Privacy Policy

Introduction

Happy Motor Finance Ltd ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy explains how we collect, use, and safeguard your information when you use our website and services. We take your privacy seriously and are dedicated to being transparent about how we handle your data.

This policy applies to all personal data we process when you visit our website, make an enquiry, submit an application, or otherwise interact with us. Please read this policy carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data.

Who We Are

Happy Motor Finance Ltd is a credit broker, not a lender. We are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our role is to introduce you to a panel of lenders who may be able to offer you car finance. We do not make lending decisions ourselves.

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, Happy Motor Finance Ltd is the data controller. This means we are responsible for deciding how your personal data is used and for ensuring it is handled lawfully.

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, you can contact us at:

Email: info@happymotorfinance.co.uk
Website: happymotorfinance.co.uk

Information We Collect

We may collect, use, store, and transfer different kinds of personal data about you, which we have grouped together as follows:

Identity Data

First name, middle name(s), and surname
Date of birth
Title and gender
Marital status
National Insurance number (where required for credit checks)
Driving licence details

Contact Data

Current and previous home addresses
Email address
Telephone numbers (home and mobile)

Financial Data

Employment status and employment details
Income and expenditure information
Bank account details
Existing credit commitments and outstanding debts
Information about your credit history (obtained from credit reference agencies)

Vehicle Data

Details of the vehicle you wish to purchase or are currently financing
Vehicle preferences, budget, and requirements

Technical Data

Internet Protocol (IP) address
Browser type and version
Operating system and platform
Time zone setting and location data
Device information

Usage Data

Information about how you use our website
Pages visited and time spent on each page
Referring website or source
Interaction data (clicks, scrolls, form interactions)

Marketing and Communications Data

Your preferences in receiving marketing from us
Your communication preferences

How We Collect Your Information

We collect personal data through several methods:

Direct interactions: You provide data when you fill in forms on our website, apply for car finance, contact us by phone, email, or through social media, or request information about our services.
Automated technologies: As you navigate our website, we may automatically collect technical data about your equipment, browsing actions, and patterns using cookies, server logs, and similar technologies. Please see our Cookie Policy for further details.
Third parties: We may receive personal data from credit reference agencies, fraud prevention agencies, our panel of lenders, lead generation partners, and publicly available sources.

How We Use Your Information

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we use your data in the following circumstances:

To Process Your Finance Application

Assess your finance application and match you with suitable lenders from our panel
Submit your application to one or more lenders on your behalf
Communicate with you about the progress of your application
Verify your identity and carry out anti-fraud checks
Conduct affordability assessments as required by FCA regulations

To Provide Our Services

Manage our relationship with you, including notifying you of changes to our terms or privacy policy
Provide customer support and handle any complaints
Administer and protect our business and website

To Improve Our Services

Analyse how our website and services are used to improve them
Develop new products, services, and features
Test new systems and processes

For Marketing Purposes

Send you marketing communications where you have given consent or where we have a legitimate interest to do so
Personalise content and advertisements
Measure the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns

Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following legal bases to process your personal data:

Consent: Where you have given clear consent for us to process your personal data for a specific purpose, such as receiving marketing communications.
Contract: Where processing is necessary for the performance of a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract (e.g., processing your finance application).
Legal obligation: Where processing is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation, such as FCA regulatory requirements or anti-money laundering legislation.
Legitimate interests: Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.

Data Sharing

We may share your personal data with the following categories of third parties:

Panel of Lenders

We share your application details with our panel of lenders so they can assess your application and provide finance offers. The specific lenders who receive your data will depend on your circumstances and the type of finance you are seeking.

Credit Reference Agencies

We and/or our lender partners may carry out searches with credit reference agencies. These agencies may record our search and share your information with other organisations. Initial soft searches will not affect your credit score. A full credit search will only be conducted with your explicit consent and once a lender is ready to proceed with a formal application.

Fraud Prevention Agencies

We may share data with fraud prevention agencies to help prevent fraud and money laundering. If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies and may be used by other organisations to prevent fraud and money laundering.

Service Providers

We use trusted third-party service providers for website hosting, IT support, email delivery, analytics, and customer relationship management. These providers only process your data on our instructions and are subject to contractual obligations regarding data security and confidentiality.

Regulatory Bodies

We may share data with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the Financial Ombudsman Service, and other regulatory bodies as required by law.

Professional Advisers

We may share data with our solicitors, accountants, auditors, and insurers where necessary.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

Data Security

We have implemented appropriate technical and organisational security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used, or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered, or disclosed. These measures include:

Encryption of data in transit and at rest
Access controls to limit who can access your data
Regular security assessments and testing
Staff training on data protection and information security
Secure disposal of data when no longer required

We have procedures in place to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

Data Retention

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting requirements. To determine the appropriate retention period, we consider the amount, nature, and sensitivity of the data, the purposes for processing, and applicable legal requirements.

In general:

Successful applications: Data is retained for the duration of the finance agreement plus six years, in line with regulatory requirements.
Unsuccessful applications: Data is retained for three years from the date of the application, after which it is securely deleted.
Marketing data: Retained until you withdraw consent or unsubscribe, after which it is deleted within 30 days.
Website analytics data: Retained for up to 26 months.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you (commonly known as a "subject access request").
Right to rectification: You can request that we correct any incomplete or inaccurate personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure: You can request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances (also known as the "right to be forgotten").
Right to restrict processing: You can request that we suspend the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances.
Right to data portability: You can request the transfer of your personal data to you or a third party in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format.
Right to object: You can object to the processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest, or where we are processing your data for direct marketing purposes.
Right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent to process your data, you can withdraw that consent at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at info@happymotorfinance.co.uk. We will respond to your request within one month. There is no fee for making a request, although we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive, or excessive.

International Transfers

We do not routinely transfer your personal data outside the United Kingdom. If a transfer is necessary (for example, if a service provider is based outside the UK), we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, such as standard contractual clauses approved by the ICO or adequacy decisions.

Automated Decision-Making

Our lender partners may use automated decision-making processes, including profiling, as part of their credit assessment. This may affect whether a lender offers you finance and the terms of any offer. You have the right to request human intervention, express your point of view, and contest any automated decision that significantly affects you.

Children's Privacy

Our services are not intended for individuals under the age of 18. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe we have inadvertently collected data from a person under 18, please contact us immediately so we can delete it.

Third-Party Links

Our website may contain links to third-party websites, plug-ins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy policies. We encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

Cookies

We use cookies and similar tracking technologies to improve your experience on our website, analyse traffic, and personalise content. For detailed information about the cookies we use and how to manage your preferences, please see our Cookie Policy.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, technology, legal requirements, or other factors. We will notify you of any material changes by posting the updated policy on our website with a new "last updated" date. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.

Complaints

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues:

Website: ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113

We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you contact the ICO, so please contact us in the first instance at info@happymotorfinance.co.uk.

Contact Us

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our data practices, please contact us:

Email: info@happymotorfinance.co.uk
Website: happymotorfinance.co.uk