do not charge you any fees or charges in relation to acting as a credit representative.
OTHER FEES AND CHARGES
You may have to pay other fees and charges (such as an application fees, valuation fees and other fees) to the lender, lessor or other parties. You should review the disclosure documents and your loan contract or lease for further details of any such fees and charges.
COMMISSIONS
COMMISSIONS WE RECEIVE FROM OUR LENDERS OR LICENSEE
Our licensee has appointed us as its agent to receive commissions from lenders and lessors and to pay us commission in relation to loan contracts or leases for which we act as a credit representative and provide credit assistance. The total amount of commission we may receive in relation to your loan or lease may vary depending on the lender or lessor, the term, the features, the amount of the loan or lease you ultimately choose and the amount and timing of the repayments that you make.
Loan Contracts such as Home Loans, Investment Loans and Personal Loans
Upfront commission payable by lenders in relation to loans is calculated as a percentage of the loan amount and is generally in the range of .30% - 2% of the loan amount. It is usually paid after settlement of the loan.
Trail commission payable by lenders in relation to loans is generally calculated regularly (monthly, quarterly, bi-monthly or annually) on the outstanding loan balance and is paid in arrears. The trail commission payable by lenders is generally in the range of 0%p.a - 1.00%p.a of the outstanding loan amount.
Leases
Upfront commission payable by lessors in relation to leases is calculated as a percentage of the lease amount and is generally in the range of .30% and 2% of the lease amount. It is usually paid after settlement of the lease.
Trail commission is generally not payable in relation to leases.
Further details of the commission earned by us will be included in the credit proposal disclosure document we will provide to you at the same time as we provide you with credit assistance.
You can request information from us about the fees that we are likely to receive, how those fees are calculated, and our reasonable estimate of the fees or commissions that will be payable.
VOLUME BONUS ARRANGEMENTS
From time to time we or our broker group may receive a volume bonus benefit from lenders or lessors. Volume bonuses may be directly by way of cash bonus or additional commission payment, or indirectly by way of training, professional development days or sponsorship, if we write a particular volume of business with a specific lender.
Further details of any applicable volume bonus benefit we are likely to receive will be included in the credit proposal disclosure document we will provide to you at the same time as we provide you with credit assistance.
COMMISSIONS PAYABLE BY US
We are not likely to pay a commission to any third party for the introduction of credit business or business financed by the loan contract or lease.
If a third party has introduced you to us or referred you to us, we may pay them a commission or a fee.
We obtain referrals from a range of sources, including real estate agents, accountants, financial planners or other people.
Further information about referral commissions, including our reasonable estimate of the amount of any commission payable and how it is calculated is available from us on request and will be included in the credit proposal disclosure we will supply to you when we provide you with our credit assistance.
DISPUTES OR COMPLAINTS
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE A DISPUTE OR COMPLAINT
We are committed to providing our customers with the best possible service. If at any time we have not met our obligations – or you have a complaint about any of our services – please inform us so we can work towards a resolution. We will endeavor to deal with your complaint promptly, thoroughly and fairly.
HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT AND THE COMPLAINTS PROCESS
If you have a complaint, we request you follow these steps:
Please contact us in writing with your dispute or complaint.
Search Finance Pty Ltd
Attention: Resolution Manager
80 Queen Street, Southport QLD 4215
Also please email your dispute or complaint to:
Attention; Resolution Manager
admin@searchfinance.com.au
THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS OR SERVICES
If your complaint relates to a product or service acquired through a third party (for example, a lender) we may ask you to contract the relevant third party. They will deal with your complaint under their complaints resolution process.
If you are not satisfied with the resolution of your complaint by the third party under their complaints resolution process, you are entitled to have your dispute considered by their External Dispute Resolution Scheme. Please contact the third party for further details.
KEEPING YOU INFORMED
STILL NOT SATISFIED?
If you do not think we have resolved your complaint to your satisfaction, you may take the matter – free of charge – to the relevant External Disputes Resolution Scheme (provided it is within the scheme’s terms of reference) as detailed below. You may also refer the matter to the relevant External Disputes Resolution Scheme at any time, but if our internal process is still in progress, they may request that our internal processes be complete before considering the matter further.
Our external dispute resolution service provider is the Credit Ombudsman Service Limited, which can be contacted via:
· Telephone: 1800 138 422
· Online complaint form: http://www.cosl.com.au/Make-a-complaint-intro
· Website: http://www.cosl.com.au
· Mail: PO Box A252, Sydney South NSW 1235
· Fax: 02 9273 8440