The Data Protection Act puts obligations on users of personal information and lays down the principles for its use. One principle states that information has to be processed fairly and lawfully. This means that you are entitled to know how we intend to use any information you provide. You can then decide whether you would want us to have that information. Our registration number is Z4821516. You can learn more about our obligations under this act by following this link www.ico.gov.uk.

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 telephone or post.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION
Our main use of your personal information is to assist you in your application for a mortgage or provide a specific service you require. Some details we can/will obtain elsewhere i.e. credit reference agencies.

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

Occasionally, we may contact you by letter, telephone or otherwise to inform you about other products and services that may interest you. We will request that you sign a separate document agreeing to this. If at a later stage you wish not to be contacted in the future please write to us at the following address:

Customer Contact, The Mortgage Warehouse, Rainbows End, Sundridge Hill, Cuxton, Kent ME2 1LF

Unless you have given us your consent, we will not provide information about you to companies outside The Mortgage Warehouse to use for their own marketing purposes.

Occasionally, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) compliance review bodies audit a sample of our customer records to assess our compliance with the regulations. Whenever this happens, strict confidentiality conditions are always imposed.

Under the Data Protection Act you have the right to access the information we hold about you on our records. The act allows us to charge a £10.00 fee for this service. If anything is inaccurate or incorrect, please let us know and we will correct it.

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

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

For more details about all the preference services, please see the Direct Marketing Associations website at: www.dma.org.uk

CREDIT REFERENCING
If you apply for a The Mortgage Warehouse credit based product (e.g. mortgage or secured loan), we may perform a search with a credit reference agency. The agency will keep a record of the search.

When applying for a mortgage we may search public records, such as the Electoral Roll, that are available from credit reference agencies to help us verify your identity.

Associations linking your financial records may be created on credit reference agency records when you apply for a mortgage in joint names. Your financial records, and those of anyone financially associated with you, may be considered in any future applications you make.

You have the right to apply to the credit reference agencies for a copy of your credit file. If there is anything incorrect on your file, you have the right to ask the agency to add a notice of correction.

We use Equifax Plc and/or Experian Limited for our credit referencing. Their contact details are as follows:

Equifax Plc, PO Box 1140, Bradford, BD1 5US Tel: 0870 010 0583 www.equifax.co.uk

Experian Ltd, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham, NG1 5GX Tel: 0870 241 6212 www.experian.co.uk

If you have been refused credit you can get advice from your local Trading Standards department, Citizens Advice Bureau or Consumer Advice Centre, or through the agencies` websites. The Information Commissioner also produces a useful leaflet entitled No Credit? You can obtain a free copy from the Information Commissioners website at www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk or by telephoning 0870 600 8100

CREDIT SCORING
When you apply for a mortgage the details you provide, the information we already have and information from credit reference agencies is used to assess credit risk using a technique called credit scoring.

Various factors in all these details help the mortgage lenders assess the risk and determine the mortgage they are willing to offer you.

ANTI-MONEY LAUNDERING AND STATUTORY
To comply with money laundering regulations, and to help stop criminals using financial products or services to launder money, there are times when we need to confirm (or reconfirm) the name and the address of our customers. We may need to do this whether you are applying to be a new customer or have been one for sometime. This information may be shared with other companies within The Mortgage Warehouse group.

Some acts of parliament oblige us to disclose information about our customers to certain bodies with statutory powers.

WEB SITE & EMAIL
If you email us, or give us your email address, we will keep a record of it. We may use it to contact you occasionally about our products and services, unless you ask not to do so. We will not give your email address to any unauthorised third parties.

Should you decide to send us e-mail, you should remember that messages sent over the Internet are not secure and you should therefore think very carefully before including any information of a confidential nature. For our part, we will respect the confidentiality of your information and will limit the content of any e-mail we create to reflect the security limitations that currently exist within the Internet environment. Should you therefore require us to respond, it is essential that you provide your full name and address to enable us to provide a written response.

When you visit our website, a certain amount of information is retained regarding the event to enable us to understand the profile of our visitors. The information retained includes the IP address and/or the domain name of the visitors. Cookies may be used to personalise your visit to this site (Click here for information on cookies).

This privacy policy only covers the The Mortgage Warehouse's Website and does not extend to other websites that are linked to our site.

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.

If you think your confidentiality has been broken please write to: Data Controller, The Mortgage Warehouse, Rainbows End, Sundridge Hill, Cuxton, Kent ME2 1LF.

BUSINESS CUSTOMERS
The Data Protection Act does not generally apply to companies but it does cover sole traders. When we receive an application from such a business we may perform a search with a credit reference agency on the individual company directors or partners.