Privacy & Cookie Notice

1. Who we are

Harmony House Mortgages Ltd is the data controller responsible for the personal information covered by this notice.

• Company name: Harmony House Mortgages Ltd
• Registered office: Sterling House C2 Chartwell Point, Chartwell Drive, Leicester, Leicestershire, LE18 2FT
• Company number: 13967495
• Email: Bina@harmonyhousemortgages.com & Tajal@harmonyhousemortgages.com
• Telephone: 07507 671097 

Harmony House Mortgages Ltd is an Appointed Representative of The Right Mortgage Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

References to "Harmony House Mortgages", "we", "us" or "our" in this notice mean Harmony House Mortgages Ltd.

2. The personal information we collect

Depending on your relationship with us, we may collect and use:

• Your name, address, date of birth and contact details.
• Details about your identity, nationality and residency.
• Information about your employment, income, expenditure and financial circumstances.
• Bank account details, savings, investments, pensions, debts and existing financial commitments.
• Information about properties you own or wish to purchase.
• Details of existing or previous mortgages, insurance policies and financial products.
• Credit history and information obtained through identity, fraud-prevention or credit-reference checks.
• Information about your mortgage, borrowing and protection requirements.
• Information about your dependants and other members of your household.
• Copies of identification documents, bank statements, payslips, tax documents and supporting evidence.
• Records of telephone calls, emails, meetings and other communications.
• Information you provide through our website, enquiry forms or social media.
• Technical information, including your IP address, browser, device and website usage information.
• Marketing preferences and records of your consent.

Where relevant to the advice or services you request, we may also process sensitive information, known as special category data. This may include information about your physical or mental health where it affects your mortgage, insurance or protection requirements. We will only request information that is relevant and reasonably necessary for the services we provide.

3. How we collect your information

• Directly from you when you contact us, complete a form or speak with an adviser.
• From a joint applicant, family member or authorised representative.
• From mortgage lenders, insurers and other financial-services providers.
• From credit-reference, identity-verification and fraud-prevention agencies.
• From estate agents, solicitors, accountants and other professional advisers.
• From introducers, comparison websites or lead-generation providers.
• From our regulatory principal or compliance-support provider, where applicable.
• From publicly available sources, including Companies House and electoral registers.
• Automatically when you use our website, through cookies and similar technologies.

If you provide information about another person, you should ensure that you have permission to do so and that they understand how we will use their information.

4. How we use your information

• Respond to enquiries and arrange appointments.
• Understand your circumstances, needs and objectives.
• Assess your eligibility for mortgage, insurance and protection products.
• Research the market and provide suitable recommendations.
• Submit, administer and progress applications.
• Communicate with lenders, insurers and other organisations involved in your application.
• Verify your identity and carry out anti-money-laundering, fraud-prevention and financial-crime checks.
• Maintain appropriate records of our advice and services.
• Provide ongoing support and respond to future enquiries.
• Handle complaints, disputes and legal claims.
• Meet our legal, regulatory and professional obligations.
• Monitor and improve our services, systems and website.
• Protect our business, systems, clients and other individuals from fraud or misuse.
• Send relevant marketing communications where we have permission or another lawful basis to do so.

We will not use your personal information for purposes that are incompatible with those described in this notice unless permitted or required by law.

5. Our lawful bases for using your information

Contract. We use your information where it is necessary to provide the services you have requested, take steps before entering into an agreement or fulfil our contractual obligations.

Legal and regulatory obligations. We use information where necessary to comply with laws and regulatory requirements, including those concerning financial services, record-keeping, taxation, fraud prevention and anti-money laundering.

Legitimate interests. We may use information where necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights. These interests may include administering our business, maintaining client records, improving our services, protecting our systems and establishing or defending legal claims.

Consent. We may rely on your consent for particular uses of your information, including certain marketing activities. You can withdraw your consent at any time, although this will not affect processing carried out before it was withdrawn.

Special category information. Where we process health information or other special category data, we will identify an additional lawful condition. Depending on the circumstances, this may include your explicit consent or another condition permitted under data-protection law.

We may be unable to provide suitable advice, submit an application or arrange a particular product if you choose not to provide information that is reasonably necessary.

6. Who we share your information with

• Mortgage lenders and product providers.
• Insurance companies and protection providers.
• Our regulatory principal or network, where applicable.
• Compliance consultants and professional advisers.
• Credit-reference, identity-verification and fraud-prevention agencies.
• Solicitors, conveyancers, surveyors, valuers and estate agents.
• Accountants, auditors and legal advisers.
• Mortgage-sourcing, client-management and application-platform providers.
• IT, hosting, communications, document-storage and cybersecurity providers.
• Payment and banking service providers.
• Regulators, ombudsman services, law-enforcement agencies, courts and government bodies.
• A purchaser, investor or successor if our business is sold, transferred or reorganised.
• Other parties where you instruct or authorise us to share the information.

Some recipients, such as lenders and insurers, will act as separate data controllers and will provide their own privacy information explaining how they use your data. We do not sell your personal information.

7. Credit-reference and fraud-prevention agencies

Mortgage lenders and other providers may carry out credit, identity, affordability and fraud-prevention checks when considering an application. These checks may leave a record on your credit file. Information may also be shared with fraud-prevention agencies and used to prevent fraud, money laundering and other financial crime. The lender or provider considering your application will explain which agencies it uses and how your information will be processed.

8. International transfers

Some of our service providers may process or store personal information outside the United Kingdom. Where information is transferred internationally, we will take reasonable steps to ensure that an appropriate level of protection is in place. This may include transferring information to a country recognised as providing adequate protection or using approved contractual safeguards. You may contact us if you would like further information about the safeguards applying to an international transfer.

9. How long we retain your information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet our legal, regulatory, accounting and professional obligations. The retention period may depend on:

• The type of advice or service provided.
• Whether an application completed, was declined or did not proceed.
• Financial Conduct Authority and other regulatory requirements.
• Anti-money-laundering and financial-crime obligations.
• The duration of the client relationship.
• The time limits applying to complaints and legal claims.
• Instructions or requirements imposed by our regulatory principal, where applicable.

When information is no longer required, we will securely delete it, anonymise it or otherwise dispose of it in accordance with our data-retention procedures.

10. How we protect your information

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures designed to protect personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. Access is restricted to people and service providers who require it for legitimate business purposes, and those parties are required to handle the information securely and confidentially. No method of online communication or electronic storage is completely secure, so please avoid sending particularly sensitive information through unsecured channels unless requested by us.

11. Marketing communications

We may contact you with information about our services where:

• You have given us permission.
• You have previously enquired about or used similar services and the law permits us to contact you.
• Another lawful basis applies.

You can ask us to stop sending marketing communications at any time by using the unsubscribe option in a marketing email, or by contacting us using the details in section 1. Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending service-related or regulatory communications concerning an existing enquiry, application or client relationship.

12. Cookies and website information

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Ensure the website operates correctly.
• Remember preferences.
• Understand how visitors use the website.
• Measure website performance.
• Support advertising or marketing activities, where permitted.

Cookies are small text files placed on your device when you visit a website. Essential cookies are needed for the site to function. Where required, non-essential cookies will only be used with your consent, and you can withdraw that consent at any time. Most browsers also allow you to block or delete cookies through their settings, although this may affect how the website works.

Our website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those websites, and you should read their privacy notices before providing personal information.

13. Automated decision-making

Harmony House Mortgages Ltd does not ordinarily make decisions producing legal or similarly significant effects solely through automated processing. Lenders, insurers and other product providers may use automated systems when assessing an application, and their own privacy notices should explain how those systems operate and describe any relevant rights.

14. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:

• Request access to your personal information.
• Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Ask us to erase your information.
• Ask us to restrict how your information is used.
• Object to particular uses of your information, including direct marketing.
• Receive certain information in a portable format.
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.
• Ask for human intervention where a significant decision has been made solely through automated processing.
• Complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.

These rights are subject to legal conditions and exemptions. For example, we may need to retain certain information to meet our legal and regulatory obligations even if you request its deletion. We may ask you to provide proof of identity before responding to a request. We will not normally charge a fee, although the law allows a reasonable fee or refusal in certain limited circumstances. To exercise a right, please contact us using the details in section 1.

15. Complaints

Please contact us first if you have a concern about how we have used your personal information. We will investigate the matter and try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

16. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice periodically to reflect changes to our services, business practices or legal obligations. The latest version will be published on our website, with the date of the most recent update shown at the beginning of the notice.