Privacy Policy

Customer Communications

Where you have provided consent, we may contact you by email or SMS to provide updates, alerts and information about our services and associated products.

You must ensure that the information you provide through our website is accurate and up to date.

If your personal information changes or you believe that the information we hold is incorrect, please contact us so that we can update our records.

To update your communication preferences, contact:

contact@creditcompare.co.uk

What Personal Information Do We Collect?

We collect personal information when you apply for a credit product or service through CreditCompare.

We may also collect information about how you use our website, including:

To provide a quotation or process your application, your personal information may be processed by CreditCompare and by third-party providers, including lenders, finance providers and credit brokers.

We may retain the information you provide and use it to improve your experience if you return to our website.

We may monitor or record telephone calls, emails, SMS messages or other communications where permitted by applicable law.

We may monitor or record telephone calls, emails, SMS messages and other communications where permitted by law. This may be done for quality control, staff training, service improvement, security, fraud prevention and legal or regulatory compliance.

How Do We Use Your Personal Information?

We may use your personal information:

Our financial partners include companies whose products or services may be available through our website.

When a financial partner uses your personal information to assess your application or provide the quotation you requested, that partner will act as a data controller for its own use of your information.

Where you provide consent to receive a credit score or credit report, a search may appear on your credit file.

This type of search may be visible to you but may not affect your credit score or be visible to lenders.

Third-Party Partners

Your personal information may be shared with or used in connection with the following third-party partners, where applicable:

Marketing emails may include campaigns from Monetise Media Limited and organisations included on its client list.

Third-party organisations will process your information in accordance with their own privacy policies.

Who Do We Share Your Personal Information With?

When you complete an application and provide the relevant consent, your personal information may be used by or shared with the following parties.

CreditCompare

CreditCompare may use your information to communicate with you, send you information about products or services that may interest you, speed up form completion through pre-filled information, personalise or improve your website experience, and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy.

Lenders and Credit Brokers

Your information may be shared with lenders and credit brokers so that they can assess your application, provide a quotation and contact you regarding your finance application.

Regulators and Government Bodies

Your information may be disclosed to the Financial Conduct Authority or another regulatory or governing body for compliance monitoring or where required by law.

Advertising Platforms

Information may be shared with advertising platforms such as Google, LinkedIn and Facebook to improve advertising targeting and measure advertising performance.

Credit Reference and Other Agencies

We may collect information from or share information with credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, identity and address verification agencies and other relevant organisations.

Where they have a lawful reason to do so, these organisations may use your information for identity verification, anti-money laundering checks, national security, crime prevention and detection, fraud prevention, asset recovery, asset reunification, credit reference purposes and debt tracing.

We may also disclose personal information, including IP addresses and account access information, where required or permitted by law, by a court, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Competition and Markets Authority, another regulator, a government authority or a law enforcement agency.

Information may also be disclosed in connection with legal proceedings or the sale or proposed sale of all or part of our business.

Fraud Prevention Agencies

If we believe that information you provided is false or inaccurate, or if fraud is suspected, your personal information may be shared with fraud prevention agencies to help prevent fraud and money laundering.

Your information may also be shared with statutory bodies, regulators, legal bodies, credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies and identity or address verification agencies.

These organisations may record and use your information and may share it with other organisations for credit reference, debt tracing, identity verification, fraud prevention and money laundering prevention.

What Is a Fraud Prevention Agency?

Fraud prevention agencies collect, record and share information relating to suspected fraudulent activity.

If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, the information may be passed to fraud prevention agencies. Law enforcement agencies may also access and use this information.

CreditCompare, fraud prevention agencies and other organisations may access, hold and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, including when checking applications, managing credit-related accounts and recovering debts.

Information recorded by fraud prevention agencies may also be accessed and used in other countries.

You may object to this processing by contacting: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

How May Lenders and Credit Brokers Use Your Information?

Some lenders and credit brokers may use your information to assess your circumstances and verify the details you provided before giving you a quotation.

They may carry out checks with credit reference and fraud prevention agencies using public and private information. A record of these searches may appear on your credit report.

This information helps financial providers confirm the details supplied and identify or prevent fraudulent applications.

If you enter into a finance agreement, the relevant lender or provider will retain and use your information under its own privacy policy.

You should read the provider’s privacy policy before entering into an agreement. CreditCompare is not responsible for how the provider uses your information.

What Cookies Do We Use?

Cookies may be used when you visit the CreditCompare website. Cookies allow us and third parties to collect information about how the website is used.

We use Google Analytics to collect non-personally identifiable information, including website visits, referral source, approximate location, browser type and operating system.

For more information about how cookies are used, please read our Cookie Policy.

Cookie Settings

You can remove or block cookies by changing your browser settings.

You may block all cookies or only certain cookies. However, blocking cookies may restrict some website functions.

How Do We Protect Your Personal Information?

Our website uses encryption and security measures designed to protect your personal information.

However, information transmitted over the internet cannot be guaranteed to be completely secure.

We take reasonable steps to protect the information you provide, but we cannot guarantee the security of information sent through the internet. Information is provided online at your own risk.

Your Data Protection Rights

You have rights regarding the personal information we hold about you under applicable data protection law.

Right to Be Informed

You have the right to be informed when we collect your personal information and how we intend to use it.

This information is provided through this Privacy Policy and the consent statements shown when your information is collected.

Right to Object

You may object to the processing of your personal information.

However, to provide the service you requested, we need to process your information and share it with our panel of lenders, credit brokers and alternative solution providers.

To object, contact: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

Right of Access

You may ask us to confirm whether we hold personal information about you and request access to that information.

To make a request, contact: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

Right to Rectification

If the information we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you may ask us to correct or update it.

Right to Erasure

You may ask us to delete your personal information if you believe it is no longer necessary for us to retain it.

Right to Restrict Processing

You may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances, including where you believe the information is inaccurate.

Right to Data Portability

You may ask for your personal information to be transferred to another organisation in certain circumstances.

Right to Complain

We will try to resolve any objection or complaint relating to the use of your personal information.

If you are not satisfied with our response, you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

To exercise any of these rights, contact: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

How Long Do We Retain Your Personal Information?

The length of time we retain your information depends on the purpose for which it was collected.

If you opt out of marketing, we may still retain limited information to record your preference.

We retain information relating to applications submitted through our website for a minimum period of six years. This information may also be retained to assist with complaints.

Your information will not be used for marketing purposes after six months from the date of your application.

For further information about our retention practices, contact: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

Your Right to Opt Out of Future Contact

You may opt out of receiving marketing communications from CreditCompare at any time.

Marketing messages will include instructions explaining how to unsubscribe or opt out.

Please allow up to 48 hours for your request to be processed.

You may also opt out by emailing: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

Your details will then be removed from future marketing campaigns.

Your Right to Be Forgotten

Under applicable data protection law, you may request the deletion or removal of your personal information where:

• The information is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected or processed
• You withdraw your consent
• You object to the processing and there is no lawful reason to continue
• The information was processed unlawfully
• The information must be deleted to comply with a legal obligation; or
• The information was collected in connection with services offered directly to a child.

The right to erasure does not apply in every circumstance, including where we are required to retain information to comply with a legal obligation.

To request deletion of your personal information, contact: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

How to Make a Complaint

CreditCompare aims to act fairly and responsibly.

If you have a complaint about any aspect of our service, please contact us so that we can investigate and attempt to resolve the matter.

You may contact us by email at: contact@creditcompare.co.uk

We will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within three working days.

We aim to provide a final response within four weeks of receiving your complaint.

If we cannot provide a final response within four weeks, we will contact you again.

We will provide a final response within eight weeks of receiving your complaint.

If you are dissatisfied with our final response, you may refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of the date of our final response.

Financial Ombudsman Service

Website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Email: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk