Introduction
This Privacy Notice sets out how we’ll use your personal data. Your personal data is data which by itself or with other data available to us can be used to identify you. We use your personal data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Who are we?
Badger Loans Ltd is a limited company registered in England under company number 10159832. We are directly authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as credit brokers. Our FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) number is FRN 747140. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office for Data Protection purposes under number ZA208778. Our registered address is: Badger Loans, c/o IAW Accountancy Services 5, Hyde Rd Paignton, Devon, TQ4 5BW . You can email us at info@badgerloans.co.uk
Your Data
Badger Loans Ltd acts as a credit broker and not a lender. This means that while we do not actually lend you money we can match you with reputable, trustworthy organisations who might. The way we do this is as follows: when you make an application for credit via our website, your completed application form with all your data on it goes into what is called a pingtree system. This is a piece of computer software containing the lender’s panel of who we submit our business to. For Personal Loans, Payday/Short Term/ Instalment loans we use Leadtree Global Limited . Their address is: Unit 3, Generator House, Bourne Valley Rd., Poole BH12 1DZ and their Privacy Policy is here: https://leadtree.global/privacy-policy/. The pingtree system endeavours to match you to the cheapest, most suitable loan product for you based on your answers in the application form. The system features the lending products of up to 40 different lenders depending on which type of loan you are trying to access.
As part of this process your data may be seen by the following organisations in order to give you a loan:
Personal loan providers. Short term loan providers. Credit brokers. Credit Referencing Agencies (CRAs).Identity and Verification service providers. Data aggregation companies. Credit report and scores services. Personal data monitoring services. Government agencies.
Be aware that some of these companies will have their own Terms & Conditions and own Privacy Policies which may differ to ours. You may need to opt out or in of their marketing programmes and will be given the option to do so at various points along your journey to getting a loan.
If you are successful in obtaining a loan via the pingtree on our site we will receive a commission from the lender who provides the loan. The amount of commission will vary according to the lender and their perceived risk of you as a customer.
These third parties may use this personal data where they have a lawful reason to do so, which may include these organisation’s own legitimate interest. These third parties may disclose all personal data included in the loan application and loan repayment details to your credit record. In order to provide you with the service these third parties may contact you by sending you service messages via SMS, email or automated calls.
The information disclosed may be stored and used by these third parties for the following purposes: assessing the risk to grant credit; preventing fraud and money laundering (including to verify your identity and to trace debtors); carrying out research such as analysis of market trends and customer demographics; customise and develop the product/service which they offer to you or other individuals in the future.
The CRAs have produced a standard Credit Reference Agency Information Notice (CRAIN), which sets out how data will be processed by the three CRAs and how each can be contacted:
- Experian: www.experian.co.uk/crain
- Equifax: www.equifax.co.uk/crain
- Call Credit: www.callcredit.co.uk/crain
As part of the services offered to you through our site, the information which you provide to us may be transferred to countries outside the EEA. By way of example, this may happen if any of our servers, or our third parties’ servers are from time to time located in a country outside of the EEA. These countries may not have similar data protection laws to the UK. By submitting your personal data, you’re agreeing to this transfer, storing or processing. If we transfer your information outside of the EEA in this way, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate security measures are taken with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this Policy.
Information is also kept relating to any applications you may enter via our website. This information will be kept for a minimum of six years, which will commence at the end of the relationship. We are required to do so to ensure that if any disputes or complaints are raised, we have your information to enable us to address the complaints or disputes.
Your data will not be kept indefinitely and will only be kept for as long as is required by legitimate or regulatory needs. When there is no longer a need for your data and there are no regulatory requirements, information will be kept for a maximum of 2 years, purely to assist with auditing. It will then be securely removed.
For the purposes of the Data Protection Act, Badger Loans Ltd is the Data Controller operating under licence number ZA208778 at the registered address mentioned above in the section ‘Who are we?’
Marketing
We will not share or sell your data to anyone for marketing purposes. However, in the event you are unsuccessful in obtaining a loan on this occasion we would like the opportunity to try again on your behalf. For us to be able to do this you must opt in to the appropriate tick box at the end of the application form. If you don’t tick it, we can’t email or call you to offer you an alternative product.
Please remember that every company in the chain of this process will have their own marketing opt in and opt out tick boxes for you to navigate and it is up to you to make the right decision for you.
As far as Badger Loans is concerned you will hear from us 2 weeks after your first application. We email you inviting you to apply again if unsuccessful first time around. We then email twice more, two weeks apart and finally 6 months after your first application. You can unsubscribe at any time by simply pressing the unsubscribe button within the email. After 6 months we remove you from our database and you will not hear from us again. Until the next time you apply then the process will repeat unless you unsubscribe. This is the only time Badger Loans contacts our customers and we never call or text.
You have a legal right to prevent your information being used for direct marketing purposes.
You can request this using the contact details below.
Postal Marketing – You can opt out of postal marketing by registering with the Mail Preference Service (MPS) at https://www.mpsonline.org.uk/ . This is an industry wide service that is administered by the Direct Marketing Association and recognised by the Information Commissioner.
Telephone Marketing – Consumers are able to opt out of all telemarketing activity by registering their details with the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) at http://www.tpsonline.org.uk/. The TPS is similar to the MPS but is administered by the Information Commissioner.
Email Marketing – Unlike Postal or Telephone channels there is no industry-wide service to opt out of email marketing. Therefore, consumers should always review privacy policies and marketing opt-in check boxes when registering for services or purchasing products online. Where unwanted email marketing is received, consumers should unsubscribe or use spam filters to prevent future communications.
Your rights under applicable data protection law
Your rights are as follows:
- The right to be informed about our processing of your personal data;
- The right to have your personal data corrected if it’s inaccurate and to have incomplete personal data completed;
- The right to object to processing of your personal data;
- The right to restrict processing of your personal data;
- The right to have your personal data erased (the “right to be forgotten”);
- The right to request access to your personal data and information about how we process it;
The right to move, copy or transfer your personal data (“data portability”).
How can I access the information you hold about me?
You will be able to access the records we hold about you upon request. We will not charge a fee to provide this information, unless the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. If you require further copies a fee may apply. To request access to your information please contact info@badgerloans.co.uk
Cookies
Badger Loans Ltd uses cookies to help us analyse the traffic on our site and customer behaviour. Cookies may also be used by our partners to understand marketing and traffic patterns. Whilst visiting our website, any pages you choose to view will download cookies onto your computer. Cookies are a good way of helping us measure and assess our visitors and their own profiles, which then enables us to offer our customers a better service. Although we use cookies as above, we would not store anything that would make you identifiable i.e. passwords or locations, activity relating to finances and also your preferences.Most web browsers will automatically accept cookies, however you can change normally your browser settings to prevent automatic acceptance. Please be aware that if you do not accept cookies we cannot guarantee the website will work effectively.
