COB 5A.2 Disclosure on making first contact: information about services

1. (1)

   A firm must take reasonable steps to ensure that its representatives, on first making contact with a customer with a view to providing basic advice on a stakeholder product, provide, in a durable medium, an initial disclosure document that complies with COB 4.3.9R (1).

2. (2)

   A firm must take reasonable steps to ensure that its representatives explain the contents of the initial disclosure document at the time it is provided to the customer.

3. (3)

   The requirements in (1) and (2) do not apply:

   1. (a)

      to the extent that the information has already been given to the customer on a previous occasion and it is still likely to be accurate and appropriate for the customer; or

   2. (b)

      if COB 5A.2.6 R (initial contact by telephone) applies.

4. (4)

   A firm which is required by this rule to provide an initial disclosure document to a private customer may instead provide the customer with a combined initial disclosure document, that complies with COB 4.3.9R (2), if it has reasonable grounds to be satisfied that the services which it is likely to provide to the customer will, in addition to stakeholder products, relate to one or more of the following:

   1. (a)

      regulated mortgage contracts other than lifetime mortgages1;

   2. (aA)

      1home purchase plans;1

   3. (b)

      equity release transactions1;

      1
   4. (c)

      non-investment insurance contracts.

5. (5)

   A firm must, if requested to do by a customer, provide an explanation of the basis on which it has chosen to market the particular stakeholder products within the range on which basic advice will be given to a customer, including an explanation of why the firm has selected particular product providers.

A firm must not provide basic advice on smoothed linked long term products.

A firm must take reasonable steps to ensure that its representatives provide a copy of the appropriate range of stakeholder products on the request of a customer having regard to the services it is providing or may provide to the customer.

1. (1)

   A firm that, pursuant to COB 5A.2.1 R, provides a customer with an initial disclosure document containing information that a corresponding rule in COB 4.2 says must be included in terms of business, will satisfy the corresponding rule by providing that information in the initial disclosure document.

2. (2)

   Any information required by COB 4.2 which is not included in an initial disclosure document provided to a customer in compliance with COB 5A.2.1 R can be included at the end of the initial disclosure document provided to the customer or, if provided at the same time, by way of separate items of information.

1. (1)

   Where a firm's initial contact with a customer (for a purpose set out in COB 5A.2.1 R) is by telephone, then the firm must provide the following information and satisfy the following requirements before proceeding further:

   1. (a)

      the name of the firm and, if the call is initiated by or on behalf of a firm, the commercial purpose of the call;

   2. (b)

      whether the firm will select from or deal with stakeholder products from a limited number of companies or from a single company;

   3. (c)

      that the firm will provide the customer with only basic advice on stakeholder products and without full assessment of his needs and circumstances;

   4. (d)

      that the information given under (a) to (c) will subsequently be confirmed in writing.

2. (2)

   A firm which complies with (1) will, subject to (3), satisfy the condition set out in item (1) of COB 4 Annex 1 R.

3. (3)

   If during the course of a telephone call a firm is to conclude a contract (for example for the provision of a mediation services or for the purchase or sale of a stakeholder product), it must satisfy the requirements in COB 4.2.5 R and COB 4 Annex 1 as well as comply with (1) and (2) above.

If the first contact a firm has with a private customer with a view to providing basic advice on stakeholder products, is by telephone then the firm must send the customer an initial disclosure document as soon as is reasonably practicable following the conclusion of the call.