Privacy Policy

1. BACKGROUND

This Privacy Policy was last updated in May 2018 and explains how we use the personal information that Competitive Mortgages And Financial Services Ltd (as defined below) collects or generates information in relation to its business activities and Marketing reference Centre at www.mortgagesandfs.com(the “Preference Centre”).

Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd, “we or “us” means of 14 Wellmeadow Road, London W7 2AL and company number 02088408438

We collect and use certain personal data via the Preference Centre or direct contacts and we are responsible for ensuring that we use that personal data in compliance with data protection laws. This Privacy Policy governs the handling of personal data by us in the course of performing our duties.

2. THE TYPES OF PERSONAL DATA WE COLLECT

When you visit the Preference Centre and in the course of our service we may collect personal data whe you provide it to us, we may collect and process the following personal data about you:

Information that you provide to Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd. Such information may include details of your marketing preferences (i.e. the marketing materials that you would like to receive from Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd.
Information that we collect or generate about you. When you submit information via the Preference Centre, we may use this information to help build a better picture of the topics and materials that interest you or may interest you, and the ways in which you would like to receive them.
If you contact us we may keep a record of that correspondence.
Details of your visits to our site including, but not limited to, traffic data, location data, weblogs and other communication data and the resources that you access.
Contact information
Identity information
Employment details, Financial or health and medical information

3. HOW WE USE YOUR INFORMATION

Your personal data may be stored and processed by us in the following ways and for the following purposes:

to understand your marketing preferences and keep them up to date;
to communicate with you in order to provide you with information about Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd and the products and services offered that might be of interest to you;
for the administration and maintenance of databases and storing your marketing preferences.

However, in using personal data we make sure that the usage complies with the law. The use of your personal data as described in this Privacy Policy is permitted because:

it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, because it allows us to:
o keep a record of what our contacts are interested in hearing about and how they would like to hear about it;
o ensure that we only send our contacts marketing materials that they would like to receive and that may be of interest to them; and conduct more effective business development and marketing activities.
You may have consented for us to use your personal data to send you certain marketing materials when you submit your marketing preferences to us via the Preference Centre.
Where you have consented to be contacted for such purposes, to provide you with information or services that you request from us or which we feel may interest you.
To carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us.
To allow you to participate in any interactive features which may offer on our site from time to time, when you choose to do so.
To notify you about changes to our service.

We will take steps to ensure that the personal data is accessed only by employees of Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd that have a need to do so for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Below we describe how we use your personal data, the lawful basis for processing it and if applicable, third party activity

Stage and reason of application/processing	What Personal Data is retained	How long do we hold it?	Why do we retain it?
You have made a basic enquiry but insufficient to do a lender’s credit search	Personal, contact information and basic plan application data	6 months from the end of the enquiry or 3 months if you request it	To contact you and attempt to help you arrange finance
You have made an enquiry sufficient to do a lender’s credit search but not yet arranged finance for you. Research for investments or quotes for insurance products, such as protection and general insurance	Personal, contact information full plan application data	12 months from the end of the enquiry	To contact you and attempt to help you arrange finance and to help resolve misunderstanding and complaints that may arise
We have provided mortgage or investment or insurance advice	Personal, contact information full plan application data and plan information and records of mortgage, investment or insurance advice provided	3 years from the end of the enquiry	To meet our regulatory and legal obligations to keep accurate records
We have successfully arranged finance, investment or general insurance for you	Personal, contact information full plan application data, plan information and records of mortgage, investment and insurance advice provided	6 years from the end of the enquiry	To provide you further advice or to investigate and resolve complaints/defend legal claims and
If applicable, completing due diligence checks on behalf of a provider or reporting suspicious activity	Evidence of proof of identity, income and address (where we have arranged finance). Records of suspicious activity Investigations and external reports to fraud prevention agencies	6 years from end of enquiry or from date of suspicious activity report	To comply with our legal obligations obligations to prevent financial crime.
Investigating and responding to complaints.	Records of complaint investigation notes, supporting evidence including loan application data, copies of documents and records of communications	6 years after end of contractual loan term.	To comply with our regulatory obligations and to able to identify and respond to duplicated claims or complaints made against us
Sending promotional information and updates regarding our service and products	Personal contact details.	While we have your consent and you are happy to continue to receive updates.	To keep you informed of our services and changes to products that may be of interest to you

4. Sharing Your Information with Third Parties

Your personal data may be shared within Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd for the purposes outlined above.

We may also disclose your personal data to third parties as described below:

To our business partners whose products and services you have expressed an interest in learning more about.
To third-party service providers who assist us in delivering services and supporting the objectives outlined in this Privacy Policy. These providers are required to comply with appropriate data protection obligations.
When legally required, such as when we must disclose your personal data to meet a legal obligation, or to protect, assert, or defend our legal rights.
If we sell our business or assets, in which case your personal data may be shared with the prospective buyer for due diligence purposes.
If we are acquired by another company, your personal data will be transferred to the new owner as part of the acquisition.

5. Retention Period of Your Personal Data

The duration for which we retain your personal data will depend on the following factors:

The purpose for which the data is being used (as detailed in this policy) – we will retain the data for as long as necessary to fulfill that purpose.
Legal obligations – certain laws or regulations may require us to keep your personal data for a minimum period.

Here’s a rephrased version of the paragraph while maintaining its meaning:

6. YOUR RIGHTS

When we collect, use, or store your personal data, you may have the following rights, which can generally be exercised free of charge:

Right to Information and Access: You have the right to obtain information about how we process your personal data and to access the personal data we hold about you.
Right to Withdraw Consent: You may withdraw your consent to the processing of your personal data at any time. However, please note that we may still be allowed to process your personal data if there is another legitimate basis for doing so.
Right to Data Portability: In certain cases, you have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format and, if technically feasible, request that we transfer it to a third party. This right only applies to personal data that you have provided directly to Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd.
Right to Rectification: You can request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to Erasure: You have the right to ask us to erase your personal data in specific situations. However, there may be instances where we are legally entitled to keep it.
Right to Object or Restrict Processing: You can object to, or request a restriction on, how we process your personal data in certain circumstances. In some cases, we may be legally permitted to refuse such a request.
Right to Lodge a Complaint: If you believe that any of your rights have been violated, you have the right to file a complaint with the relevant data protection authority.

To exercise your rights, we generally will not charge any fees, unless the request is repetitive or excessive. If applicable, we will inform you of any fees before proceeding.

Restriction of Use: You may request that we limit the use of your personal data in specific circumstances, such as when you believe the data is inaccurate and needs verification, or when you don't want us to erase it despite its unlawful use, or when we no longer need it for the purposes it was collected but you require it for legal claims.

Objection to Processing: You may object to the use of your personal data when we base our processing on legitimate interest, if you believe your fundamental data protection rights outweigh our legitimate interest. If you raise an objection, we may continue processing if we can demonstrate compelling legitimate reasons.

Data Transfer Request: You have the right to request that your personal data be provided to you in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or be transferred directly to another data controller (such as another company). This right applies only when we process your personal data based on a contract with you or your consent. It does not apply to data processed by non-automated means.

To exercise these rights, please contact us using the details provided in clause 10 below.

7. External Websites

If you click on a link that leads to another website (including websites operated by Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd), different privacy policies may apply. Before providing any personal data to these websites, you should review their privacy policies. By using these websites, you agree that the handling of your personal data will be governed by their respective privacy policies.

9. Updates to This Privacy Policy

If we make any updates to our Privacy Policy in the future, they will be posted on this page. If necessary, we will also notify you by email. We encourage you to check this page regularly for any changes or updates to our Privacy Policy.

10. Inquiries and Concerns

If you have any questions or concerns regarding how we handle your personal data or about this Privacy Policy, please reach out to us using the contact details below:

Address: Competitive Mortgages and Financial Services Ltd,14 Wellmeadow Road, London W7 2AL

Email Address: info@mortgagesandfs.com or martmohamed@cmandfs.co.uk

We aim to address privacy-related questions and concerns quickly and effectively. If you're not satisfied with our response, you may escalate the issue to the relevant data protection authority in your area. Upon request, we can provide you with the contact details for the appropriate regulator.