At Hermes Property Services, we always respect the privacy of our customers and are committed to protecting your privacy at all times. This policy will give you a thorough explanation of the way we collect your data and how it may be used. It may be updated from time to time so you should review it occasionally.

1. How we collect information about you

Data can be collected and processed during the use of our website or when you communicate directly with us, such as through e-mail, phone or letter, for example:

• when you complete our online application form, your details will be stored;
• if you take out an agreement with us, we will ask that you provide us with documents to support your application, such as proof of address and income. Copies of those documents may be made and retained;
• during the currency of any agreement with us, we will make notes of any instances of contact between us, which will include any personal information disclosed to us during that contact;
• any calls made to us or our representatives may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes; and/or
• after your agreement has been completed, we may keep records of any feedback you give us about the service provided.

The type of data collected may include personal information such as your name, address, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, date of birth and employment details. It may also include details of the agreements you have had with us in the past or unsuccessful applications for further credit. You may also disclose sensitive information to us, such as information about your health and medical information, which we may hold and process.

2. Our use of your information

Your data will always be dealt with responsibly and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1988. Information stored or collected about you helps us improve our service and helps to make sure that any agreement you have with us is run smoothly. For example, your information may help us:

• make credit decisions about you and check the details that you have provided to us are complete and accurate;
• administer and manage any application you make to us and, in the event you take out credit with us, to administer your account with us;
• monitor and analyse our business including conducting internal audits, using statistical analysis to develop and improve our products and services and conducting market research;
• contact you by e-mail, text message, post, telephone or in any other way about our products and services or the products and services of carefully selected and trusted partner organisations, unless you tell us that you prefer not to receive marketing;
• to identify, prevent, detect or tackle fraud, money laundering, terrorism and other crimes;
• trace your whereabouts and recover any debt you owe us; and/or
• comply with our regulatory obligations.

We may also transfer your personal information abroad to countries outside the UK or the EEA. If we do so, we will ensure the information is handled securely to standards as least as good as those in the UK and that your information is only ever used in accordance with the terms of this policy.

3. Information we share

We will only ever share your data with third parties for the purposes explained below and elsewhere in this policy. All third party companies we deal with are carefully selected and trusted companies and wherever possible contracts are put in place with them to ensure that your information is kept safe. We will only disclose your information to third parties where such a disclosure is permitted by law or where we have your permission. Some examples of third parties we may disclose your details to are:

• third parties who provide products or services which we reasonably believe may interest you;
• agents we instruct to help us collect debts owed to us or to enforce security provided under your agreement where necessary;
• regulators, government authorities, our trade association or other authorities to assist in the resolution of a complaint, to help prevent or detect fraud or terrorism, or for any other reasonable purpose identified by such an authority; and/or
• any company or person to whom we sell or transfer our business or our rights under any agreement we may have with you.

4. Personal data storage & security

We know how important it is to keep your data safe, so all information collected is stored on secure servers. Transaction data is encrypted for your safety and we employ the most up to date security technology to ensure your data remains safe. You should understand that providing data via online transmission is not always completely secure. We cannot guarantee full protection in this respect, but we do commit to you that we will do everything we can to protect information sent to us electronically.

Our website may contain links to third parties’ websites, which have their own privacy policy and terms of use. We are not responsible nor do we accept responsibility for third party websites as we have no control over them.

5. Accessing your information

The Data Protection Act 1988 makes provision for you to be able to access any information we may hold on you. If you would like details in respect of the data we hold about you, you should follow the procedure detailed in the Act for a ‘Subject Access Request’ which includes the payment of a £10 fee. The fee covers our costs for processing your request and getting the data to you.

6. Contacting us and Opting Out

As part of our online application process, we will ask you whether we may contact you in future about products and services offered by our organisation or trusted third parties. You are given the option to ‘opt-out’ of any such contact and if you do so, you will not receive any communication apart from that concerned with your application. If you do not ‘opt-out’ at the application stage and wish to do so later, you just need to let us know by contacting using the details given below.

Please also feel free to contact us with queries, requests, or comments you may have about this policy. Our contact details are as follows:

Hermes Property Services Limited
Bridge Studios
34a Deodar Road
London SW15 2NN

Tel: 0844 871 1567
Fax: 0208 877 6529
E-mail: admin@hermesps.co.uk