Privacy Policy

We take your privacy very seriously and ask that you read this notice carefully as it contains important information about who we are, how and why we collect, store, use and share personal data, your rights in relation to your personal data and on how to contact us and supervisory authorities in the event that you have a complaint. 

Mortgage Seekers may revise these terms at any time by updating this page.

Last Updated: 1st April, 2020

Who we are 

We’re Mortgage Seekers Edinburgh Ltd (‘we’, ‘our’, ‘us’) and operate under the name Mortgage Seekers. We are a trading style of Keystone Financial Ltd. and provide mortgage advice, protection advice and intermediary product arrangement services to both individuals and businesses.

How we use your personal data

In order to provide these above services, we are required to collect, store and use your personal data. The below clauses set out how we collect and use your personal data. It also explains the lawful basis upon which we collect and use your personal data and who we routinely share your personal data with:

1. Information we collect

Log data

When you visit our website, our servers may automatically log the standard data provided by your web browser. It may include your computer’s Internet Protocol (IP) address, your browser type and version, the pages you visit, the time and date of your visit, the time spent on each page, and other details.

Device data

We may also collect data about the device you’re using to access our website. This data may include the device type, operating system, unique device identifiers, device settings, and geo-location data. What we collect can depend on the individual settings of your device and software. We recommend checking the policies of your device manufacturer or software provider to learn what information they make available to us.

Personal information

We may ask for personal information, such as your:

• First Name

• Surname

• Date of birth

• Nationality/tax residency

• Email

• Phone/mobile number

• Home/mailing address

• Property address

• Details about your financial circumstances

• National insurance number (NIN)

2. Legal bases for processing

We will process your personal information lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner. We collect and process information about you only where we have legal bases for doing so.

These legal bases depend on the services you use and how you use them, meaning we collect and use your information only where:

• it’s necessary for the performance of a contract to which you are a party or to take steps at your request before entering into such a contract (for example, when we provide a service you request from us);

• it satisfies a legitimate interest (which is not overridden by your data protection interests), such as for research and development, to market and promote our services, and to protect our legal rights and interests;

• in the course of our activities relating to the prevention, detection and investigation of financial crime. We may process criminal conviction or offence information. When we do so, we will be processing it for the purpose of compliance with regulatory requirements relating to unlawful acts and dishonesty.

• to provide you with details of products and services from ourselves and third parties that may be of interest to you in accordance with your application and preferences.

• you give us consent to do so for a specific purpose (for example, you might consent to us sending you our newsletter); or

• we need to process your data to comply with a legal obligation.

Where you consent to our use of information about you for a specific purpose, you have the right to change your mind at any time (but this will not affect any processing that has already taken place).

We don’t keep personal information for longer than is necessary. While we retain this information, we will protect it within commercially acceptable means to prevent loss and theft, as well as unauthorised access, disclosure, copying, use or modification. That said, we advise that no method of electronic transmission or storage is 100% secure and cannot guarantee absolute data security. If necessary, we may retain your personal information for our compliance with a legal obligation or in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person.

3. Collection and use of information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose information for the following purposes and personal information will not be further processed in a manner that is incompatible with these purposes:

• to enable you to customise or personalise your experience of our website;

• to enable you to access and use our website, associated applications and associated social media platforms;

• to contact and communicate with you;

• for internal record keeping and administrative purposes;

• for analytics, market research and business development, including to operate and improve our website, associated applications and associated social media platforms;

• to run competitions and/or offer additional benefits to you;

• for advertising and marketing, including to send you promotional information about our products and services and information about third parties that we consider may be of interest to you;

• to comply with our legal obligations and resolve any disputes that we may have; and

• to consider your employment application.

4. Disclosure of personal information to third parties

We may disclose personal information to:

• third party service providers for the purpose of enabling them to provide their services, including (without limitation) mortgage lenders, financial bodies, data storage, hosting and server providers, ad networks, analytics, error loggers, debt collectors, maintenance or problem-solving providers, marketing or advertising providers, professional advisors and payment systems operators;

• our employees, contractors and/or related entities;

• sponsors or promoters of any competition we run;

• credit reporting agencies, courts, tribunals and regulatory authorities, in the event you fail to pay for goods or services we have provided to you;

• courts, tribunals, regulatory authorities and law enforcement officers, as required by law, in connection with any actual or prospective legal proceedings, or in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights;

• third parties, including agents or sub-contractors, who assist us in providing information, products, services or direct marketing to you; and

• third parties to collect and process data.

5. Keeping your Personal Data Secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so. 

6. International transfers of personal information

The personal information we collect is stored and processed in the United Kingdom, or where we or our partners, affiliates and third-party providers maintain facilities. Where possible, will not transfer personal data from this website to countries which are located outside the European Economic Area.

However, in the event this is necessary we will ensure that any transfer of personal information from countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) to countries outside the EEA will be protected by appropriate safeguards, for example by using standard data protection clauses approved by the European Commission, or the use of binding corporate rules or other legally accepted means.

Where we transfer personal information from a non-EEA country to another country, you acknowledge that third parties in other jurisdictions may not be subject to similar data protection laws to the ones in our jurisdiction. There are risks if any such third party engages in any act or practice that would contravene the data privacy laws in our jurisdiction and this might mean that you will not be able to seek redress under our jurisdiction’s privacy laws.

7. Your rights and controlling your personal information

Choice and consent: By providing personal information to us, you consent to us collecting, holding, using and disclosing your personal information in accordance with this privacy policy. If you are under 16 years of age, you must have, and warrant to the extent permitted by law to us, that you have your parent or legal guardian’s permission to access and use the website and they (your parents or guardian) have consented to you providing us with your personal information. You do not have to provide personal information to us, however, if you do not, it may affect your use of this website or the products and/or services offered on or through it.

Information from third parties: If we receive personal information about you from a third party, we will protect it as set out in this privacy policy. If you are a third party providing personal information about somebody else, you represent and warrant that you have such person’s consent to provide the personal information to us.

Restrict: You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information. If you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by contacting us using the details below. If you ask us to restrict or limit how we process your personal information, we will let you know how the restriction affects your use of our website or products and services.

Access and data portability: You may request details of the personal information that we hold about you. You may request a copy of the personal information we hold about you. Where possible, we will provide this information in CSV format or other easily readable machine format. You may request that we erase the personal information we hold about you at any time. You may also request that we transfer this personal information to another third party.

Correction: If you believe that any information we hold about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please contact us using the details below. We will take reasonable steps to correct any information found to be inaccurate, incomplete, misleading or out of date.

Notification of data breaches: We will comply laws applicable to us in respect of any data breach.

Complaints: If you believe that we have breached a relevant data protection law and wish to make a complaint, please contact us using the details below and provide us with full details of the alleged breach. We will promptly investigate your complaint and respond to you, in writing, setting out the outcome of our investigation and the steps we will take to deal with your complaint. You also have the right to contact a regulatory body or data protection authority in relation to your complaint.

Supervisory Authority: If you are not happy with the way we are handling your information, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). It has enforcement powers and can investigate compliance with data protection regulation (www.ico.org.uk). We ask that you please attempt to resolve any issues with us before approaching ICO. 

Unsubscribe: To unsubscribe from our e-mail database or opt-out of communications (including marketing communications), please contact us using the details below or opt-out using the opt-out facilities provided in the communication.

8. Cookies

We use “cookies” to collect information about you and your activity across our site. A cookie is a small piece of data that our website stores on your computer, and accesses each time you visit, so we can understand how you use our site. This helps us serve you content based on preferences you have specified. Please refer to our Cookie Policy for more information.

9. Online Forms

We use online forms, hosted by Typeform, to collect your information. Find out more about Typeform data security here: Security at Typeform

10. Business transfers

If we or our assets are acquired, or in the unlikely event that we go out of business or enter bankruptcy, we would include data among the assets transferred to any parties who acquire us. You acknowledge that such transfers may occur, and that any parties who acquire us may continue to use your personal information according to this policy.

11. Limits of our policy

Our website may link to external sites that are not operated by us. Please be aware that we have no control over the content and policies of those sites, and cannot accept responsibility or liability for their respective privacy practices.

12. How to Contact Us

If you are not satisfied with the level of information provided, or you would like to exercise any of the above rights or make a complaint, please email:

The Data Protection Officer
help@mortgageseekers.com

or write to:

The Data Protection Officer
Mortgage Seekers
14 Roseburn Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 6AW

Please provide us with enough information to identify you, e.g. name, telephone number, email address. Please also provide proof of your identity and address and explain the information to which your request relates.

13. Changes to this policy

At our discretion, we may change our privacy policy to reflect current acceptable practices. We will take reasonable steps to let users know about changes via our website. Your continued use of this site after any changes to this policy will be regarded as acceptance of our practices around privacy and personal information.

If we make a significant change to this privacy policy, for example changing a lawful basis on which we process your personal information, we will ask you to re-consent to the amended privacy policy.

Mortgage Seekers Data Controller

Sean McFadden
help@mortgageseekers.com

This policy is effective as of 1st April 2020.

Cookies Policies

We use cookies to help improve your experience of mortgageseekers.com. This cookie policy is part of Mortgage Seekers' privacy policy, and covers the use of cookies between your device and our site. We also provide basic information on third-party services we may use, who may also use cookies as part of their service, though they are not covered by our policy.

If you don’t wish to accept cookies from us, you should instruct your browser to refuse cookies from mortgageseekers.com, with the understanding that we may be unable to provide you with some of your desired content and services.

Last Updated: March, 2020

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small piece of data that a website stores on your device when you visit, typically containing information about the website itself, a unique identifier that allows the site to recognise your web browser when you return, additional data that serves the purpose of the cookie, and the lifespan of the cookie itself.

Cookies are used to enable certain features (eg. logging in), to track site usage (eg. analytics), to store your user settings (eg. timezone, notification preferences), and to personalise your content (eg. advertising, language).

Cookies set by the website you are visiting are normally referred to as “first-party cookies”, and typically only track your activity on that particular site. Cookies set by other sites and companies (ie. third parties) are called “third-party cookies”, and can be used to track you on other websites that use the same third-party service.

Types of cookies and how we use them:

1. Essential cookies

Essential cookies are crucial to your experience of a website, enabling core features like user logins, account management, shopping carts and payment processing. We use essential cookies to enable certain functions on our website.

2. Performance cookies

Performance cookies are used in the tracking of how you use a website during your visit, without collecting personal information about you. Typically, this information is anonymous and aggregated with information tracked across all site users, to help companies understand visitor usage patterns, identify and diagnose problems or errors their users may encounter, and make better strategic decisions in improving their audience’s overall website experience. These cookies may be set by the website you’re visiting (first-party) or by third-party services. We use performance cookies on our site.

3. Functionality cookies

Functionality cookies are used in collecting information about your device and any settings you may configure on the website you’re visiting (like language and time zone settings). With this information, websites can provide you with customised, enhanced or optimised content and services. These cookies may be set by the website you’re visiting (first-party) or by third-party service. We use functionality cookies for selected features on our site.

4. Targeting/advertising cookies

Targeting/advertising cookies are used in determining what promotional content is more relevant and appropriate to you and your interests. Websites may use them to deliver targeted advertising or to limit the number of times you see an advertisement. This helps companies improve the effectiveness of their campaigns and the quality of content presented to you. These cookies may be set by the website you’re visiting (first-party) or by third-party services. Targeting/advertising cookies set by third-parties may be used to track you on other websites that use the same third-party service. We use targeting/advertising cookies on our site.

5. Third-party cookies on our site

We may employ third-party companies and individuals on our websites—for example, analytics providers and content partners. We grant these third parties access to selected information to perform specific tasks on our behalf. They may also set third-party cookies in order to deliver the services they are providing. Third-party cookies can be used to track you on other websites that use the same third-party service. As we have no control over third-party cookies, they are not covered by Mortgage Seekers' cookie policy.

Our third-party privacy promise

We review the privacy policies of all our third-party providers before enlisting their services to ensure their practices align with ours. We will never knowingly include third-party services that compromise or violate the privacy of our users.

How you can control or opt out of cookies

If you do not wish to accept cookies from us, you can instruct your browser to refuse cookies from our website. Most browsers are configured to accept cookies by default, but you can update these settings to either refuse cookies altogether, or to notify you when a website is trying to set or update a cookie.

If you browse websites from multiple devices, you may need to update your settings on each individual device.

Although some cookies can be blocked with little impact on your experience of a website, blocking all cookies may mean you are unable to access certain features and content across the sites you visit.

Terms of Use

The following Terms of Use apply to users, viewers and all people who access the site: mortgageseekers.com. Please read these terms carefully before using the site.

Mortgage Seekers may revise these terms at any time by updating this page.

Last Updated: March, 2020

1. Terms of Use

By accessing the website at mortgageseekers.com, you are agreeing to be bound by these terms of service, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing this site. The materials contained in this website are protected by applicable copyright and trademark law.

2. Use Licence

1. Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials (information or software) on Mortgage Seekers' website for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a licence, not a transfer of title, and under this licence you may not:

   1. modify or copy the materials;

   2. use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial);

   3. attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on Mortgage Seekers' website;

   4. remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials; or

   5. transfer the materials to another person or "mirror" the materials on any other server.

2. This licence shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by Mortgage Seekers at any time. Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this licence, you must destroy any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.

3. Disclaimer

1. The materials on Mortgage Seekers' website are provided on an 'as is' basis. Mortgage Seekers makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties including, without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights.

2. Further, Mortgage Seekers does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its website or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.

4. Limitations

In no event shall Mortgage Seekers or its suppliers be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, damages for loss of data or profit, or due to business interruption) arising out of the use or inability to use the materials on Mortgage Seekers' website, even if Mortgage Seekers or a Mortgage Seekers authorised representative has been notified orally or in writing of the possibility of such damage. Because some jurisdictions do not allow limitations on implied warranties, or limitations of liability for consequential or incidental damages, these limitations may not apply to you.

5. Accuracy of materials

The materials appearing on Mortgage Seekers' website could include technical, typographical, or photographic errors. Mortgage Seekers does not warrant that any of the materials on its website are accurate, complete or current. Mortgage Seekers may make changes to the materials contained on its website at any time without notice. However Mortgage Seekers does not make any commitment to update the materials.

6. Intellectual Property

The intellectual property rights in the contents of this Website, its graphic design and code are protected by law and therefore reproduction, distribution, public communication and transformation of the same are prohibited except for the uses authorised by Mortgage Seekers.

Likewise, all business names, images and photographs, trademarks or distinctive signs of any type that appear in mortgageseekers.com are the property of their legitimate owners and are protected by law. Any improper use of the aforesaid by any person other than its legitimate owner may be pursued in accordance with the current legislation.

7. Online Forms

You consent to Mortgage Seekers using Typeform to collect your data in relation to our Terms of Services listed below.

8. Links

Mortgage Seekers has not reviewed all of the sites linked to its website and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked site. The inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Mortgage Seekers of the site. Use of any such linked website is at the user's own risk.

9. Modifications

Mortgage Seekers may revise these terms of service for its website at any time without notice. By using this website you are agreeing to be bound by the then current version of these terms of service.

10. Governing Law

These terms and conditions are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Scotland and you irrevocably submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in that State or location.

Terms of Service

By accessing our services you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms of Service, all applicable laws and regulations, and agree that you are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws. If you do not agree with any of these terms, you are prohibited from using or accessing our services.

Mortgage Seekers may revise these terms at any time by updating this page.

Last Updated: March, 2020

Mortgages & Insurance

Mortgage Seekers acts as an intermediary on your behalf. We offer an Independent advice service. We will recommend mortgages and insurances based on a comprehensive and fair analysis of the market.  Unless advised to the contrary, we will assume that you wish to place no restrictions on the products we may recommend. We will however only make a recommendation when we know it is suitable for you.

Your aims & objectives 

Unless we notify you in writing to the contrary, we will be treating you as a “retail client”. This means that you are afforded the highest level of protection under the regulatory system and should have the right to take any complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Any advice or recommendation that we offer to you, will only be given after we have assessed your needs and considered your financial objectives and attitude to any risks that may be involved. We will also take into account any restrictions that you wish to place on the type of products you would be willing to consider.

With very few exceptions, we will confirm to you in writing the basis of our recommendations along with details of any special risks associated with the products recommended.

Full details of the products we recommend to you including, for example, the minimum duration of the product, information on your right to cancel or whether no right to cancel exists, and any other early termination rights and penalties, will be covered in the relevant product disclosure information you will receive before conclusion of any contract.

In executing or transmitting applications on your behalf to third parties, we will take all reasonable steps to ensure that we obtain the best possible result for you in terms of best execution.

We may also, on occasion, advise on other financial products which are not regulated by the FCA under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme does not apply to any of these products.

Communications

Our communications with clients will ordinarily be in English, both in respect of oral and written communications. We will enter into communication with you through whatever means are convenient to you and us, including face-to-face, telephone, email and other acceptable electronic communication methods.

Services to be provided

We will issue you an Advice Report to confirm our recommendations. Any advice or recommendation offered to you will be based upon your stated objectives, as well as taking into account of any restrictions you wish to place on the type of plans you are willing to consider.

Mortgage Seekers does not handle clients’ money. We never handle cash or accept a cheque made out to us, unless the cheque is in settlement of charges or disbursements for which we have sent you an invoice.

Advice and instructions

Any advice given to you by us shall be in writing. We prefer our clients to give us instructions in writing, to aid clarification and avoid future misunderstandings. We will, however, accept oral instructions provided they are confirmed in writing. We may, at our discretion, refuse to accept instructions although such discretion shall not be exercised unreasonably. We will record all transactions on our files which, along with copies of relevant documentation, will be retained by us for a period of not less than six years. You have a right to inspect copies of contract notes, vouchers and entries in our books or computerised records relating to your transactions. We reserve the right to withhold copies of these records if information to other parties would be disclosed.

Material interest

We will act honestly, fairly and professionally - known as conducting business in ‘Client’s best interest’. Occasionally situations may arise where we or one of our other clients have some form of interest in business transacted for you. If this happens or we become aware that our interests or those of one of our other clients conflict with your interest, we will write to you and obtain your consent before we carry out your instructions, and detail the steps we will take to ensure fair treatment.

In accordance with the rules of our regulator, The Financial Conduct Authority, we are prohibited from accepting any payment (commission or other non-monetary benefits) which is likely to conflict with the duty of the firm to its clients. 

Right to cancel

In most cases you can exercise a right to cancel by withdrawing from the contract. In general terms you will normally have a 30 day cancellation period for a life, pure protection, payment protection or pension policy and a 14 day cancellation period for all other policies.

For pure protection policies the start of the cancellation period will normally begin when you are informed that the contract has been concluded or, if later, when you have received the contractual terms and conditions. In other cases, the cancellation period will begin on the day the contract is concluded or, if later, the day on which you receive the contractual terms and conditions. Instructions for exercising the right to cancel, if applicable, will be contained in the relevant product disclosure information which will be issued to you.

If you cancel a single premium contract, you may be required to pay for any loss you might reasonably incur in cancelling it which is caused by market movements. This means that, in certain circumstances, you might not get back the full amount you invested if you cancel the policy.

Should you decide to cancel our agreement to provide an ongoing service you must provide written confirmation of your decision and we will cease payments for these services within 7 business days and after collection of any due proportion of any period charges.

Anti-money laundering

We are required by the anti-money laundering regulations to verify the identity of our clients, to obtain information as to the purpose and nature of the business which we conduct on their behalf, and to ensure that the information we hold is up-to-date. For this purpose we may use electronic identity verification systems and we may conduct these checks from time to time throughout our relationship, not just at the beginning.

Compensation scheme

We are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if we cannot meet our obligations. This is dependent upon the type of business and the circumstances of the claim. 

Mortgage businesses are covered up to a maximum limit of £85,000. Insurance advising and arranging is covered for 90% of the claim, without any upper limit. 

Further information about this compensation scheme arrangement is available from the FSCS.

General Data Protection Regulation

Please see our Privacy Policy above.

Law

This client agreement is governed and shall be construed in accordance with English Law and the parties shall submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

Force Majeure

Mortgage Seekers shall not be in breach of this Agreement and shall not incur any liability to you if there is any failure to perform its duties due to any circumstances reasonably beyond its control.

Termination

The authority to act on your behalf may be terminated at any time without penalty by either party giving seven days notice in writing to that effect to the other, but without prejudice to the completion of transactions already initiated. Any transactions effected before termination and a due proportion of any period charges for services shall be settled to that date.

In writing:
The Compliance Officer
Keystone Financial Ltd
21 Hazel Street
Sutton in Ashfield
NG17 3FD

By email:
compliance@keystoneltd.co.uk

By phone:
0174 3829 097