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Privacy Policy

In this Privacy Policy, we use the terms “users” or “you” to refer to you as a user of the My Equity Release Expert service, regardless of whether you are:

This Privacy Policy applies whenever you use the Site, including when you use any tool or service on the Site, send inquiries or otherwise.

What is My Equity Release Expert?

My Equity Release Expert specialises in the provision of financial advice to individuals.  We are part of the My Expert Holdings group of companies, but please note that this Privacy Policy applies only to My Equity Release Expert websites and mobile applications in the European Economic Area.

In this Privacy Policy, we use the term “My Expert Holdings Group” to refer to My Equity Release Expert and all of its affiliated group companies.

The Site is intended for use by individuals who are over 18 years of age.

Who processes your personal information?

Information that can identify you (“personal information“) will be collected, processed, stored and used by us, and passed to and processed by companies in the My Expert Holdings Group and other third party data processors acting under our instructions or those of one of the companies in the My Expert Holdings Group. These people may be engaged in, among other things, the fulfilment of your information requests and the provision of support tools and services both on the Site and from the company. They may also be helping us maintain the integrity and security of the Site, including processing services and emails and messaging platforms on the Site.

We may also periodically obtain both personal and non-personal information about you from affiliated entities, business partners and other independent third-party sources and add it to our account information. Examples of information we may receive include travel history and demographic information. By submitting your personal information, you agree to this collection, transfer, storing and/or processing.

Our Site may also collect and store some information (including personal information) locally on your device using your browser and data caches. This could include, for example, location information. We use this information to make our site faster when you return to the Site.

Please also remember that when you share information on the Site, it may be “indexable” by search engines, including Google, which may mean that the information is made public. For example, if you review the financial advice or customer service provided by My Equity Release Expert, the review and any information you provide as part of that review may be publicly accessible (including on other websites). Please be careful about what you disclose and do not post any information that you expect to keep private. We are not responsible for how third parties may disclose information that you directly share with other third parties.

My Expert Holdings Group sites may also use Google Analytics to gather statistics on site usage. This may involve the use of cookies. There are more details in our Cookies Policy and in Google’s own privacy policy. Google may aggregate data they collect from their various services including Google Analytics, Google Translate, Google Maps and YouTube. You acknowledge and accept that My Expert Holdings Group has no control over Google’s data collection. We strongly advise that you look at Google’s privacy policy for details of their data collection practices. You can find more information about how Google uses data here: https://www.google.com/policies/privacy/partners/. If you want to opt out of Google Analytics, please check here: https://tools.google.com/dlpage/gaoptout.

The information we collect

At various times you may give information to us. This includes information that can identify you, including your first and last name, telephone number, postal and email addresses, health information and details of your employment and financial situation.

We may also gather information from cookies, web beacons or similar technologies on the internet. You can find out more about how we do that in the relevant section of this policy below and in our Cookies Policy. We use publicly accessible information to verify the information we are provided with and to manage and expand My Equity Release Expert’s business. With the prior user’s consent, as applicable, that can be withdrawn at any time, to provide services requested by users, we also collect IP addresses, mobile device identifier details, your location, navigation and click-stream data, the time of accessing the website, pages you viewed, what you searched for, the duration of your visit, and other details of your activity on the internet.

If you ask us to connect with other sites (for example by clicking on the Twitter link) we may get information that way too. In connection with electronic communications we facilitate through a Site, we use electronic or manual checks to monitor such communications for trust and security purposes. We obtain data from you either by you inputting your personal details, by the automatic collection of information about you as you use the Site, when we speak to you or from third parties or websites. Third party information may include your browsing habits and location data.

How we use your personal information

Our primary purpose in collecting your personal information is to provide you with the financial services you request. We may use your personal information for the following purposes:

We will comply with data protection law. This says that the personal information we hold about you must be:

How we may disclose your personal information

We may disclose your personal information to enforce our policies, defend and protect the rights, property or safety of the My Expert Holdings Group, the Site and the users of the Site, to comply with our legal obligations or in the interest of national security, public interest or law enforcement in any country where the My Expert Holdings Group has entities or affiliates. For example, we may respond to a valid request by a law enforcement agency or regulatory or governmental authority (including tax authorities). We may also disclose data in connection with actual or proposed litigation, or to protect our property, people and other rights or interests.

We share your information with third parties (including other My Expert Holdings Group affiliates) who help deliver our products and services to you. Examples include third parties who are hosting our web servers, analysing data, and providing marketing assistance. These companies will have access to your personal information as necessary to perform their functions, but they may not use that data for any other purpose.

We may also share your personal information as follows:

We may also share anonymised information with third parties, including investors. This information does not contain any personal information.

International data transfers

Personal information about users may be stored and processed in any country in which we, our affiliates, or service providers maintain facilities, including countries like India) which are outside of the country or region in which you reside.

These countries may not have data protection laws as comprehensive as those in your country or region, but we take steps to ensure that your privacy is protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy at all times.

By using our services, you understand that your personal information may be transferred to our facilities and those of our service providers as described in this Privacy Policy.

Newsletters

Users may subscribe to our newsletter service. We and My Expert Holdings Group may offer different newsletters from time to time intended to enhance the services we offer. All Users may cancel their subscription to these email newsletters at any time through by emailing marketing@mypensionexpert.com for the changes in your preferences to become effective.

Mobile applications

When you download or use apps relating to our websites, we may receive information about your location and your mobile device, including a unique identifier for your device. We may use this information to provide you with location-based services, such as advertising, search results, and other personalised content. Most mobile devices allow you to turn off location services. If you have questions about how to disable your device’s location services, we recommend you consult your device’s manual, or contact your mobile service carrier or your device manufacturer.

Telephone calls

As well as collecting data online and from correspondence, we may also speak with you face to face (for example at a meeting with an Independent Financial Advisor) or by telephone. We frequently record telephone conversations for quality assurance and training purposes. Those recordings are also governed by this Privacy Policy and we keep this data in the same way that we keep other data. Our call recording service is provided by a third party, who may only process the data in line with our requirements and will be contractually bound by clauses of confidentiality.

Enquiries and other electronic communications

Customers may send enquiries to us via the My Equity Release Expert website.  If you choose to send an enquiry this way, the message will go via our third-party supplier, who will be contractually bound by clauses of confidentiality. Enquiries will be available for review by our employees and agents, who may use any such information as part of the services we provide.

We may also from time to time, use third party e-mail servers to send and track receipt of such communications, and analyse the pattern of such communications for trust and security purposes as well as to gather data, such as enquiry and booking data (on an anonymous basis), to assist us in better understanding our business. Our system does not hold messages indefinitely and they may not be accessible after the message has been delivered to you. Please, therefore, print a copy of any message which is important to you.

How do we protect your personal information once we have it?

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to guard against unauthorised or unlawful processing of your personal information and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, your personal information. While no system is completely secure, we believe the measures implemented by the Site reduce our vulnerability to security problems to a level appropriate to the type of data involved. We have security measures in place to protect our user database and access to this database is restricted internally.

Note that, despite the measures taken by us and the third parties we engage, the internet is not secure. As a result, others may nevertheless unlawfully intercept or access private transmissions or data.

External links and social plug-ins

If any part of the Site links you to other websites, those websites do not operate under this Privacy Policy. We recommend you examine the privacy policies posted on those other websites to understand their procedures for collecting, using and disclosing personal information.  This may also be the case when any part of the Site uses social plug-ins from other sites such as Facebook. Plug-ins such as Facebook’s “Like” button, “Comments” and “Facebook Connect”, can be identified by one of Facebook’s logos, such as the “f” or “thumbs-up” icon, and in practice are like a little piece of Facebook embedded on the Site. (The list of Facebook social plug-ins and their icons can be found here).

What are Cookies and Web Beacons

A “cookie” is a small file placed on your hard drive by certain of our web pages. We or third parties authorised by us may use cookies to help us analyse our web page flow, customise our services, content and advertising, measure promotional effectiveness and promote trust and safety. Cookies are commonly used at most major transactional websites in much the same way we use them here at our Site.

Our Site has a dedicated section on cookies which you can read here.

You may delete and block all cookies from this site, but parts of the site will not work. We want to be open about our cookie use. Even if you are only browsing the Site certain information (including computer and connection information, browser type and version, operating system and platform details and the time of accessing the Site) is automatically collected about you. This information will be collected every time you access the Site and it will be used for the purposes outlined in this Privacy Policy.

We gather and share information concerning the usage of the Site by Applicants and Customers with one or more third-party tracking companies for the purpose of reporting statistics.

Web beacons may be used to track the traffic patterns of users from one page to another in order to maximise web traffic flow.

How do I correct or update my information?

Please email info@myequityreleaseexpert.com or write to us at My Pension Expert, Colonnades House, Duke Street, Doncaster, DN1 3BW.  to correct any information we are holding that you believe is incorrect. 

How do I opt-out of receiving marketing communications from you?

You may opt-out of receiving marketing communications from us by the following means:

Please remember that if you change your preference it may take a short time for those preferences to become effective.

How long will we keep your personal information?

We will retain your personal information for as long as is necessary for the purposes to which you consent under the Terms and Conditions and this Privacy Policy, or as is required by applicable law, and may then retain certain information associated with your account, including for analytical purposes as well as record keeping integrity.

When was This Privacy Policy Last Updated?

This Privacy Policy was last updated on DATE. We may occasionally amend this Privacy Policy to reflect regulatory requirements, advances in technology, Site updates and changes in our information collection and disclosure practices. Any new policy will automatically be effective when it is published on the website. You should, therefore, return here regularly to view our most up to date Privacy Policy. You should also print a copy for your records.

How Do I Contact You?

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, the practices of this Site, or your dealings with this Site, we encourage you to contact us at info@myequityreleaseexpert.com.

If you are unhappy with their answers you can also contact our Data Protection Officer at privacy@myequityreleaseexpert.co.uk.

The data controller for any personal information you provide to us through this Site is My Pension Expert Limited, Registered address: My Pension Expert, Colonnades House, Duke Street, Doncaster, DN1 3BW.  My Pension Expert Limited is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under registration number 579999.