Privacy Policy

1. Who we are

Financial Fred (“we”, “us”, “our”) is a UK lead generation and matching service that introduces consumers to FCA-authorised financial firms. We are the data controller for the personal data you submit through this website.

Contact: hello@financialfred.co.uk. Postal address: [Registered office address]. ICO registration: [ICO reference].

2. What data we collect

• Identity and contact data: full name, email address, phone number, postcode where requested.
• Service-specific data: the qualifying information you provide on a service form, such as property value, deposit, pension pot value, business turnover, age, employment status or smoker status.
• Technical data: IP address, browser type, device, pages visited, referring URL, and time spent on the site, collected through cookies and analytics tools.
• Communications data: any messages or enquiries you send to us.

3. Why we collect it and our legal basis

We process your personal data on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Consent (Article 6(1)(a)): when you submit a lead form, you consent to your details being shared with one or more FCA-authorised financial partners for the purpose of providing the service you have asked about.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): to operate, secure and improve the website, and to maintain records of enquiries.
• Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): where we must keep records for tax, anti-fraud or regulatory purposes.

Where any data we collect is considered “special category” (for example, smoker status disclosed for life insurance), we rely on your explicit consent under Article 9(2)(a).

4. How we share your data with financial partners

This is the most important section of this policy. When you submit a service enquiry, the personal data and qualifying information you provide will be shared with one or more carefully selected FCA-authorised financial firms (“Partners”) so that they can contact you about the service you have requested. We may share your data with up to three Partners for any single enquiry, depending on the service and your selected preferences.

Each Partner becomes an independent data controller of your data once it is received. Partners are contractually required to:

• Use your data only to contact you about the service you enquired about;
• Comply with UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, PECR and FCA rules;
• Honour any opt-out or deletion request you send to them.

You can ask us at any time which Partner(s) received your enquiry by emailing hello@financialfred.co.uk.

5. Other recipients

We also share data with: our hosting and infrastructure providers; our CRM and email delivery providers; analytics providers; professional advisors (lawyers, auditors); and law enforcement or regulators where legally required.

6. International transfers

Your data is primarily processed within the UK and EEA. Where any sub-processor is located outside the UK, we ensure an appropriate transfer mechanism is in place, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses.

7. How long we keep your data

• Lead enquiry data: kept for 24 months from the date of submission, then deleted or anonymised.
• Contact form messages: kept for 12 months from the date of last correspondence.
• Financial and tax records: kept for 6 years where required by law.
• Analytics data: aggregated and retained for up to 26 months.

8. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you;
• Have inaccurate data corrected;
• Have your data erased (the “right to be forgotten”);
• Object to processing or restrict it;
• Receive your data in a portable format;
• Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

To exercise any of these rights, email hello@financialfred.co.uk. We will respond within one calendar month.

9. Cookies

We use a small number of essential cookies to operate the site and optional analytics cookies to understand how visitors use it. You can control non-essential cookies via your browser settings or our cookie banner.

10. How to make a complaint

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please contact us first so we can try to resolve the matter. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113
• Address: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page will reflect the date of the most recent change. Material changes will be notified prominently on the site.