Terms and conditions

These terms and conditions and the letters of authority are legal documents which form an Agreement between You and eRefunds (“We” or “Us”).

In signing these Terms & Conditions you are appointing eRefunds to investigate, submit and manage a complaint on your behalf in relation to the sale of certain financial products (Complaint).

1.  What We will do for you:

a. We will gather information from You and your bank / insurer to determine whether you have grounds to complain about the sale of auxiliary insurance products;
b. Where we believe you have sufficient grounds for a Complaint, we will manage your Complaint and help You seek redress from your bank / Insurer;
c. We will ask your insurer / bank to investigate ALL accounts held with them, whether these remain active or have previously been settled / closed;
d. We will work towards providing a resolution to your Complaint as soon as realistically possible; and
e. Where your bank / insurer rejects your Complaint and we believe it is in your best interest, we may refer your Complaint to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (“AFCA”).

2. What we will not do for you:

a. We shall not advise you to pursue a Complaint that we consider has no realistic chance of success;
b. We will not pursue a Complaint that does not in our opinion does not justify the work involved, and we reserve the right to cancel this Agreement should we form this opinion;
c. We will not provide you with any legal or financial advice;
d. We will not be responsible for any losses or consequential losses; however, they arise;
e. We shall not inform any third parties who may have any interest in any redress received unless we have a legal obligation to do so; and
f. Should an offer of settlement be made in relation to your Complaint, we will not provide you with any advice as to whether you should accept the offer made.

3. Your responsibilities:

a. Your will not ask us to act in an unreasonable or inappropriate way;
b. You will provide us with a signed “Letter of Authority” for each Complaint that you wish us to pursue. This allows your bank / insurer to deal with us directly;
c. You will not deliberately mislead us; any information / documentation provided must be truthful and honest, we will not always verify the information provided;
d. In the event that your bank / insurer issues any correspondence directly to you in relation to the Complaint, you will contact us to advise this; and if necessary, forward this on to us;
e. We may from time to time require your instructions or further information. We require your cooperation and clear instructions in order to avoid any delays in dealing with your Complaint;
f. You will not attempt to complain about auxiliary products that are the subject of the Complaint with your bank / insurer yourself or via any 3rd party;
g. For the duration of this agreement you will refrain from entering in to any conversations with your bank / insurer in relation to your Complaint and instead refer them directly to Us;
h. Should you receive an offer of settlement or receive any redress you will advise us and you will pay any fees due on time as set out in sections 4 & 5.

4. Our Fee
5. Your settlement is the total financial benefit payable to you by way of compensation from your bank / insurer as a result of a Complaint (Settlement).
6. Should We fail in securing a Settlement, you will not pay us anything, unless otherwise set out in these terms and conditions. The only exception to this is if you cancel this agreement prior to an outcome being reached. In this case a fee may become chargeable in line with clause 7.a;
   b. Your Settlement may be in the form of cash, a reduction of debt, a combination of the two; or other form of redress. You are responsible for the payment of our fees however your Settlement is obtained.
   c. We charge a fee of 30% (Plus GST) of your Settlement. Our fees are based upon a proportion of Your Settlement , not the cost of the work done so may be less or more than our costs.
7. Payment of Fees

a. Upon securing a Settlement we will issue you with an invoice. This invoice will notify you of amount that you will need to pay and when the payment is due in line with section 4;
b. If your payment is not received on time,
i. the cost associated with telephone calls and reminders may be added to the outstanding debt;
ii. the costs of any court action will be added to the debt;
iii. we may appoint a third-party company to facilitate the recovery of the debt, and any associated costs will be added to the debt;

6. Communication

a. We shall communicate with you primarily by email.  From time to time it may be necessary to use alternatives methods such as telephone, SMS or letter;
b. The transmission of emails over the internet or otherwise carries inherent risks. We shall not be responsible or liable where emails are lost, delayed, intercepted, corrupted or otherwise altered, rendered incomplete;
c. We shall accept instructions from you by email, telephone or writing;
d. We cannot accept instructions from third parties in relation to conduct of your claims.

7. Cancellation

a. Should You cancel your agreement with us we are entitled to charge a reasonable and proportionate fee for the work carried out on your behalf until the date of cancellation. Currently we charge a rate of $50 per hour for the work done;
b. Should an offer of settlement be made prior to cancellation our fee set out in section 4 will remain payable.
c. We can cancel this agreement at any time if You have breached your duties in section 3.

8. Data & Confidentiality

a. During the term of the agreement we shall request information about your personal and financial situation including the accounts held at your bank from You and third parties. This may constitute personal data or sensitive personal data. You expressly consent that we may carry out such processing of your data as is necessary to enable us to investigate and process your complaint and for the purposes of letting You know about other services we think may be of interest to You;
b. We shall not, without your prior consent, disclose any information, which can be reasonably considered to be confidential, concerning your personal or financial situation to third parties unless otherwise required by law, a court of competent jurisdiction or other government or regulatory authority.

9. Complaints

a. If at any time you wish to make a complaint about the service You have received, you can complain to us by emailing complaints@eRefunds.com.au;
b. The matter will be dealt with in conjunction to our internal complaints policy which can be found on our website www.eRefunds.com.au/Complaints

10. Miscellaneous

a. This agreement is governed by Australian Law
b. Force Majeure – eRefunds is not liable for failure to perform its obligations if such failure is as a result of Acts of God (including fire, flood, earthquake, storm, hurricane or other natural disaster), war, invasion, act of foreign enemies, hostilities (regardless of whether war is declared), civil war, rebellion, revolution, insurrection, military or usurped power or confiscation, terrorist activities, nationalisation, government sanction, blockage, embargo, labour dispute, strike, lockout or interruption or failure of electricity or telephone service.

Updated: November 2020.