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Our Privacy Policy sets out our code of practice for the gathering, storing and sharing of our customers' personal information.

The Data Protection Act

The Data Protection Act puts obligations on users of personal information and lays down principles for its use. One principle states that information has to be processed fairly and lawfully. This means that you're entitled to know how we intend to use any information you provide, or that we may obtain from other sources eg. credit reference agencies or your employer. You can then decide whether you want us to have that information.

To provide the highest level of customer service we need accurate customer information. You can help by informing us whenever your circumstances change, either by phone, post or while you are logged into your plan on our website.

Organisations must lodge a notification with the Information Commissioner, describing the purposes for which they process personal information. The details are publicly available from the Commissioner's Office at:

Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Tel: 01625 545 745
Fax: 01625 524 510

Alternatively, see the Commissioner's website at http://www.ico.gov.uk/.

What are Cookies?

A 'cookie' is a small piece of information which a website places into your browser and can retrieve later. It cannot be read by any website other than that which placed the cookie. We use cookies for several reasons. For example, we can store your preferences for certain kinds of information, or keep track of your progress through our site.

Intelligent Finance uses Microsoft Active Service Pages which need cookies to operate properly. It is important that your browser is set to accept cookies, otherwise you will only be able to access our marketing site.

How to set your browser to accept or disable cookies

The way in which you can set your browser to accept or disable cookies varies slightly according to exactly what browser (and operating system) you are currently using. Below are full instructions for changing your browser settings to accept or disable cookies

Windows IE 6 and IE 7 Browsers

From the menu bar select Tools and then Internet Options
Select the Privacy tab
Under Settings, click Advanced button
Check the box Override automatic cookie handling under Cookies section in Advanced Privacy Settings window
Under First-party Cookies, select Accept
Under Third-party Cookies, select Accept
Check the box Always allow session cookies
Click OK
Click OK to exit.

Netscape 6 & 7 Browsers

Click Edit on the Toolbar
Click Preferences
Click the Privacy and Security category; expand the list to show the subcategories
Click Cookies
Three options are displayed. Click the appropriate choice:
- Disable cookies
- Enable cookies for the originating web site only
- Enable all cookies
- If you want to be notified when a web site tries to set a cookie, select "Warn me before accepting a cookie.".

How do we use your personal information?

Our main use of your personal information is to look after your plan or to provide the specific service you require.

If you apply to us for insurance we will pass your details to the insurer. If you make a claim, any information you give to us or to the insurer may be put on to a register of claims and shared with other insurers to prevent fraudulent claims. A list of the participants is available from the insurer.

Occasionally, we may contact you by letter, telephone, email or otherwise to inform you about other products and services which may interest you. We try to limit our customer contact programme to acceptable levels, but if you wish to exercise your right to opt out, simply call us on 0845 609 4343 ¹ or write to our Head of Regulatory Risk at the following address:

Head of Regulatory Risk,
Intelligent Finance,
1 Baird Road,
Kirkton Campus,
Livingston,
West Lothian, EH54 7AZ

Remember that by opting out of receiving marketing information you'll not be told of any offers or new products and services which may benefit you. For example, you may not hear about a new savings or mortgage product that offers you a better rate or saves you money.

Unless you have given us your consent, we'll not provide information about you to companies outside our group to use for their own marketing purposes. We disclose information about our customers only with their consent, or if we are required to do so by law. Sometimes we need to give information to our agents and subcontractors so that they can provide a particular service for us. Sometimes these companies may be located abroad in countries that don't have data protection laws. In these circumstances we always ensure that the information is safe and secure. Your information may also be shared by other members of our group to keep their records up to date and administer your relationship with them.

Occasionally, the Banking Code Standards Board who monitor compliance with the Banking Code, audit a sample of our customer records to assess our compliance with the Code. Whenever this happens, strict confidentiality conditions are always imposed.

Under the Data Protection Act you've the right to have access to information we hold about you on our records. The act allows us to charge a fee of £10 for this service. If anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know and we will correct it.

If you don't want to receive unsolicited mail from other companies, you can prevent this by registering with the Mailing Preference Service. In addition the Telephone and Fax Preference Services enable you to object to receiving unsolicited marketing phone calls or faxes from other companies. To register, simply telephone the appropriate number below:

Mailing Preference: 0207 291 3310
Telephone Preference: 0207 291 3320
Fax Preference: 0207 291 3330

For more details about all the Preference Services, please see the Direct Marketing Association's website at: http://www.dma.org.uk/

Credit Referencing

If you apply for an Intelligent Finance credit based product, we'll perform a search with a credit reference agency. The agency will keep a record of the search. After you open a credit based product, we will provide the agency with regular information about how you use it. Other lenders may use this to make decisions on future applications for credit. It may also be used for tracing debtors and to prevent fraud.

When opening jars and plans we may search public records such as the Electoral Roll that are available from Credit Reference Agencies to help us verify your identity.

Occasionally we search credit reference and fraud prevention agency files as well as our own internal group records to manage your account and take credit decisions such as whether to offer credit or continue to extend existing credit. These searches are not seen or used by lenders to assess your ability to obtain credit.

'Associations' linking your financial records may be created on credit reference agency records when you apply for jars or plans in joint names. Your financial records, and those of anyone financially associated with you, may be considered in any future applications you make. This association will continue until one of you successfully files a 'disassociation' at the credit reference agencies.

You've the right to apply to the credit reference agencies for a copy of your credit file. You can write to them at any time, enclosing a non-returnable fee of £2.00. Please give your name, address, postcode, date of birth and any other address you've lived at in the last six years to help them find your information. If there's anything incorrect on your credit file, you've the right to ask the agency to add a Notice of Correction.

We use Equifax plc, whilst other members of the HBOS Group also use Experian Limited. A third credit reference agency (Call Credit) has recently started up in the UK. Their addresses are as follows:

Equifax plc, PO Box 1140, Bradford, BD1 5US (www.equifax.co.uk)

Experian Ltd, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000 Nottingham, NG1 5GX (www.experian.co.uk)

Call Credit plc, One Park Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS3 1EP (www.callcredit.co.uk)

If you've been refused credit you can get advice from your local Trading Standards Department, Citizens Advice Bureau or Consumer Advice Centre. The Information Commissioner also produces a useful leaflet entitled 'No Credit?'. You can obtain a free copy on the Information Commissioner's website http://www.ico.gov.uk/ or by telephoning 0870 600 8100 ³. Comprehensive consumer help information can also be found on the agencies' websites.

Credit Scoring

When you apply to us for a credit based product, the details you provide, the information we already have and information from credit reference agencies are used to assess credit risk using a technique known as credit scoring.

Various factors in all these details help us to assess the risk. A score is given to each factor and a total credit score obtained. If your score is above a confidential, pre-set pass score, the application is likely to succeed. For more details see credit scoring.

Crime Prevention and Detection

Our systems protect customers and ourselves against fraud and other crime. Customer information can be used to prevent crime and trace those responsible. We may check your details with fraud prevention agencies.

If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies
Law enforcement agencies may access and use this information
We and other organisations may also access and use this information to prevent fraud and money laundering, for example, when:
- Checking details on applications for credit and credit related or other facilities
- Managing credit and credit related accounts or facilities
- Recovering debt
- Checking details on proposals and claims for all types of insurance
- Checking details of job applicants and employees.
Please contact us on 0845 609 4343 ¹ if you want to receive details of the relevant fraud prevention agencies.

We and other organisations may access and use from other countries the information recorded by fraud prevention agencies.

Introducers

If your relationship with us was 'introduced' by a third party, we will provide them with sufficient information about you to help with their accounting and administration. The introducer may, with your consent, use your details to contact you about his own products and services.

Money Laundering and statutory obligations

As part of our product opening process, by law, we've to confirm your name and address. Some Acts of Parliament oblige us to disclose information about our customers to certain bodies with statutory powers. For example, if asked, we must give the information to authorised benefit fraud investigators where fraudulent benefit claims are suspected. In addition, the InIand Revenue has the statutory authority to audit our customers' accounts from time to time.

Email

If you email us, or give us your email address, we'll keep a record of it. We may use it to contact you occasionally about our products and services - unless you ask us not to do so. We'll not give your email address to any unauthorised third parties. When emailing us, always use the email facility on our website to make sure that the content of your email is secure. If you send us email in other ways, remember that it will be 'unsecure' and could be intercepted. If you do send us 'unsecure' email, please keep any confidential information in it to a minimum. We'll do the same when we reply.

Telephone Calls

We may record telephone conversations to offer you additional security, resolve complaints and improve our service standards. Conversations may also be monitored for staff training purposes.

Responsibility for Customer Confidentiality

All our employees are personally responsible for maintaining customer confidentiality. We provide training and education to all our staff to remind them about their obligations. Our policies and procedures are regularly audited and reviewed.

Sensitive Information

The Data Protection Act defines information about the following as 'sensitive': racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health, sexual life, criminal proceedings and offences.

If you apply for insurance or life assurance through us, we may ask you for some 'sensitive' details. We'll only use this information to provide the service you require and we will ask for your explicit consent.

Links to other websites

The Intelligent Finance website contains links to sites operated by persons outside the HBOS Group. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content, or the product and services provided through those sites.

¹ Calls to 0845 numbers from BT landlines will cost a maximum of 4p per minute, plus a 6p call set-up fee. The price of calls from other telephone companies will vary. The call price is correct at May 2008.

³ Calls to 0870 numbers from BT landlines will cost a maximum of 8p per minute, plus a 6p call set-up fee. The price of calls from other telephone companies will vary. The call price is correct at May 2008.