Our Privacy Policy

Why should you read this document?

During the course of dealing with us, we will ask you to provide us with detailed personal information relating to your existing circumstances, your financial situation and, in some cases, your health and family health history (“Your Personal Data”). This document explains what we will need to do with Your Personal Data and the various rights you have in relation to it.

What do we mean by “Your Personal Data”?

Your Personal Data means any information describing or relating to your circumstances. It may identify you directly (for example, your name, address, date of birth or national insurance number) or indirectly (for example, information about your employment and financial situation, or your health).

In the context of providing you with assistance in relation to your secured loan, remortgage, finance and/or insurance requirements, Your Personal Data may include (but is not limited to):

• Title, name, date of birth, gender, nationality, civil/marital status, contact details, addresses and documents that are necessary to verify your identity.
• Employment and remuneration information (including salary/bonus schemes/overtime/sick pay/other benefits) and employment history.
• Bank account details, tax information, loans and credit commitments, personal credit history, sources of income and expenditure, family circumstances and details of dependants.
• Health status and history, details of treatment and prognosis, and medical reports where relevant to the products or services we arrange for you.
• Any pre-existing mortgage/finance and/or insurance products and the terms and conditions relating to these.

The basis upon which our firm will deal with Your Personal Data

When we speak with you about your secured loan, remortgage, finance and/or insurance requirements, we do so on the basis that both parties are entering into a contract for the supply of services.

In order to perform that contract, and to arrange the products you require, we have the right to use Your Personal Data for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

We may also use Your Personal Data where it is in our legitimate business interests to do so and where your rights are not affected. For example, we may need to respond to requests from lenders, insurance providers or our compliance service provider in relation to the advice we have given to you, or to seek your feedback on the service you received.

On occasion, we will use Your Personal Data to meet our contractual or regulatory responsibilities to, for example, the Financial Conduct Authority or other legal or regulatory bodies.

The basis upon which we will process certain parts of Your Personal Data

Where you ask us to assist you with, for example, your insurance needs (particularly life insurance or insurance that may assist you in the event of accident or illness), we may need to collect and use information about your health, your medical history or your ethnic origin (“Special Category Data”).

We will record and use your Special Category Data only where it is necessary for us to make enquiries of insurance providers, assess the suitability of products for your needs and provide you with advice and guidance.

If you have parental responsibility for children under the age of 13, it is also likely that we will record information on our systems that relates to those children and, potentially, to their Special Category Data.

We will treat Special Category Data and any information relating to criminal convictions or offences (“Criminal Disclosures”) in the same way as Your Personal Data generally, as set out in this Privacy Policy.

How do we collect Your Personal Data?

We will collect and record Your Personal Data from various sources, mainly directly from you. You will usually provide information during our initial meetings or conversations to establish your circumstances, needs and preferences concerning secured loan/remortgage/finance and/or insurance. You will provide information to us verbally and in writing, including by email.

We may also obtain some information from third parties, for example from credit checks, employers, other professional advisers, or from searches of information in the public domain such as the electoral roll. We use technology solutions to assist in collecting Your Personal Data, for example software that can verify your credit status. We will only do this where we have obtained the appropriate consent or where we are otherwise permitted to do so by law.

What happens to Your Personal Data when it is disclosed to us?

In the course of handling Your Personal Data, we will:

• Record and store Your Personal Data in paper files, mobile devices, and our computer systems (including email, hard drives and cloud facilities). This information can only be accessed by employees and consultants within our firm and only when it is necessary to provide our service to you or to perform administrative tasks associated with that service.
• Submit Your Personal Data to product providers, mortgage lenders, commercial lenders and/or insurance providers, both in paper form and online via secure portals, where this is essential in allowing us to progress any enquiry or application made on your behalf.
• Use Your Personal Data for the purposes of responding to any queries you may have in relation to any secured loan/remortgage/finance and/or insurance policy you may take out, or to let you know of any developments in relation to those products and/or policies of which we might become aware.

Sharing Your Personal Data

From time to time Your Personal Data will be shared with:

• Investment providers, finance lenders, mortgage lenders, insurance providers, subsidiaries and partner companies.
• Third parties who we believe will be able to assist us with your enquiry or application, or who are able to support your needs as identified. These may include, but are not limited to, compliance advisers, product specialists, estate agents, providers of legal services such as conveyancers, surveyors and valuers.

In each case, Your Personal Data will only be shared for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, i.e. to progress your finance/remortgage and/or insurance enquiry and to provide you with assistance.

How long will we keep Your Personal Data?

We will retain Your Personal Data for as long as is necessary to provide our services to you, comply with legal and regulatory requirements, and for legitimate business purposes.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

• Request a copy of the Personal Data we hold about you.
• Request that your Personal Data is corrected or updated.
• Request that we erase or restrict the processing of your Personal Data.
• Request a transfer of your Personal Data to another organisation (where technically possible and lawful).
• Change or withdraw any consent you have provided to us in relation to the use of Your Personal Data.

How to make contact with our Firm in relation to the use of Your Personal Data

If you have any questions or comments about this document or wish to exercise any of your rights, please contact:

Telephone: 0333 038 4177

Please write to our address:
2nd Floor Oakhill Court, 171 Bury New Road, Prestwich, Manchester, M25 9ND

If you have any concerns about how we have handled your personal data, you can contact us to raise a complaint. If you are not satisfied with the outcome of your complaint, you also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). You can do this via their website or by writing to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF