Complaints Handling Policy
Private Wealth Pty Ltd aims to provide the very best service for our customers, therefore in the event that you are unhappy regarding any part of our service, we have an internal complaints handling process in place to assist in satisfying any complaint. In addition to this process, Private Wealth Pty Ltd is also a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service Limited (Member No. 13273).
Point of contact for a complaint
In the first instance you should contact your Adviser and discuss your concerns.
If you are unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint with your Adviser within 3 business days, please contact us:
The Complaints Officer
Private Wealth Pty Ltd
PO Box 630, Collins Street West VIC 8007
03 8539 3082
enquiries@pwealth.com.au
The Complaints Officer is senior personnel in our organisation and has the necessary experience and authority to handle your complaint and make relevant decisions on outcomes. Your complaint will be handled quickly and fairly.
If the complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction you have the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS). This service is provided free of charge:
Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001
1300 931 678
info@afca.org.au
www.afca.org.au
Awareness
Private Wealth Pty Ltd ensures that all representatives and staff who deal with customers, are aware of the name, title and contact details of our Complaints Officer. Each representative and staff member is also instructed in how to transfer a complaint to our Complaints Officer and what customer details and information to record in order for the complaint to be dealt with. . Private Wealth Pty Ltd undertakes not to charge any fee in respect to any complaint made.
Investigating a Customer’s Complaint
A Customer’s complaint will not be investigated by the Complaints Officer if they are in any way involved in the subject matter of the complaint. In this case the complaint will be escalated immediately to a higher level authority within Private Wealth Pty Ltd.
Timeliness
We will provide a written acknowledgement of receipt of your complaint promptly, unless the complaint is otherwise resolved in the meantime.
We will ensure that a substantive response is given to your complaint as soon as possible, but within thirty (30) days of receipt of your complaint.
If we cannot respond to your complaint within thirty (30) days, we will inform you of the reasons for the delay and of your right to refer the complaint to the Financial Industry Ombudsman Service.
We will have substantially responded to your complaint if we:
a. Accept the complaint and, if appropriate, offer redress, or
b. Offer redress without accepting the complaint; or
c. Reject the complaint.
Written Response to a Customer
We will give you a written response to your complaint and the reasons for reaching a particular decision on the complaint and will adequately address the issues that are raised in your complaint.
Where practicable, our response will refer to applicable provisions in legislation, Codes, Standards or Procedures.
Remedies
If we accept your complaint and are of the view that it may be appropriate to offer redress to you, we will, when determining the appropriate remedy, take into consideration the extent of loss or damage suffered by you, relevant legal principles and other relevant codes of conduct and concepts of fairness and relevant industry best practice.
Data Collection
We will keep data concerning your complaint in such form and manner as we think fit and will enable analysis according to:
a. Type of complainant;
b. Subject of complaint;
c. Outcome of complaint;
d. Timeliness of response.
So that we can identify any systematically recurring problems, we will as far as is practicable and relevant, classify complaints according to the particular provision of the relevant legislation alleged by you to have been breached.
Subject to legal constraints including constraints as to privacy, we will make available data collected in respect of your complaint to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission if requested or required.
Review
We will review our Internal Dispute Resolution Procedures every three (3) years to ensure that our complaints systems are operating effectively.