Website and introducer terms and conditions

1. Definitions In these conditions, the following definitions apply:

"Applicant" means a person or persons applying for any product or service offered by Us.

"Application" means any application for a mortgage or application for a decision in principal that You send to Us on behalf of an Applicant.

"Intermediary Website" means the section of the Platform website available only to representatives of Intermediaries who have successfully registered with Us to access that website section.

"We", "Us", and "Our" means Platform [Home Loans Limited and Platform Funding Limited].

"You" and "Your" means you, the person using the Intermediary Website.

"Intermediary" means a firm who is either a Platform Partner or an Unconnected Broker and who is authorised by the FSA and has permission at least to carry out the regulated activity of arranging regulated mortgages (within the meaning of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001 or is an appointed representative of such an authorised person for the purposes of such activity.

"Platform Partner" means a firm who has an agreement in place with Us to act as a branded partner or a packager or has signed and returned to Us a broker terms of business.

"Unconnected Broker" means a firm who is not a Platform Partner

 

2. General

Terms and Conditions September 2009

Legal Document. These conditions constitute a legal document and it is important that You read and understand these conditions (ESPECIALLY SECTION 9) before You start to use the Intermediary Website. These conditions incorporate the terms of business for intermediaries and are in addition to, and supplement, all other statements and disclaimers found on the http://www.platform.co.uk website from time to time and any other terms and conditions which a Platform Partner has agreed with Us. Each time you access the Intermediary Website, you agree that such access will be governed by these terms and conditions as they apply to you at the time of such and as amended from time to time.

Joint and Several Liability. By accepting these conditions, You are agreeing to them both in Your own personal capacity and also as agent on behalf of Your employer (or if You are an individual contractor or similar person, as agent on behalf of the organisation that appointed You in Your role in which You are accessing the Intermediary Website). As a result, by accepting these conditions, You will be creating legal obligations for Your employer or other organisation. You should not proceed to do so unless You have been authorised by Your employer or other organisation to do so, and You should bring these conditions to their attention as soon as possible. We may also contact Your employer or other organisation to confirm this with them. Your employer or other organisation will be jointly and severally liable with You for Your compliance with these conditions.

Changes. We may amend these conditions at any time without notice. Your use of the Intermediary Website after such amendment will be subject to these terms and conditions as amended and as they apply to You at that time. It is your responsibility to check each time you access the site the terms and conditions governing the use of the Intermediary Website at that time. If You do not agree with any changes We have made, You should cease using the Intermediary Website. The products and services which are shown on the Intermediary Website or which are indicated to You as available to Applicants are subject to availability, and may be withdrawn or amended without notice to You.

 

3. Your Use of the Intermediary Website

The Intermediary Website is designed only to be accessible by those who have registered and have been accepted by Us to use the Intermediary Website and who are, at the time of use, accessing the Intermediary Website from within the UK. It is a condition of registration that Your employer or Your appointing organisation for whom your act is an Intermediary.

You must inform Us immediately:

1. If the Intermediary for whom You act is no longer registered by the Financial Services Authority

2. If You cease to be employed or appointed by the organisation which You were employed or appointed by at the time that You became a registered user of the Intermediary Website (in which case You should also immediately cease using the Intermediary Website).

You must not provide anybody else access to the site. In particular, you must not show the Intermediary Website to the Applicant or allow the Applicant to gain access to the Intermediary Website.

It is a condition of Your use of the Intermediary Website, that You will not use the Intermediary Website for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices.

You may not use the Intermediary Website in any manner which could, reasonably considered, damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Intermediary Website or any other site or service or network(s) used by Us, or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the Intermediary Website or any other site or service or network(s).

You may not obtain or attempt to obtain materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through the Intermediary Website or any other site or service or network(s).

 

4. Termination

We reserve the right, in Our sole discretion, to: (i) suspend or terminate Your access to any or all Our websites or services (including without limitation the Intermediary Website) and the related services or any portion thereof at any time, without notice; (ii) cease providing or interrupt any or all Our websites or services (including without limitation the Intermediary Website), whether temporarily or permanently; (iii) remove or change access rights at any time, and without offering any explanation.

Without limiting the general application of the above rights, we will terminate Your access to the Intermediary Website (i) if You are in breach of these terms and conditions; (ii) if the Intermediary for whom You act is no longer registered by the Financial Services Authority; (iii) if You cease to be employed or appointed by the organisation which You were employed or appointed by at the time that You became a registered user of the Intermediary Website.

 

5. Password

When You register for access to the Intermediary Website, You will be provided with a username and password combination that will allow You to access the Intermediary Website. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of Your username and password. You shall be responsible for all uses of Your username and password, whether or not authorised by You. You agree to notify Us immediately of any unauthorised use of Your username or password, which comes to your attention.

 

6. Links to Third Party Web Sites

Within the Intermediary Website, there may be links to third party websites, which We have included, as We believe they may be of interest to You. We are not responsible for those third party websites, their content or their conditions. The fact that We include links to other websites does not mean that We approve of or endorse them, websites to which they will link you further, the owners or operators of those websites or any services or products advertised on them. We accept no liability for any statements, information, products or services published on or accessible through any such websites. You should also be aware that those websites may have different legal conditions, privacy policies, etc. that will apply to Your use of and any products or services offered on those websites. It is Your responsibility to observe those other conditions and policies.

 

7. Data Protection

When You visit or register for access to the Intermediary Website, We may collect information about You which may be helpful for improving the operation of the Intermediary Website or which we require to identify You. We may also collect personal information from You through the Intermediary Website when You submit an application or use the services or products featured on the Intermediary Website.

The personal information about You which We collect through the Intermediary Website will be processed for the purposes of identifying You, fulfilling Your orders or requests and for communicating with You. It may also be retained by Us for general research purposes.

By supplying Us with the applicants’ data, You confirm and guarantee that We have the consent for the purposes of DPA to use the data for the mortgage application process.

 

8. Monitoring

Calls to any of the telephone numbers on the Intermediary Website may be monitored and recorded, to help Us to maintain the quality of service We provide to You and third parties. We may, in addition, undertake such monitoring as We consider appropriate to satisfy any obligations imposed on Us by the Financial Services Authority or any other regulator.

 

9. Liability

Unless we have expressly stated otherwise (whether in an agreement entered into between Us and a Platform Partner or otherwise in writing) and subject to condition 11 of these terms and conditions, we endeavour to ensure that the content of the Intermediary Website and any information generated from it is current and accurate, but do not accept any liability (either to You or to any other person), whether in contract, negligence, or otherwise, and whether direct, indirect or consequential, for any inaccurate or out-of-date information published on the Intermediary Website.

Your website may only be linked to Ours with Our prior written consent. We may not give consent, and do not have to offer any explanation where consent is refused. If We give consent, the consent may be made subject to conditions. Amongst other things, there will be conditions that Your website will only be linked to Ours by way of a clear separate Uniform Resource Locator ("URL") and that You make clear that Our website is not part of Your website or affiliated with it in any way.

We aim to ensure that the Intermediary Website is free of viruses and technical defects as far as possible. Due to the nature of the internet however, and the possibility of third party interference, this cannot be guaranteed and We will not accept any liability (either to You or to any other person), whether in contract, negligence, or otherwise, and whether direct, indirect or consequential for any viruses or defects in the Intermediary Website.

The content of the Intermediary Website is provided for Your information only and to enable You to satisfy Your regulatory obligations to provide Applicants with information on Our products and services, and does not constitute an offer to contract. The information on the Intermediary Website does not constitute advice or a recommendation to You, the Applicant or any third party.

By submitting any information about the Applicant on the Website, you confirm that you have the Applicant's authority to do so.

You agree to indemnify Us for all direct and consequential losses We incur as a result of Your use of the Intermediary Website (whether in accordance with these conditions or otherwise).

The Intermediary Website is provided "as is" and We give no warranties in respect thereof. Specifically, but without limitation, We do not warrant that You will be able to use the Intermediary Website or that it will continue to be made available in its current or any other form at the current domain name or any other domain name or that it will be fit for any purpose. Any warranties, which would otherwise be implied by law (including, without limitation, warranties as to satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or skill and care), are hereby excluded to the fullest extent permitted.

 

10. Intellectual Property

We own and operate the Intermediary Website. We are the owners of all intellectual property rights in material contained within the Intermediary Website. This includes, but is not limited to, all copyright, trademarks, patents and designs. We will rigorously pursue any unauthorised infringements of our rights.

You are allowed to use, download, and print the information and tools available on the Intermediary Website for the purpose of complying with Your regulatory requirements in relation to the introduction of Applicants to Us. You may not otherwise extract or distribute any of the material contained within the Intermediary Website, or use any such material or tools for any commercial benefit to Yourself or others. If You wish to use any of the Intermediary Website content for any other purpose or in any other way, You must first contact Us to obtain Our prior written consent. We may not give consent. If any consent is given We will explain as part of the consent how You will be permitted to use the Intermediary Website and its contents.

 

11. Unconnected Brokers

The terms set out in this condition 11 are additional terms applicable only to Unconnected Brokers.

Unconnected Brokers will not be able to submit any application for a mortgage in respect of an Applicant to Us. Only Platform Partners may submit applications to Us. You will need to ensure that You or Your employer contacts Us with a view to becoming a Platform Partner.

If you generate information from the Intermediary Website which is in the format of a "Key Fact Illustration", subject to You satisfying Your obligations under these terms and conditions and any additional obligations imposed on the use of such information, We confirm that such information will be accurate at the date it is produced by Us in respect of the product to which it is stated to relate. However, You must carry out such checks as are reasonable to ensure that the information does not contain any errors that should have been obvious to You. Any information provided by Us will be based on the data provided to Us by You and You are responsible for the accuracy of the data provided to Us. Since You are not a Platform Partner, the information in a "Key Facts Illustration" may not accurately reflect any fees or charges which may be payable to You or may be imposed by You and it may not accurately reflect any additional conditions or requirements imposed by You. In no circumstances will a "Key Fact Illustration" constitute an offer by Us to enter into any agreement with the Applicant.

All Our products which are featured on the Intermediary Website will be subject to Our lending criteria and other lending policies and may not be available to some Applicants. You will need to satisfy Yourself that any Applicant would be eligible for any product.

You will be fully responsible for compliance with all regulatory and legal requirements and with the Data Protection Act 1998. You must notify Us immediately if You receive any notice of or becomes aware of any regulatory concerns, investigation or other action. You will notify Us immediately that any regulatory permissions, registrations, licences or authorisations are withdrawn and shall immediately cease using the Intermediary Website.

You Must not hold Yourself out as a Platform Partner, as our agent or any other way indicate that You are acting on our behalf or have any authority to bind Us.

 

12. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These conditions, and Your use of the Intermediary Website, are governed by, and will be construed in accordance with, English law. The courts of England and Wales will have sole jurisdiction to determine any disputes arising.