At Bridging Link we ensure your personal information is kept secure and confidential


This Privacy Notice on behalf of "Bridging Link" is made by the following companies:

Bridging Link Holdings Limited, Company Registration Number 11999104

Bridging Link Limited, Company Registration Number 8932815;

Bridging Link Finance Limited, Company Registration Number 9325490;

Bridging Link Finance 2 Limited, Company Registration Number 10724434;

Bridging Link Finance 3 Limited, Company Registration Number 8932815;


PRIVACY OF YOUR INFORMATION

At Bridging Link, we appreciate that your privacy is extremely important to you. With this in mind, we have put in place a number of measures to ensure that any personal details we obtain from you as a result of visiting this website or if sent to us via email or directly are processed and maintained in accordance with accepted principles of good information handling and also in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation.

This statement provides you with details of the type of information we may hold about you, how we obtain and use information and how we protect your privacy.


OBTAINING AND HOLDING INFORMATION

In providing information to us about other people you warrant that you have their permission to give us their data and that you have provided them with our privacy notice so that they are aware of the basis on which we will process their information. We store information provided to us in both electronic and paper based systems. You are free to browse the website www.bridginglink.co.uk with or without providing any personal or any other information whatsoever. If you wish to use our online application form then it will be necessary for us to collect information about you in order that we may consider your application further. This information is collected as follows:

Personal information; such as full names, date of birth, marital status, details of dependents, images of your passport, driving licence and utility bills and photographs of your property etc. Contact information; such as address, telephone numbers, email addresses etc.

Financial information; such as details of any outstanding loans, mortgages and/or other credit. Before we can look for accurate quotes, we need to make a credit check. This means we will search records relating to you at credit reference agencies. They will add details of our search and your application to your records, which may be seen by other organisations. Your records may be used by third parties, including fraud prevention agencies, to help prevent financial crime. Further information on how we and your broker will use your details will be included in the documents we send you if you go ahead with a loan offer. If you've made a joint application, your records will be linked together and you must be sure that you have the other applicant's agreement to disclose information about them. By confirming your agreement to proceed you are accepting that we may use your information in this way and you consent to searches being made, including on any joint applicant.



Sensitive Data; we may capture sensitive data about you with regards to your or a related persons health if you advise of an issue that we may need to take into account in dealing with your loan. We may retain this information where it would be in your best interests for us to do so or in order to protect us from a claim. The data is volunteered by you and collected via an online application form or alternatively you may print out our application form and complete and return this via the email or post.


We will hold and process your data for our legitimate interests in order to:

  • Determine whether or not to offer a loan
  • Manage any loan advanced through to redemption
  • Manage any relationship with intermediaries including a record of introductions, payments made and other relevant information appropriate to managing the relationship
  • Manage the relationship with funders or anyone applying to become a funder and to maintain appropriate records relevant to that relationship
  • To manage business relationships with our professional advisers, contractors and third party providers
  • Share information where necessary with funders, our professional advisers, contractors and third party providers and anyone who may wish to acquire all or any part of our business
  • Share information with other companies in the same group and associated companies
  • Carry out checks with fraud prevention and credit agencies and tracing agencies if required
  • Consider any CV’s and other information provided to determine whether or not to offer applicants a job

We will hold and process your data for legal purposes in order to:

  • Meet our legal obligations
  • Help identify you and meet our anti-money laundering obligations
  • Supply information to any government body, regulatory authority, law enforcement agency as required and to credit and fraud prevention agencies

METHODS OF CONTACTING YOU

By phone - We use call number identification to recognise who is calling us and to have a short term record of calls received. We may record some calls for training and monitoring purposes. We will capture information that you give us for our records and in order to deal with your enquiry and process it in accordance with our processing basis as set out below.

By email - We encrypt some emails in order to protect customer data. If you send us an email that is not encrypted your personal data may be at risk. We will capture and process the information in the email for our legitimate interest and legal purposes.

By on-line enquiry and post - When we receive an enquiry or application via the enquiry form on our website, by email or a paper application it will contain personal information for funders, applicant(s) and possibly other parties in connection with the property(ies).


KEEPING YOUR INFORMATION

The length of time we keep your information for depends on the basis on which it was provided.

Generally however:

  • Loans advanced – up to 6 years after the loan has redeemed but may be longer where legal action has been taken or is pending
  • Loans offered on but not completed – up to 12 months but may need to keep any anti-money laundering information gathered for up to 5 years
  • Enquiries and applications for loans not advanced – up to 3 months from the date the enquiry or application is marked not proceeded with – may be longer where a fraudulent application is made. We may also need to keep any anti-money laundering information gathered for a period of up to 5 years
  • Intermediaries – up to 6 years from the end of our relationship
  • Funders – up to 6 years from the end of our relationship
  • Professional advisers, contractors and third party advisers – up to 6 years from the end of our relationship

The credit agencies have their own basis on which they process your data and you can view their privacy notice here:

Callcredit www.callcredit.co.uk/crain

Equifax www.equifax.co.uk/crain.html

Experian www.experian.co.uk/crain/index.html

YOUR RIGHTS

Right of access - you have a right to have access to copies of the personal data that we hold about you subject to certain limitations. We are obliged to respond to any such request within a month of receiving it. We will inform you in writing following receipt of your request and if necessary seek additional information from you about it.

Right of rectification - you have a right to have your personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete. If you become aware that any of the data which we hold about you is inaccurate, or if you become aware of any circumstances that require changes to be made to any of the personal data which we hold about you, you should inform us as soon as possible; this is particularly important where we are processing an application for a loan for you, as failure to tell us your circumstances have changed may affect the ability of the lender to complete the loan.

Right to be forgotten - you have a right to request the deletion or removal of your personal data where there is no longer a compelling reason for us to continue processing it, or where our processing is based on your consent and you withdraw that consent.

Right to restrict processing - you have a right to block or suppress the processing of personal data in certain circumstances. If, for example, you contest the accuracy of personal data, processing may be restricted until the accuracy of the personal data has been verified. This may also apply where you contest that the processing is unlawful.

Right to object - you have a right to object to processing of your personal data if it is based on the performance of a legal task or is based on our legitimate interests. You also have the right to object where we process your information for research purposes.

To exercise any of your rights above you should contact the Data Protection Officer, Bridging Link, Brocastle, Bridgend, CF35 5AS

Telephone: 0203-772-7100 Email: info@bridginglink.co.uk

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you think that there is a problem with how we are handing your data. Their contact details are as follows:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Telephone 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745

http://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling


SECURITY AND CONFIDENTIALITY

Appreciating that both privacy and security of your information is of the utmost importance, Bridging Link has implemented technology and security policies, rules and measures to protect personal information we hold about you. We protect your information by:

  • Ensuring that your information is kept securely in our databases and offices. We only allow our employees and trusted contractors access to your information, and then only if they need it for a specific authorised task. The computers on which we store your information are kept in a secure environment.
  • Ensuring that we only pass your personal data to third parties where security and confidentiality are assured.
  • We typically process personal data inside the EEA, but if we were to process data outside the EEA, we would only do so if we were sure your information were protected in the same way as it is within the EEA.
  • We take all reasonable steps to protect your information, but data can never be guaranteed as 100% secure. Please note that we will not be liable for any breach of security unless there is proof of negligence by us.

LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES

This website does not have links to other websites.


EMAIL MARKETING AND AGGREGATED INFORMATION

We will not use your personal data for marketing purposes.


CHILDREN

Bridging Link does not knowingly collect data on or from children. Any data collected in regard to children under 18 years old will be redacted.


WEBSITE AND COOKIE POLICY

We use a third party service to help maintain the security and performance of our website. To deliver this service it processes the IP addresses of visitors to our website.

In this section you will find information on what cookies may be set when you visit our website and how to reject or delete those cookies. When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable.  Where services are provided on the internet, this sometimes involves placing small amounts of information on your device, for example your computer or mobile phone.  This information consists of small files known as cookies and they cannot be used to identify you personally.

These pieces of information are used to improve our services for you through, for example:

  • Enabling a service to recognise your device so you don’t have to provide the same information several times during one task.
  • Recognising that you may already have provided a username and password so you don’t need to do it for every web page requested.
  • Measuring how many people are using services, so they can be made easier to use and there’s enough capacity to ensure they’re fast.
  • You can manage these small files yourself and learn more about them by visiting: www.direct.gov.uk/managingcookies
  • How to control and delete cookies
  • We will not use cookies to collect personally identifiable information about you.  However, if you wish to restrict or block the cookies which are set by our website or any other website, you can do this through your browser settings.  Comprehensive information on how to do this across a wide variety of browsers can be found at www.aboutcookies.org
  • Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact the functionality of the websites you visit.

COOKIE CATEGORIES

The type of cookie used on this Site can each be put into 1 of 4 categories, based on the International Chamber of Commerce guide to cookie categories.

A. Strictly Necessary Cookies: These cookies are essential, as they enable you to move around a website and use its features, such as accessing secure areas. Without these cookies, services you've asked for (such as access to secure areas) cannot be provided. These cookies don't gather information about you that could be used for marketing or remembering where you've been on the internet. These cannot be restricted or blocked.

B. Performance Cookies: These cookies collect information about how you use a website, for example which pages you go to most often and if you get any error messages from certain pages. These cookies don't gather information that identifies you. All information these cookies collect is anonymous and is only used to improve how a website works. These cookies are not used to target you with online advertising. Without these cookies we cannot learn how our website is performing and make the necessary improvements that could enhance your browsing experience. These can be restricted or blocked.

C. Functionality Profile Cookies: These cookies allow a website to remember choices you make (such as your user name, language or the region you are in) and tailor the website to provide enhanced features and content for you. For instance, they remember your log-in details and allow you to watch videos. They also ensure the onsite marketing and experience is relevant to you. These cookies can also be used to remember changes you've made to text size, font and other parts of pages that you can customise. The information these cookies collect may be anonymous and they cannot track your browsing activity on other websites. Without these cookies, a website cannot remember choices you've previously made or personalise your browsing experience. These can be restricted or blocked.

D. Targeting Cookies: These cookies gather information about your browsing habits. They remember that you've visited a website and share this information with other organisations such as advertisers. They do this in order to provide you with ads that are more relevant to you and your interests. Although these cookies can track your visits to other websites, they don't usually know who you are. Without these cookies, online advertisements you encounter will be less relevant to you and your interests. These can be restricted or blocked.


WHAT THIS PRIVACY POLICY DOES NOT COVER

This policy does not apply to the practices of companies Bridging Link does not own or control, or to people Bridging Link does not employ or manage.


CHANGES TO THE PRIVACY POLICY

Bridging Link may amend this privacy policy from time to time. If any amendments are made then a notice will be posted on this website. This privacy policy was last updated on 14/01/2021.