All documentation and communications about your Veritas Offshore Life Bond will be in English.
If the Veritas Offshore Life Bond does not meet your requirements, you may cancel it by notifying Veritas Life Guernsey in writing within thirty (30) days of receiving your Veritas Offshore Life Bond Confirmation. You must return the Plan Confirmation along with a signed cancellation form to the address indicated in the Plan Confirmation.
Please note that after this 30-day period has lapsed, you do not have an automatic right to cancel your Veritas Offshore Life Bond. You may, however, surrender your Veritas Offshore Life Bond in accordance with the "Terms and Conditions".
If you send the cancellation form within the 30-day period, the amount you receive back may be reduced by any fall in the value of your investment during that period, any Adviser Fees paid or any interest rate adjustment applied by a Fixed Term Deposit Provider.
The Veritas Offshore Life Bond is governed by Guernsey law and by the regulation of the GFSC. This Key Features document is based on our current understanding and interpretation of relevant legislation. Whilst great care has been taken to ensure that the information is correct, we cannot accept responsibility for its interpretation, or give legal advice. Full details of this investment are contained in the Veritas Offshore Life Bond "Terms and Conditions" and "Plan Confirmation", which together with the "Illustration" and completed "Application" and "Investment Options Booklet" will form the legally binding contract between you and Veritas Life Guernsey.
To be clear, Veritas Life Guernsey will not be providing you with any discretionary management service, any investment advice or any personal recommendation in respect of any investment option or otherwise and we do not provide any general financial planning services. It is the responsibility of your Adviser to discuss and agree with you which investment option is suitable for you.
Veritas Life Guernsey is established in Guernsey as a "cell" of Artex Axcell (Guernsey) PCC Limited, which is a Guernsey registered Protected Cell Company under The Companies (Guernsey) Law 2008 ("Guernsey Companies Law"). A protected cell company is a type of company which has distinct cells, keeping the property of one cell separate from the property of other cells.
Persons dealing with Veritas Life Guernsey shall only have recourse to, and their interest shall be limited to, the assets from time to time attributable to Veritas Life Guernsey and they shall have no recourse to the assets of any other cell of Artex Axcell (Guernsey) PCC Limited or, except as provided under Guernsey Companies Law, against any non-cellular assets of Artex Axcell (Guernsey) PCC Limited.
This ensures that the interests of Plan holders in Veritas Life Guernsey are kept separate from other cells and from the general assets of Artex Axcell (Guernsey) PCC Limited. Any losses suffered by one cell do not affect other cells.
The Plan holder of the Veritas Offshore Life Bond will benefit from Guernsey's policy protection regime under the licensing conditions imposed by the Guernsey Financial Services Commission ("GFSC") under the Insurance Business (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2002, as amended.
The GFSC requires Veritas Life Guernsey to procure that at least 90% of the funds that support its liabilities to Plan holders will be placed in trust with a reputable independent third party Guernsey trustee.
Veritas Life Guernsey will comply with the minimum GFSC requirement at all times. It is intended, however, that Veritas Life Guernsey will procure that at all times 100% of assets backing its liabilities to the Plan holder will be held in a trust with a Guernsey based trustee.
The independent Guernsey trustee for the Veritas Offshore Life Bond is Sovereign Trust (Guernsey) Limited, which is authorised by the GFSC. The independent Guernsey trustee will be responsible for safeguarding the assets held in trust and may hold securities directly in its name or with an appointed nominee. However it is not responsible for the investment management of Plan holder funds. Veritas Life Guernsey must report to the GFSC if 5% or more of the market value of the assets held are to be paid out within one calendar month and provide the GFSC with a report of assets held in the trust on a quarterly basis.
The tax status of the Plan is dependant on current law and regulation of Guernsey and the law governing the tax status of the Plan holder, both of which are subject to change. Any legislative change in Guernsey or the may remove or undermine any tax benefit obtained from the Plan. Veritas Life Guernsey cannot be held responsible for any tax benefit which the Plan holder may or may not obtain under the Plan. Veritas Life Guernsey will not be liable for any personal tax that the Plan holder is required to pay in relation to the Plan or the tax treatment of a Plan holder.
Veritas Life Guernsey is not liable to tax on the income or gains arising within the funds that are made available under the Veritas Offshore Life Bond. However, withholding tax may be deducted at source on income arising from investments held in some jurisdictions. This tax may not be recoverable.
A United Kingdom tax resident may withdraw 5% (in the form of regular withdrawals and any Ongoing or Ad-hoc Adviser Fees) of the original premium each policy year without incurring an immediate tax charge. A policy year ends on the annual anniversary of your policy. The allowance accumulates at the rate of 5% each policy year for the first 20 years the plan is in force. No further allowance accrues once the plan has been in force for 20 years.
If the 5% allowance is not utilised, it is carried forward and accumulated. The accumulated amount may be used in later years. For example, if no withdrawals or any Ongoing or Ad-hoc Adviser Fees are taken in the first Plan year, 10% may be taken in the second Plan year, and so on.
If the total of regular withdrawals and any Ongoing or Ad-hoc Adviser Fees exceeds the available 5% allowance, including any accumulated amounts, the excess is potentially taxable. The amount of tax payable will depend on the taxpayer's personal tax position.
A tax charge may also arise on one of the following events:
Death of the life assured for a life assurance plan;
Full assignment of a Plan for consideration; and
Full surrender of a Plan (or full surrender of segments within a Plan).
On such an event the taxable amount will be calculated using the following method:
Surrender value of the policy plus any withdrawals and Ongoing or Ad-hoc Adviser Fees taken, less the sum of the original premium and any amounts previously withdrawn that exceeded the 5% allowance.
Veritas Life Guernsey is required to provide details of all chargeable event gains to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs if the value of any gains is equal to or is in excess of half the basic rate income tax band at that time.
Pursuant to the Data Protection (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2017, (the "DP Law") Veritas Life Guernsey may hold personal data (as defined in the DP Law) relating to past and present Plan holders. In particular:
information provided to Veritas Life Guernsey will be stored electronically and manually;
for the purposes of the DP Law, Veritas Life Guernsey is required to specify the purposes for which it will hold personal data (including sensitive personal data). Veritas Life Guernsey will only use such information for the purposes set out below (collectively, the "Purposes"), being to:
process Plan holder's personal data (including sensitive personal data) as required by or in connection with their investment in the Veritas Offshore Life Bond including processing personal data in connection with anti money laundering checks on Plan holders;
communicate with Plan holders as necessary in connection with managing and administering their affairs and generally in connection with their investment in the the Veritas Offshore Life Bond;
provide personal data to such third parties as Veritas Life Guernsey may consider necessary in connection with a Plan holder's affairs and generally in connection with their investment in the the Veritas Offshore Life Bond or as the DP Law may require, including to third parties outside the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the European Economic Area;
transfer personal data to other companies within the same group as Veritas Life Guernsey, including to any such companies which are outside the Bailiwick of Guernsey or the European Economic Area;
process personal data for Veritas Life Guernsey's internal administration;
comply with legal and regulatory obligations applicable to Veritas Life Guernsey; and
for other legitimate business interests of Veritas Life Guernsey.
By becoming a Plan holder, a person becomes a data subject (as defined in the DP Law) and is deemed to have consented to the processing by Veritas Life Guernsey, or its affiliates, of any personal data relating to them in the manner described above. In accordance with the DP Law, you have the right to access information held by Veritas Life Guernsey about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance with the DP Law. Your access request may be subject to a fee of up to Change to GBP 50 to meet the costs in providing you with details of the information Veritas Life Guernsey holds about you.
