Terms and Conditions
PLEASE READ THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THIS SITE
This document was last updated on 30th November 2022.
Welcome to the Ulster Community Investment Trust Ltd (“UCIT”) and Ulster Community Investment Trust (Ireland) (“UCIT Ireland”) (together “Community Finance Ireland”) Terms & Conditions.
What’s in these terms?
These terms tell you the rules for using our website http://communityfinanceireland.com/ (our site).
Who we are and how to contact us
We are trading as Community Finance Ireland.
Full name of legal entities:
Ulster Community Investment Trust Ltd
Ulster Community Investment Trust (Ireland)
Email addresses:
hello@communityfinanceireland.com
Postal addresses:
NI: 6th Floor Glengall Exchange, 3 Glengall Street, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT12 5AB
ROI: Unit 16, Ardee Business Park, Hale St, Ardee, Co. Louth, A92X N79
Telephone numbers:
NI: 02890315003
ROI: 041 685 8637
By using our site you accept these terms
By using our site, you confirm that you accept these terms of use and that you agree to comply with them.
If you do not agree to these terms, you must not use our site.
We recommend that you print a copy of these terms for future reference.
Website Tracking
We use Lead Forensics in order to optimise our service and your experience. Lead Forensics uses a small piece of code, much like Google Analytics, which tracks IP addresses visiting our website (processed during your session and stored in a de-identified form) and geographic location (country & county only). We will only use website tracking to obtain information on the location of our visitors e.g. in which county in NI and / or ROI.
In order to comply with GDPR, explicit consent will be sought from end-users before tracking, via cookies on our website, continued transparency will be provided around our tracking practices and there will be secure storage and documentation of end-user consents.
For further information, please refer to our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
There are other terms that may apply to you
These terms of use refer to the following additional terms, which also apply to your use of our site:
Our Privacy Policy. See further under “How we may use your personal information”.
Our Cookie Policy, which sets out information about the cookies on our site.
How we may use your personal information
We will only use your personal information as set out in our privacy policy.
We may make changes to these terms
We amend these terms from time to time. Every time you wish to use our site, please check these terms to ensure you understand the terms that apply at that time.
We may make changes to our site
We may update and change our site from time to time.
We may suspend or withdraw our site
Our site is made available free of charge.
We do not guarantee that our site, or any content on it, will always be available or be uninterrupted. We may suspend or withdraw or restrict the availability of all or any part of our site for business and operational reasons. We will try to give you reasonable notice of any suspension or withdrawal.
You are also responsible for ensuring that all persons who access our site through your internet connection are aware of these terms of use and other applicable terms and conditions, and that they comply with them.
We may transfer this agreement to someone else
We may transfer our rights and obligations under these terms to another organisation. We will always tell you in writing if this happens and we will ensure that the transfer will not affect your rights under the contract.
How you may use material on our site
We are the owner or the licensee of all intellectual property rights in our site, and in the material published on it. Those works are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All such rights are reserved.
You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from our site for your personal use and you may draw the attention of others within your organisation to content posted on our site.
You must not modify the paper or digital copies of any materials you have printed off or downloaded in any way, and you must not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.
Our status (and that of any identified contributors) as the authors of content on our site must always be acknowledged.
You must not use any part of the content on our site for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so from us or our licensors.
If you print off, copy or download any part of our site in breach of these terms of use, your right to use our site will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies of the materials you have made.
Do not rely on information on this site
The content on our site is provided for general information only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Although we make reasonable efforts to update the information on our site, we make no representations, warranties or guarantees, whether express or implied, that the content on our site is accurate, complete or up to date.
We are not responsible for websites we link to
Where our site contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your information only. Such links should not be interpreted as approval by us of those linked websites or information you may obtain from them.
We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources.
Our responsibility for loss or damage suffered by you
Whether you are a consumer or a business user:
- We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors and for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation.
If you are a business user:
- We exclude all implied conditions, warranties, representations or other terms that may apply to our site or any content on it.
- We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage, whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty, or otherwise, even if foreseeable, arising under or in connection with:
- use of, or inability to use, our site; or
- use of or reliance on any content displayed on our site.
- In particular, we will not be liable for:
- loss of profits, sales, business, or revenue;
- business interruption;
- loss of anticipated savings;
- loss of business opportunity, goodwill or reputation; or
- any indirect or consequential loss or damage.
We are not responsible for viruses and you must not introduce them
We do not guarantee that our site will be secure or free from bugs or viruses.
You are responsible for configuring your information technology, computer programmes and platform to access our site. You should use your own virus protection software.
You must not misuse our site by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material that is malicious or technologically harmful. You must not attempt to gain unauthorised access to our site, the server on which our site is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our site. You must not attack our site via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of service attack. By breaching this provision, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them. In the event of such a breach, your right to use our site will cease immediately.
Rules about linking to our site
You may link to our home page, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it.
You must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part where none exists.
You must not establish a link to our site in any website that is not owned by you.
Our site must not be framed on any other site, nor may you create a link to any part of our site other than the home page.
We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
If you wish to link to or make any use of content on our site other than that set out above, please contact hello@communityfinanceireland.com.
Which country’s laws apply to any disputes?
If you are a business, these terms of use, their subject matter and their formation (and any non-contractual disputes or claims) are governed by the laws of Northern Ireland (in relation to Ulster Community Investment Trust Ltd) and by the laws of the Republic of Ireland (in relation to Ulster Community Investment Trust (Ireland)). We both agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, whichever is applicable.
Our trade mark is the property of Ulster Community Investment Trust Ltd trading as Community Finance Ireland. You are not permitted to use it without our approval.
Complaints Policy
1. Overview
- Handle complaints speedily, efficiently and fairly
- Have a written complaints handling procedure in place
- Provide details of a dedicated contact person who will deal with the complaint
- Respond and keep the Applicant/Client updated about the complaint within certain timelines
2. The Scope
This policy applies to the Board and staff and is designed to protect the integrity and reputation of the organisation, to ensure that stakeholders continue to have confidence in this integrity.
3. Purpose
- Resolve complaints effectively and swiftly to the Applicant’s/Client’s satisfaction at the earliest stage and within target timescales;
- Provide a service, which can be easily accessed;
- Set out simple procedures and clear responsibilities;
- Treat equally all people, groups or organisations who complain;
- Keep the Applicant/Client informed about the progress of the complaint and let the Applicant/Client know the final decision and the reasons for it; and
- Ensure that NISBLF Applicants/Clients are aware of their right to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) in the UK in the event that they are not satisfied with our response.
4. How We will Manage Complaints
Stage One – Make an Informal Complaint
- If the Applicant/Client is not satisfied with any aspect of our service they should contact us and complain directly to the person they would normally deal with. This can be done by a telephone call to our Head Office in Belfast on (+44)02890 315003 or our Ardee Office on (+00353) 041 685 8637.
- Alternatively an email may be sent to: hello@communityfinanceireland.com
- The email should be clearly headed ‘Complaint’ and concisely state the nature of the complaint.
- We aim to deal with an informal complaint straight away and within three business days. However, if this is not possible, correspondence (in the form in which the complaint was received i.e. email or telephone call) will be sent acknowledging the complaint, advising who is dealing with it, and stating when we will contact the complainant again.
- A formal reply will be issued within three weeks, or the complainant advised in writing if this timeline cannot be met. In the event that the complaint relates to a rejected application, the reply will state the specific reasons why the application was unsuccessful.
Stage Two – Make a Formal Complaint
- If the Applicant/Client remains dissatisfied with the Stage One response, they should contact Barry Connolly (Group Chief Financial Officer & Compliance Oversight Officer) in writing or by email. Letters should be addressed to:
Barry Connolly 6th Floor Glengall Exchange 3 Glengall Street Belfast BT12 5AB The email address is: barryconnolly@communityfinanceireland.com. The letter / email should be clearly headed ‘Complaint’ and concisely state the nature of the complaint.
- A formal, written acknowledgement of receipt will be sent to the complainant within two business days, advising who is dealing with it and stating when we will contact them again.
- A formal final response will be issued within three weeks.
The final response will:
- set out what we have done to investigate the complaint;
- acceptance of the complaint and, where appropriate, offer redress or remedial action; or
- offer redress or remedial action without accepting the complaint; or
- rejection of the complaint and our reasons for doing so.
- If a final response is not available within three weeks (eight weeks overall), then a written response should be issued indicating when it is expected that a final response will be available.
- For NISBLF clients, where a final response is expected to take more than eight weeks from the original complaint, we will advise the complainant of their right to refer the matter to the FOS and that they must do so within six months.
Complaints outside the procedure(s) outlined above
Complaints made to other organisations or in forms other than the above, will not be accepted. Complaints made by third parties will also not be accepted and a standard letter has been drafted to respond to any such correspondence received.