This privacy policy sets out how JK Mortgage Links Ltd T/A Mortgage Links (“Mortgage Links”, “we” or “us”) uses and protects any information that you give Mortgage Links when you use this website.
Any reference made in this Privacy Policy to a “lender” refers to a mortgage lender who offers a mortgage product that we will provide advice on.
We are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.
Mortgage Links may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.
This policy is effective from 13/01/2023.
For the purposes of this Policy, “European Data Protection Legislation” is defined as, for the periods in which they are in force, the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC, all laws giving effect or purporting to give effect to the European Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (such as the Data Protection Act 1998) or otherwise relating to data protection (to the extent the same apply) and, from 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/670) (“GDPR”) or any equivalent legislation amending, supplementing or replacing the GDPR.
For the purpose of the Data Protection Act 1998, and, from 25 May 2018, the General Data Protection Regulation, the data controller is LJK Mortgage Links Ltd T/A Mortgage Links of 34 Alder Lane, Sheffield, S9 4AL.
WHAT WE COLLECT
When visiting our site, we will collect the following areas of information from you:
- Name, telephone number & email address
WHAT WE DO WITH THE INFORMATION WE GATHER
We require this information to understand and fulfill your needs, to provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:
For the purposes of contacting you and providing mortgage advice which you have explicitly consented to.
This will include:
Operating, managing & completing any mortgage applications or any other product/service you have explicitly requested of us;
- Internal record keeping;
- We may use the information to improve our products and services;
- We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided;
- From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by any medium for which you have provided us details. We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests;
- To notify you about changes to our service and to send you email updates relating to your account; and
- As part of our efforts to keep our website and your data safe and secure.
WE MAY SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH THE FOLLOWING ENTITIES:
- Any company within our group;
- Any regulatory or governmental body or ombudsmen who has jurisdiction;
- Any credit reference agency or bureau, for identity verification purposes only – we do not conduct a credit search and no footprint is left on your credit file;
- A lender to which you have consented for us to submit a mortgage application on your behalf;
- Suppliers who process your data on our behalf. We will have written contracts in place with such suppliers, which require them to process your data only in accordance with our instructions and to our standards; and
- Any person or legal entity to whom we sell, transfer or initiate discussions with to sell or transfer our business or any part of it or any of our rights or obligations under any agreement we may have with you. If a transfer proceeds, you agree that the purchaser can use your data in the same way as us.
SECURITY
We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure and your data will be treat with strict care and security. Our systems meet or exceed industry standards, and we will regularly monitor and review these systems and make improvements where necessary.
In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.
We will never allow anyone to access your data unless they have a justifiable reason to do so, and all of our employees are thoroughly vetted and background checked before they are granted access to your data.
HOW WE USE COOKIES
A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.
We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.
Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.
You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.
CONTROLLING YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways: whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes. If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at [email protected].
We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so.
We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.
European Data Protection Legislation gives you the right to access information held about you. You are entitled to be told by us whether we or someone else on our behalf is processing your personal information; what personal information we hold; details of the purposes for the processing of your personal information; and details of any third party with whom your personal information has been shared.
You can access the personal information we hold on you by contacting us by email at [email protected] or by telephone at 07496002997.
Please note: For any access request made after 25 May 2018 that is deemed excessive or especially repetitive, we may charge a ‘reasonable fee’ for meeting that request. Similarly, we may charge a reasonable fee to comply with requests for further copies of the same information. (That fee will be based upon the administrative costs of providing the information).
You have the additional rights to request rectification and erasure of your personal data and to request restriction of, and to otherwise object to, our processing of your personal data and you can exercise these rights at any time by emailing us at [email protected].
From 25 May 2018, you will also be entitled to receive the personal data that you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and to transmit that data to another data controller. You can exercise this right from 25 May 2018 by contacting us at [email protected].
If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.
THIRD PARTIES AND HOW THEY MAY USE YOUR DATA
If you apply for a mortgage product through Mortgage Links we will submit a mortgage application to the lender and therefore provide them with the information you have provided to us. If you would like to read the full details of how your data may be used, please contact the specific lender.
The lender will use this information to help make its decision about whether or not they will lend to you. This will involve checking the following records about you and others:
- Its own;
- Information held about you by credit reference agencies (CRAs); and
- Information held about you by fraud prevention agencies (FPAs).
When lenders request a search from a CRA, they will place a search footprint on your credit file that may be seen by other lenders. Having multiple search footprints registered on your credit file may affect your ability to borrow credit in the future.
You can contact CRAs to requesting your data that they hold and to view your credit files. They may charge a small fee for this. The contact details for the main three CRAs are as follows:
CallCredit, Consumer Services Team, PO Box 491, Leeds, LS3 1WZ or call 0870 0601414
Equifax PLC, Credit File Advice Centre, PO Box 3001, Bradford, BD1 5US or call 0870 010 0583 or log on to www.equifax.co.uk.
Experian, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham NG80 7WF or call 0844 4818000 or log on to www.experian.co.uk.
If the lender suspects that you have provided them with false, inaccurate or fraudulent information, they will record this and may also pass this information on to FPAs and other organisations involved in crime and fraud prevention.
Please contact the lender directly for details of the relevant FPAs.
If you have borrowed from the lender and do not make payment in accordance with your mortgage terms, the lender will trace your whereabouts and recover debts.