Privacy Policy

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Privacy and Cookie Policy

The following data privacy notice explains the circumstances in which 1 ^st Choice Vehicle Finance Limited will collect personal data from you, why it is being collected, how we will use it and to whom we might disclose it to if necessary. 1^st Choice Vehicle Finance Limited is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement.

Data Controller details

1^st Choice Vehicle Finance Limited are committed to complying with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation for the protection of personal data.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we use your personal data, please contact us:

Data Protection

1^st Choice Vehicle Finance Limited

1^st Floor, Unit 9

Harvington Business Park

Brampton Road

Eastbourne

East Sussex,

BN22 9BN

Tel: 01323 489806

Email: [email protected]

We are registered with the Information Commissioners Office, registration number Z285571X.

What data is being collected and processed?

For us to be able to supply you with quotations, process finance applications for you and for you to be able to enter into our leasing broker service agreement we will collect, store and use the following personal data

We may collect the following information:

name and job title
contact information including email address and telephone numbers
address history
date of birth
employment history
income and expenditure
bank details
other information to support your application as requested by credit underwriters

The processing of this personal data is a contractual requirement and is necessary in order for us to be able to administer your account and to provide the quotations and services that you have requested from us.

Where necessary we will ask your consent to collect and process your personal data. Any personal data we collect from you will not be transferred outside the European Economic Area.

Email and telephone call monitoring

We record and store telephone and email records for the purposes of training and compliance.

Website cookies and tracking

When you access our website, temporary data about your visit is stored and processed in a protocol file for a certain period of time via the use of cookies. This information is anonymised and is used by us to better understand how we can improve the user experience of our website.

The following data is collected and stored by 1^st Choice Vehicle Finance Limited until its automated deletion:

IP address of the accessing computer/device
Date, time and duration of your visit
Name and URL of the accessed pages
Identification data of the browser and operating system used
Website from which the data was accessed
Name of your internet access provider

We also use Google Analytics which log cookies to identify user activity such as which pages are being visited and how long. This helps us analyse data about webpage traffic and user behaviours to improve our website. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Email marketing communications and tracking

If you have chosen to opt-in to our direct marketing communications, we will use your information to tell you about products and services available from us which may be of interest to you.

We use analytics tracking data to monitor the results of our email marketing campaigns in the following ways:

Email reads; this makes use of a 'clear image' (gif) to track the reads of the email campaign. Users can disable tracking in emails by turning off images on the email itself.

Clicks; When a subscriber clicks on a weblink, the details of the link that they have clicked (plus the date and the time of the click) are automatically reported back to our analytics.

Unsubscribes; When a user clicks on the unsubscribe link their email address is automatically removed from our database. They can also request that they are added to our supress list in order to prevent future accidental mailing. The date and time of the unsubscribe request is recorded.

You have a right to opt-out of our email marketing communications at any time. You can opt-out by following the Unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of the communication or by emailing [email protected]

Social media use

1^st Choice Vehicle Finance uses social media for the purposes of promoting and communicating our services, products and offers. By signing up to, liking, following or using any of 1^st Choice Vehicle Finance's social media pages, the user is subject to the data and privacy policies of these organisations, not 1^st Choice Vehicle Finance.

Data Retention period

We will not store any personal data for longer than necessary and we will delete data that is no longer required for the purposes for which it is collected or otherwise processed, or if you have withdrawn consent for its processing and retention.

If you have entered into a contract with us we will store the data for period of six years for compliance with our general legal obligations and for the exercise or defence of any legal claims.

Under the GDPR, you have the right to 'block' or request the deletion or removal of personal data to prevent further processing. This right to erasure is also known as 'the right to be forgotten'. Specific circumstances in which you can request the deletion or removal of personal data includes:

Where the personal data is no longer necessary for the purposes for which it is collected or otherwise processed
Where you withdraw consent
When you object to the processing and there is no overriding legitimate interest for continuing the processing
Where the personal data was unlawfully processed (i.e. otherwise in breach of the GDPR)
Where the personal data has to be erased in order to comply with a legal obligation
In case a deletion is not possible due to legal, statutory or contractual retention periods, or if it requires disproportionate efforts or prejudices your legitimate interests, the data will be blocked instead of deleted.

Sharing of data with other data controllers

In order to administer your contract, we may need to share some of your personal information with other data controllers. This processing is necessary for the purposes of delivering our services to you. You agree that we can share or use your personal data with any of our finance partners or suppliers to allow us to provide you services and products you have asked us to provide, such as to process finance applications, arrange delivery of your vehicle, to collect the vehicle from you or notify you of a vehicle safety recall. Other data controllers which we may share this information with may include:

The finance provider (to generate the finance agreement and deal with any in-life queries)
The supplying dealer group (to order and deliver the vehicle)
Claims handling and fraud prevention agencies (to investigate or prevent crime)

We will only share personal data with other data controllers outside when:

you have given us your consent to do so
it is necessary for the performance of an agreement of which you will be made aware
in order to obtain professional advice (e.g. legal advice)
we or others need to investigate or prevent crime (e.g. to fraud prevention agencies)
the law permits or requires it
regulatory or governmental body requests or requires it, even without your consent, or
there is a duty to the public to reveal the information

Credit reference agencies and credit underwriting

In considering your application, the lender will search your record at credit reference agencies. A record of any search and your application will be seen by other organisations that make similar searches. Directors and Partners of firms applying for credit or hire may also be searched. On occasion, we may request a credit check with more than one finance provider.

If you are a joint applicant or if you have told us of some other financial association with another person, or a director of a firm which is applying for a facility you are declaring that you are entitled to:

disclose information about your joint applicant, fellow directors and anyone else referred to by you
authorise us to search, link or record information at credit reference agencies about you and anyone else referred to by you

An automated decision-making system will be used when assessing your application.

The lender will add details of any agreements to your credit file, including the payments you make under the agreement and any default or failure to keep to its terms and conditions. The records will be shared with other organisations and will be used in order to make future decisions about credit and/or credit related services like insurance. It will also be used to trace debtors, recover debt and manage your credit account.

Fraud Prevention

If you give us false or inaccurate information and we identify that fraud has taken place, fraud prevention agencies will be informed. The following information will be shared with other organisations in order to prevent fraud and money laundering

Credit related accounts and facilities
Application details for credit and credit related activities
Debt recovery
Applications and claims for all types of insurance
Job applicants and Employees

In addition, law enforcement agencies may access and use this information.

Keeping your data secure

Personal data collected by us is kept as safe as possible and all of our systems are password protected. All of our staff are aware of our company data and confidentiality policy.

Whilst we will use all reasonable efforts to safeguard such personal data, you acknowledge that the use of the internet is not entirely secure and for this reason we cannot guarantee the security or integrity of any personal data which is transferred from you or to you via the internet. You therefore agree that the use of the internet is entirely at your own risk.

Updating your personal data

If you believe the personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to rectification. Please let us know about any changes or inaccuracies. Where possible, we will also inform any third parties to whom we have disclosed the personal data in question to so they can rectify their records

Subject Access Requests

You have the right to request access to a copy of the personal information that we hold about you. This information is provided to you free of charge however, we can refuse to respond or charge a 'reasonable fee' of £10 inc. VAT when a request is manifestly unfounded, excessive or repetitive.

If for any reason you believe that your privacy has been breached by us or would like to submit a subject access request, please contact: