This GDPR statement explains how the Carrington Dean Group of companies collect personal data from you, and how we will use and store this information.
If you want to see the detailed version of this, you can read our full privacy policy, but this sets out the important bits that you need to be aware of.
How we will use your data
We can only use your personal information where it falls into one or more of the following categories:
- it is necessary to enter into or fulfil a contract we have with you;
- you have provided your consent;
- we have a legal or regulatory obligation to do so;
- it is necessary to carry out a task that is in the public interest;
- it is necessary to protect your vital interests; or
- it is in our legitimate interest to do so and it is not against your rights.
Where we collect your personal data
We will only collect relevant personal information, including where necessary sensitive personal data, about you when you apply to us, and any additional information provided by you or others in various ways, including:
- When you make an application or enquiry to us either by phone, email, our website, by a third party or by any other means
- Information received from a third party, for example a creditor providing information about an account you hold with them, or where you have previously agreed for your information to be shared with us, for example, if you have been introduced to us by another company
- When you participate in market research, competitions and promotions provided by us, or on our behalf
- By adding reviews or interacting with us using social media such as Twitter or Facebook etc
- When you use online platforms, such as an online portal
- When we may need to obtain up to date information about you to meet our legal or regulatory obligations
Please note that for quality and training purposes, telephone calls to our offices may be recorded and monitored.
What happens to your information when you provide it?
We may also share your personal information with the following organisations:
- IT Service Providers who provide IT platforms or other IT services
- Payment Service companies that process transactions for us (e.g. Direct Debits and card transactions)
- Communication providers (e.g. telephone line providers, and email and text service providers)
- Printers who print the letters and information packs which we send to you
- Advertisers and social media companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter for our social media accounts or where we can contact you using your social media account
- Third parties who may have introduced you to our services
- These companies help us to provide our services to you. We will have a contract in place with any provider who directly provides us with such direct services to ensure that they comply with their data protection obligations and ensure that they have appropriate security measures in place.
We may also share your personal information where we have your consent to do so or where we’re required to do so under a legal or regulatory obligation or court order, such as the police, local authorities or the courts.
Deleting the information we hold on you
If you do not go ahead with any product or service with us, your personal information will normally be deleted after 12 months unless we have another reason to keep your personal information, for example, if you have given your consent to receive marketing information from us. We will delete your information sooner if you ask us to.
If you sign your proposal and a meeting of creditors is convened, which is later withdrawn, or for whatever reason does not go ahead, your data will be stored for 6 years from the date that we cease to provide you with our services.
If you become our customer by entering a debt solution, we will keep your data to ensure that we provide you with our services and comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. Your data will be stored for 6 years from the date that we cease to provide you with our services. We cannot delete this data if you ask us to because we are required to keep it by law. After this time, we will delete the information or anonymise the data so that it cannot be linked back to you.
If for any reason you are concerned that the personal information we hold about you is incorrect, or if you would like your personal information removed from our records please contact us by email at [email protected] and we will be happy to review, update or remove information as appropriate. We will keep your information in line with the data retention policy unless you ask us to remove it.
If you would like to request a copy of the personal data we hold please contact the email above and use the term ‘subject access request’ in the subject line.
What are Cookies?
When using Carrington Dean Group websites, some information may be collected automatically using ‘cookies’. These are small text files which help us understand how our websites work, they can be temporary or permanent.
Temporary cookies form part of the security process while you are using the website; permanent cookies identify the link you used to find our website, check your browser so that we can make sure that our website and services work well with your computer and to help us monitor traffic on our website.
Why are cookies used?
They help visitors. Cookies allow sites to do things like provide personalised content and remember their log-in details and settings. You can turn them off – this won’t stop a website from working, but it might mean it won’t work as well as it could, or that you have to do the same thing more than once.
They help website owners. Cookies tell website owners things like: what search engine a visitor used to find the website, how often they’ve visited it, how long they’ve spent on it, and so on.
We’ve set out below the cookies that we may use and those that are set by third parties on our website.
| Cookie Name |
Purpose |
| Google Analytics |
ON site behaviour tracking |
| Hotjar |
Heatmaps and screen recording |
| Visual Website Optimiser |
A/B testing and heatmaps |
| Facebook |
Retargeting and tracking conversions |
| Adwords |
Track Conversions |
| Taboola |
Track Conversions |
| Bing Ads |
Track Conversions |
Except for essential cookies, all cookies will expire after 10 years.
Disabling/Enabling Cookies
You can accept or decline cookies by changing the settings on your browser and by following these instructions. Please remember though that disabling certain cookies may affect the functionality of our website.
Changes to our privacy policy (on screen)
Any changes we may make to this privacy policy in the future will be posted on this page so you can keep up to date with our policies and how they affect you.
