Privacy Policy

The Mortgage Advice Service (Scotland) Ltd is directly authorised to provide debt advice to people living in Scotland.

We are responsible for the quality of the advice and services that we provide to you where those products are regulated by the FCA.

Our Fair Processing Notice explains how we use your personal data and describes the categories of personal data we process and for what purposes. We are committed to collecting and using such data fairly and following the requirements of the GDPR.

Why are we asking you to read this document?

Whilst dealing with us, we will ask you to provide us with detailed personal information relating to your existing circumstances and your financial situation. (Your Information). We would like to explain to you what we will need to do with Your Information, and the various rights you have in relation to Your Information.

What do we mean by “Your Information”?

Data Protection Law allows us to use personal information only if we have a proper reason to do so, via the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules.

What Information we collect and why

Data Protection law says that we are allowed to use personal information only if we have a proper reason to do so, via the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) rules:

  • When you consent to it, or
  • When it is our legal duty, or
  • When it is in our legitimate interest

In the context of providing you with assistance in relation debt advice, Your Information may include:

  • 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), 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.

The basis upon which our Firm will deal with Your Information

When we speak with you about your financial position we do so on the basis that a contract for the supply of services is in place between us. In order to perform that contract, and to arrange the products you require, we have the right to use Your Information for the purposes we set out below.

Alternatively, either in the course of initial discussions with you or when the contract between us has come to an end for whatever reason, we have the right to use Your Information provided it is in our legitimate business interest to do so and your rights are not affected. For example, we may need to respond to requests from creditors relating to the advice we have given to you or to make contact with you to seek feedback on the service you received.

On occasion, we will use Your Information to enable us to meet any responsibilities we may be required for wider compliance with any legal or regulatory obligation to which we might be subject. If this were to arise we would be processing Your Information, in order to meet a legal, compliance or other regulatory obligation to which we are subject.

The basis upon which we will process certain parts of Your Information

If you have parental responsibility for children under the age of 16 it is also very likely that we (and consequently your creditors) will record information on our systems that relates to those children and potentially, to their Special Data.

The arrangement of certain types of debt solutions may involve disclosure by you to us of information relating to historic or current criminal convictions or offences (together with “Criminal Disclosures”). This is relevant for claims and fraud management.

Your Special Data and any Criminal Disclosures will be used by us in the same way as Your Information generally, as set out in this Customer Privacy Notice.

How do we collect Your Information?

We will collect and record Your Information from a variety of sources, but mainly directly from you. You will usually provide information during our initial meetings or conversations with you to establish your circumstances and needs and preferences in relation to providing you with debt advice. You will provide information to us verbally and in writing, including email.

We may also obtain some information from third parties, for example, creditors. If we use technology solutions to assist in the collection of Your Information, such as software that can verify your identity online or access your credit status and/or bank account entries, then you will be required to provide your consent for us or our nominated processor to access your information in this manner, and details of how such software operates will be provided to you before the activation of the service.

What happens to Your Information when it is disclosed to us?

While handling Your Information, we will:

  • record and store Your Information in our paper files, mobile devices and on our computer systems (websites, email, hard drives, cloud facilities) and it will be accessed by employees and consultants within, or contractors engaged, by our Firm as necessary to provide our service to you and to perform any administration tasks associated with or incidental to that service.
  • submit Your Information to your creditors, both in paper form and online, in order to progress any enquiry or application made on your behalf and to deal with any additional questions or administrative issues that your creditors may raise.
  • input Your Information, along with full details of your assets and liabilities to our computer systems.
  • use Your Information to respond to any queries you or your creditors may have concerning any products you may take out, or to inform you of any developments concerning those products of which we might become aware.

Sharing and transferring Your Information

From time to time Your Information will be shared with or transferred to:

  • to creditors
  • third parties who we believe will be able to assist us with your enquiry or application, or who can support your needs as identified.

Please note that this sharing of Your Information does not entitle such third parties to send you marketing or promotional messages: it is shared to ensure we can adequately fulfil our responsibilities to you, and as otherwise set out in this Customer Privacy Notice.

We do not envisage that the performance by us of our service will involve Your Information being transferred outside of the European Economic Area.

Security and retention of Your Information

Your privacy is important to us and we will keep Your Information secure in accordance with our legal responsibilities. We will take reasonable steps to safeguard against Your Information being accessed unlawfully or maliciously by a third party, accidentally lost, destroyed or damaged.

We also expect you to take reasonable steps to safeguard your privacy when transferring information to us, such as not sending confidential information over unprotected email, ensuring email attachments are password-protected or encrypted and only using secure methods of postage when original documentation is sent to us.

Your Information will be retained by us either electronically or in paper format for a minimum of six years, or if longer than six years, the duration of this Firm’s relationship with you.

Your rights concerning Your Information

You can:

  • request copies of Your Information that is under our control
  • ask us to further explain how we use Your Information
  • ask us to correct, delete* or require us to restrict or stop using Your Information (details as to the extent to which we can do this will be provided at the time of any such request)
  • ask us to send an electronic copy of Your Information to another organisation should you wish*
  • change the basis of any consent you may have provided to enable us to market to you in the future (including withdrawing any consent in its entirety)

How to contact our Firm concerning the use of Your Information

If you have any questions or comments about this document or wish to make contact to exercise any of your rights set out within it please contact:

The Data Protection Officer, The Mortgage Advice Service (Scotland) Ltd, 3 Bute Crescent, Bearsden, Glasgow, G61 1BS

Telephone: 0800 011 2322

Email: info@themortgageadviceservice.co.uk

If we feel we have a legal right not to deal with your request, or to action it in a different way than how you have requested, we will inform you of this at the time.

You should also make contact with us as soon as possible upon your becoming aware of any unauthorised disclosure of Your Information, so that we may investigate and fulfil our regulatory obligations.

If you have any concerns or complaints as to how we have handled Your Information or Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures you may lodge a complaint with the UK’s data protection regulator, the ICO, who can be contacted through their website at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or by writing to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Call Now