Privacy

At Credit4 we are committed to safeguarding and preserving the privacy of our visitors. This Privacy Policy explains what happens to any personal data that you provide to us, or that we collect from you whilst you visit our Site. Other data provided by you or collected by us other than via our Site is governed by our standard privacy policy.

Changes to this Policy

We may update this Policy from time to time so please review this Policy regularly as we will post changes on the Privacy Policy page. Material changes to our Privacy Policy will be notified to you by a specific notice on the Site (which may take the form of a pop-up notification). If you continue to use our Site after such change has been made, you will be deemed to have accepted the amended policy and the amended Privacy Policy will be binding.

Information We Collect

In running and maintaining our Site we may collect and process the following data about you:

I. Information about your use of our Site including details of your visits such as pages viewed and the resources that you access. Such information includes traffic data, location data and other communication data.

II. Information provided voluntarily by you in completing and submitting our eligibility and pre-application steps on our website (for example name, address and/or telephone contact details), contacting us by telephone, email or other means, or reporting a problem on the website. For example, when you request more information about our products. You confirm that you have the necessary consents or authorities to provide all the data that you submit or provide to us.

III. Information that you provide when you communicate with us by any means.

Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to collect information about our visitors’ use of our Site. We do this to try to ensure that it meets our users’ needs and to understand how we might make improvements. Google Analytics collects and stores information such as, what pages you visit, how long you are on the Site, how you got here and what you click on. Google Analytics does not collect or store your personal information. Google Analytics uses cookies and the type of cookie used is set out in our Cookie Policy.

You can opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics, if you would like further information on opting out the please visit http://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout

Use of Cookies

Cookies provide information regarding the computer used by a visitor. We may use cookies where appropriate to gather information about your computer in order to assist us in improving our Site.

We may gather information about your general internet use by using the cookie. Where used, these cookies are downloaded to your computer and stored on the computer’s hard drive. Such information will not identify you personally. It is statistical data. This statistical data does not identify any personal details whatsoever.

You can adjust the settings on your computer to decline any cookies if you wish. This can easily be done by activating the reject cookies setting on your computer.

Use of Your Information

The purposes for which we use your information and the legal bases under data protection laws on which we rely to do this are as follows:

It is necessary for the performance of the contract with you or to take steps to enter into it. This applies when we use the information that we collect from you to provide our services to you. In addition to this we may use the information for one or more of the following purposes:

I. Process your application for funding.

II. Make, or cause searches to be made, at a credit reference agency, or other relevant agencies.

III. To provide information to you that you request from us relating to our products or services.

IV. To inform you of any changes to our website, services or goods and products.

V. To process payments owed by you to us.

It is necessary for our legitimate interests or that of a third party. This includes:

I. To enhance and personalise your customer or visitor experience;

II. To administer our site, for website analysis and for internal operations, including troubleshooting, testing, statistical purposes;

III. For network and information security in order for us to take steps to protect your information against loss or damage, theft or unauthorised access;

IV. For the prevention of fraud and other criminal activities;

It is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation. This includes when you exercise your legal rights under data protection law, to verify your identity, for the establishment and defence of our legal rights, for activities relating to the prevention, detection and investigation of crime, to conduct credit, fraud prevention and anti-money laundering checks and for compliance with our legal and regulatory responsibilities.

You have given us your consent to use it in certain ways including:

If you have previously used our service, with your consent, we may provide to you details of similar goods or services that you may be interested in.

Where you have provided your consent, we may allow selected third parties to use your data to enable them to provide you with information regarding unrelated goods and services which we believe may interest you. Where such consent has been provided it can be withdrawn by you at any time.

We do not undertake any automated decision-making or profiling using the data you have provided to us.

Credit Reference Searches

Please note that searches at credit reference agencies (“CRA”) will only be undertaken with your express consent. These credit searches will be shown in any other searches which are made in connection with applications made by each of you and you understand and each such person understands that information held by the CRAs may already be linked to records relating to one or more partners, including records held in previous or subsequent names, and for this application you may be treated as financially linked and the application will be assessed with reference to any ‘associated’ records.

The disclosure of multiple searches may adversely affect your credit profile and may make credit harder for you to obtain. Your application will be assessed with reference to all linked records. If you have confirmed you are linked financially with another person, you are declaring that you are entitled to (a) disclose information about that person and/or anyone else referred to by you and (b) that you authorise us to search, link and/or record information at credit reference agencies about you and /or anyone else referred to by you. The names and addresses of the main credit reference agencies are shown in the credit reference agencies section. We may use one or more of these agencies. Information about which credit reference agency was used will be made freely available.

Credit Reference Agencies

We mostly utilise the services of one main Credit Reference Agency, although we reserve the right to utilise any other relevant credit agency if applicable. Details of our main Credit Reference Agency are:

Equifax plc

Credit File Advice Centre,
PO Box 1140,
Bradford,
BD51 5US

www.myequifax.co.uk

Credit reference agencies keep a wide range of information. This includes information from the electoral or voters roll and records of most county court judgments and bankruptcies. They also retain information relating to previous and existing credit and record searches made against the file. The lenders share information through the agencies providing a history of how punctually payments are being made or have been made. Loan information is usually held on file for 6 years. Details of voters roll may be held for much longer. Information about credit searches is kept for up to two years.

If you wish to see the information contained on a credit reference agency file you can do so by writing to the relevant agency. The agency must respond within 1 month. This information is usually free of charge unless excessive requests are made, when the CRA may charge a nominal administration fee. If your credit reference file contains information about other people with whom you have no financial connection or if it contains information which is incorrect you can ask for the entry to be corrected, removed, or have a note put on the file explaining why you think the information is wrong. The agency will not remove correct information.

The Internet is not a completely safe medium. We take appropriate steps to protect and maintain your personal data at all times ensuring any data transfer complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The nature of the internet is such that secured data may flow over networks with security measures but may still be accessed and used by people other than those for whom the data is intended. However, we aim to apply appropriate levels of security at all times. The Information Commissioner provides a useful leaflet which explains how to request changes to your credit reference file. The easy to read leaflet includes examples of letters and details of various actions you may take to amend a file. You can obtain a copy of the free leaflet by writing to:

No Credit Leaflet,
P.O. Box 99,
Nelson,
BB9 8GS

Information is also available at www.ico.org.uk

The major UK credit agencies have an agreement to share information ‘Credit Reference Agency Information Notice’ (CRAIN) and full details of this agreement can be found at https://www.equifax.co.uk/crain

Storing Your Personal Data

In operating our Site, it may become necessary to transfer data that we collect from you to locations outside of the European Union for processing and storing. By providing your personal data to us, you agree to this transfer, storing or processing. We do our utmost to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to make sure that your data is stored securely. We adopt adequate safeguarding measures such as obtaining a contractual undertaking from the non-EU organisation that they will keep your personal data secure.

Unfortunately, the sending of secure information via the internet can still on occasion be intercepted. We cannot guarantee the security of data that you choose to send us electronically. Sending such information is entirely at your own risk.

The following criteria are used to determine data retention periods for your personal data:

Retention in case of queries. We will retain your personal data as long as necessary to deal with your queries.

Retention in case of claims. We will retain your personal data for as long as you might legally bring claims against us. This is typically six years from when you cease to be our client.

Retention in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements. We will retain your personal data after your account has been closed or has otherwise come to an end based on the presiding legal and regulatory requirements.

Disclosing Your Information

We will disclose your personal information to Equifax and other credit reference, fraud agencies and third parties as required by Credit4 for the purpose of assessing eligibility. We may also disclose your information to third party payment providers who process payments owed by you to us (including providers of Direct Debit facilities). Should you require further details about these third parties, please contact us.

We will not disclose your personal information to any other party other than in accordance with this Privacy Policy and in the circumstances detailed below:

i. In the event that we sell any or all of our business to the buyer.
ii. Where it is necessary and where we are required by law to disclose your personal information to regulators or law enforcement agencies.
iii. To further fraud protection and reduce the risk of fraud.

Third Party Links

On occasion we include links to third parties on this Site. Where we provide a link it does not mean that we endorse or approve that site’s policy towards visitor privacy. You should review their privacy policy before sending them any personal data.

Access to Information

In accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) you have the right to access any information that we hold relating to you. This information is provided free of charge, however where we deem there to be excessive requests we may charge a nominal fee for replying to multiple requests for information.

Other rights

In accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

The right to have your personal data corrected if it is inaccurate and to have incomplete personal data completed;

The right to object to processing of your personal data;

The right to restrict processing of your personal data;

The right to have your personal data erased (subject to legal and regulatory requirements);

The right to move, copy, or transfer your data free of charge (appropriate fees may be charged if excessive requests are made);

The right to not be subject to automated decision making; and

You have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. It has enforcement powers and can investigate compliance with data protection law. www.ico.org.uk

Contacting Us

Please do not hesitate to contact us regarding any matter relating to this Privacy Policy at admin@credit4.co.uk, 020 3637 0570 or alternatively write to us at:

Credit4 Limited
Riverside House
River Lawn Road
Tonbridge
TN9 1EP