Privacy Policy
Last updated August 2024
Who we are?
This section gives you the legal name of the company who holds your personal information – known as the 'legal entity'.
Ideal4Finance is a trading name of Ideal Sales Solutions Ltd and is a licensed credit broker and not a lender. Ideal Sales Solutions Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Firm Reference Number 703401. Ideal Sales Solutions Ltd is registered in England and Wales (Company Number 06724294), Registered Office at Unit 3, The Crossroads Business Centre, Freckleton Street, Kirkham, Preston, PR4 2SH.
The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) requires companies and individuals who process Personal Data to explain how it will be used and for what purpose. This policy explains how Ideal Sales Solutions Ltd will process your Personal Data. We will not use your Personal Data for any other purpose without first informing you. We regularly review our privacy policy and from time to time we may need to make some changes. If we make any substantial changes, we will post a notice on our website.
How the law protects you.
This section sets out the legal reasons we rely on, for each of the ways we may use your personal information.
Your privacy is protected by law. This section explains how that works.
Data Protection law says that we can use personal information only if we have a proper reason to do so. This includes sharing it outside of Ideal4Finance. The law says we must have one or more of these reasons:
To fulfil a contract we have with you, or
When it is our legal duty, or
When it is in our legitimate interest, or
When you consent to it.
When we have a business or commercial reason of our own to use your information, this is called a 'legitimate interest'. We will tell you what that is, if we are going to rely on it as the reason for using your data. Even then, it must not unfairly go against your interests.
The law and other regulations treat some types of sensitive personal information as special. This includes information about racial or ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, trade union membership, health data, and criminal records. We will not collect or use these types of data without your consent unless the law allows us to do so. If we do, it will only be when it is necessary:
For reasons of substantial public interest, or
To establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Here is a list of all the ways that we may use your personal information, and which of the reasons we rely on to do so. This is also where we tell you what our legitimate interests are.
| How we use your Personal information | The Legal basis for doing so | Our legitimate interest |
|---|---|---|
|
To provide, manage and personalise our services to you To develop and carry out marketing activities To study how our customers, use our services To communicate with you about our services To manage complaints and respond to queries |
Your consent Fulfilling contracts Our legitimate interests Our legal duty Fulfilling contracts Our legal duty Our legitimate interests |
Keeping our records up to date Developing our services and what we charge for them Seeking your consent when we need it to contact you Being efficient about how we fulfil our legal and contractual duties Investigating complaints efficiently and reaching the right outcome Liaising with the Financial Ombudsman Service Learning from such investigations to prevent complaints arising in the future |
| Business Improvement | The Legal basis for doing so | Our legitimate interest |
|
To test new ways of delivering our services To manage how we work with other companies that provide services to us and our customers To develop new ways to meet our customers’ needs and to grow our business |
Fulfilling contracts Our legitimate interests Our legal duty |
Developing our service and what we charge for them Making sure we offer our services to the right types of customers Being efficient about how we fulfil our legal and contractual duties |
| Managing our operations | The Legal basis for doing so | Our legitimate interest |
|
To deliver services to our customers To work with product providers and fund managers to deliver the products and funds that suit our customers’ needs To record and monitor all communications with our customers |
Fulfilling contracts Our legitimate interests Our legal duty Our legitimate interests |
Being efficient in fulfilling our legal and contractual duties Complying with rules and guidance from regulators To develop and improve our systems and processes To train our staff to provide our customers with a high standard of service |
| Managing security risk and crime prevention | The Legal basis for doing so | Our legitimate interest |
|
To detect, investigate, report and try to prevent financial crime To manage risk for us and our customers To obey applicable laws and regulations To verify your identity before we provide services to you and discuss your personal information with you |
Fulfilling contracts Our legitimate interests Our legal duty |
Developing and improving ways of dealing with financial crime, and meeting our legal duties Complying with rules and guidance from regulators Being efficient in fulfilling our legal and contractual duties |
| Marketing activities | The Legal basis for doing so | Our legitimate interest |
|
To contact you with information on the services we can offer, unless you have opted out of marketing or we are otherwise prevented by law from doing so |
Our legitimate interests Consent |
Where it is in our legitimate interests to provide you with information about our services In relation to direct electronic marketing, where we have your consent to contact you in this way |
| Processing special categories of personal data | The Legal basis for doing so | Our legitimate interest |
|
Substantial public interest Responding to regulatory requirements Legal claims Consent |
Using criminal records information to help prevent, detect, and prosecute unlawful acts and fraudulent behaviour Ensuring we have delivered services to our customers in a compliant way Providing information to the regulator should they request it Using any special categories of data as necessary to establish, pursue or defend legal claims Telling you that we need your consent to process special categories of personal data, when we rely on your consent to do so |
What do we mean by 'Your Personal Data?'
Your Personal Data means any information that describes or relates to your personal circumstances. Your Personal Data may identify you directly, for example your name, address, date of birth and National Insurance number. Your Personal Data may also identify you indirectly, for example, your employment situation, or any information that could be associated with your cultural or social identity.
Why we process your Personal Data
GDPR requires companies and individuals to have a valid lawful basis for processing Personal Data. When you apply for a loan with Ideal4Finance you do so on the understanding that you are entering into a contract with Ideal4Finance for the supply of credit broking services. You can find a copy of our terms and conditions here. We need to process your Personal Data in order to fulfil and comply with our contractual obligations. This includes obtaining personal loan quotes from our panel of lenders and providing advice throughout the process.
If your application is not successful or you decide not to go ahead with any offer made by our lender/s then we will store your Personal Data in accordance with our data retention policy. We may need to process your Personal Data in the future 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 a lender or our compliance service provider relating to the advice we have given you, or to make contact with you to seek feedback on the service you received.
On occasion, we will use your Personal Data for contractual responsibilities we may owe our regulator (The Financial Conduct Authority) or for wider compliance with any legal or regulatory obligation to which we might be subject. In such circumstances, we would be processing your Personal Data in order to meet a legal, compliance or other regulatory obligation to which we are subject.
We use consent as a lawful basis to process your Personal Data for marketing purposes. We obtain consent by providing you with the option to opt-in by ticking the relevant boxes at the end of our application form. We will only send you information we think that you may be interested in and only via the methods you have opted-in to (Phone, e-mail and/or SMS). You can withdraw or amend your consent at any time by clicking the link at the bottom of our marketing communications or by contacting our compliance team using the contact details below.
What Personal Data do we collect?
The information we collect from you during your application includes the following:
Title, names, date of birth, civil/marital status, contact details, addresses and information necessary to verify your identity.
Employment and remuneration information and history (including salary and other additional income such as pensions and benefits)
Bank account details, tax information, loans and credit commitments, personal credit history and family circumstances.
Any pre-existing finance products and the terms and conditions relating to these.
Any other information you may disclose to us verbally or in writing that we feel may be relevant to your application.
How we collect your Personal Data
Personal Data we collect from you may be obtained either directly, or indirectly from a third party. The way we may obtain your Personal Data directly includes:
When you apply for a personal loan with Ideal4Finance; either by a telephone application with one of our employees or online via our website. This data is used to obtain quotes from our panel of lenders.
We may also obtain your Personal Data when you contact us to make an enquiry for example by e-mail or filling out a contact form on our website.
We may obtain your Personal Data indirectly as follows:
Through one of our partner retailers of which they are either Introducer Appointed Representatives or directly authorised by the FCA and where you have expressed an interest in their products/services.
By another person or company with authority to act on your behalf.
How your Personal Data will be used
Your Personal Data will be used for the following:
To process a loan application between you and our panel of lenders.
To contact you about your loan application throughout the process.
To make, or cause searches to be made, at a credit reference agency, or agencies.
To market other products/services to you where you have provided consent for us to do so.
To exercise or defend our legal rights and/or to comply with any legal/regulatory requirements.
To obtain feedback or request a review about our service once an application has been completed.
Who do we share your Personal Data with?
To provide you with our credit broking services we need to share your Personal Data with certain companies or individuals. Where possible we have provided details below:
Any person/company acting on your behalf with authority to do so.
Credit reference agencies, in order to perform credit searches and to verify your identity.
Our panel of lenders and lending partners so that we can obtain quotes.
Other brokers where we cannot obtain a quote from our own lenders.
Third parties who have introduced you to us in order for them to manage their records about you, to help us resolve any complaints/disputes or so that they can process an order you have made with them for their goods/services.
Third party operators that maintain our websites and systems.
The Financial Conduct Authority and other regulatory/governing bodies, when it is necessary for our legitimate interests or we have a legal obligation to do so.
How to withdraw your consent
If you no longer wish to receive marketing information from Ideal4Finance you can withdraw your consent at any time. We will provide you with an option to opt out every time we send you any marketing information, however you can also e-mail compliance@ideal4finance.com and we will remove your details from future communications. We will endeavour to remove your details as soon as possible, normally within 2 working days.
How long do we retain your Personal Data?
We only retain your Personal Data for as long as is necessary for the purpose we obtained it for. If you have applied for a loan, we will need to retain your information either electronically or in paper format for a minimum of 6 years after our business relationship with you has ended. This will help us with any future complaints. If we are holding your details for marketing purposes and you decide to withdraw your consent, we will erase your Personal Data unless it is still required for the purpose above..
We will keep your Personal Data secure in accordance with our legal responsibilities. We will take reasonable steps to safeguard your Personal Data against it being accessed unlawfully or maliciously by a third party. We also expect you to take reasonable steps to safeguard your own 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 being sent to us.
Your rights as an individual
GDPR introduces certain rights for individuals, we have listed those rights below:
Right to be informed - You have the right to be informed about the collection and use of your Personal Data. We have set out our privacy policy to be concise, transparent, intelligible and easily accessible so that information such as our purpose for processing your data and who it will be shared with is clear at the time the data is collected.
Right of access - You have the right to access a copy of your Personal Data. This is commonly referred to as a subject access request. The right of access helps you to understand how and why we are using your data and to check it is being done lawfully. You may need to provide proof of your identity before we can consider your request.
Right to rectification - You have the right to have inaccurate Personal Data rectified or completed if it is incomplete. If the data, we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you can contact us and we will rectify it.
Right to erasure (Right to be forgotten) - You have the right to have your Personal Data erased. The right to erasure is not absolute and only applies in certain circumstances. For example, we will not be able to erase your Personal Data if it is still necessary for the purpose we originally collected or processed it for.
Right to restrict processing - You have the right to request the processing of your Personal Data is restricted or suppressed. This is not an absolute right and only applies in certain circumstances. Where it does apply, we are permitted to store your Personal Data but not use it.
Right to data portability
You have the right to obtain and reuse your Personal Data for your own purposes across different services. It allows you to move, copy or transfer Personal Data easily from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way. However it only applies to data processed by automated means (ie excluding paper files).
Right to object
You have the right to object to the processing of your Personal Data. You can object to the processing of your Personal Data if it is for direct marketing purposes or based on legitimate interests.
Rights related to automated decision-making including profiling
This right allows individuals to access certain safeguards against the risk that a potentially damaging decision is taken solely without human intervention.
You can contact Ideal4Finance to exercise any of your rights via the contact details below.
What cookies do we use?
To make our site work properly, we sometimes place small data files called cookies on your device. Most websites do this too.
What are cookies?
A cookie is a small text file that a website saves on your computer or mobile device when you visit the site. It enables the website to remember your actions and preferences (such as login, language, font size and other display preferences) over a period of time, so you don’t have to keep re-entering them whenever you come back to the site or browse from one page to another. How do we use cookies?.
A few of our pages use cookies to remember:
your display preferences, such as contrast colour settings or font size and user type
if you have agreed (or not) to our use of cookies on this site
evaluate our websites advertising and promotional effectiveness
Also, our pages use a cookie to anonymously gather statistics on how you got there and what pages you visited. Enabling these cookies is not strictly necessary for the website to work but it will provide you with a better browsing experience. You can delete or block these cookies, but if you do that some features of this site may not work as intended. The cookie-related information is not used to identify you personally and the pattern data is fully under our control. These cookies are not used for any purpose other than those described here. You can find more information about the cookies we use by reading our Cookie Policy.
How to contact us
If you would like to contact us to exercise any of your rights in respect of data protection, or you have any queries, you can contact our Compliance Team using the details below:
Compliance Team
Ideal Sales Solutions Ltd t/a Ideal4Finance
Unit 3, The Crossroads Business Centre
Freckleton Street
Kirkham
Preston
PR4 2SH
Tel: 020 3841 2818
E-mail: compliance@ideal4finance.com
How to make a complaint
If you have any concerns about the use of your Personal Data, you can also make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) using the details below:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number
Fax: 01625 524 510
Web: ico.org.uk