Privacy Policy

Introduction

Utilink Consulting Limited a limited company registered in England and Wales under company registration number 13127960 and whose registered address is at 1st Floor Waterside House, Sunderland Enterprise Park, Sunderland, England, SR5 2TZ.

Agreement

By using our website and submitting your details via one of our product enquiry forms you are providing Utilink Consulting Limited with consent to hold and process your personal data in order to provide the services required and you will be asked on each occasion an enquiry form is completed to agree to our terms and conditions so that our Partners (i.e. energy brokers) can provide you with quotations.

Our Services

www.utilinkconsulting.co.uk is free to use, any charges applicable to any contract you arrange after using the site will be paid to us via the utilities supplier and details of such charges will be advised by the provider concerned.

Once your details are submitted you will be contacted by one of our agents who will provide you with quotations for your utilities supply, this will be by telephone and also in some cases via email and SMS.

Your responsibility

Our panel will provide you with quotations based on the information you supply. It is essential that all of the details and answers are true and accurate, and that all relevant information is disclosed.

utilinkconsulting.co.uk does not check the information you enter into our system. The utilities deals offered to you are solely due to the information disclosed to us by you.

It is important that you read all the documentation provided to you by the provider including their terms and conditions. It is your responsibility to inform the provider of any discrepancies.

utilinkconsulting.co.uk respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy policy will inform you as to how we look after your personal data, whether collected when you visit our website (www.utilinkconsulting.co.uk) (regardless of where you visit it from) or otherwise and tells you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

This privacy policy is provided in a layered format so you can click through to the specific areas set out below. Please also use the Glossary (section below) to understand the meaning of some of the terms used in this privacy policy.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND WHO WE ARE

Purpose of this privacy policy

This privacy policy aims to give you information on how utilinkconsulting.co.uk collects and processes your personal data however provided. Our principal means of collecting personal data is through your use of our website (including any data you may provide through our website when you make an enquiry), however we may on occasion also collect personal data in other ways such as over the phone or by e-mail.

This website is not intended for children and we do not knowingly collect data relating to children.

It is important that you read this privacy policy together with any other privacy policy or fair processing policy we may provide on specific occasions when we are collecting or processing personal data about you so that you are fully aware of how and why we are using your data. This privacy policy supplements other notices and privacy policies and is not intended to override them.

Controller

Utilink Consulting Limited (a company registered in England and Wales under company number 13127960) is the controller and responsible for your personal data (referred to as “Utilink”, “Utilink Consulting”, “we”, “us” or “our” in this privacy policy).

We have appointed a data protection officer (DPO) who is responsible for overseeing questions in relation to this privacy policy. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, including any requests to exercise your legal rights, please contact the DPO using the details set out below.

Contact details

If you have any questions about this privacy policy or our privacy practices, please contact our DPO in the following ways:

Name: Sam Riches
Email address: sam.riches@utilinkconsulting.co.uk
Postal address: 1st Floor Waterside House, Sunderland Enterprise Park, Sunderland, England, SR5 2TZ.
Telephone number: 0330 054 0471

Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)

Utilink Consulting Limited is registered as a data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office, registration number ZB056659.

You have the right to make a complaint at any time to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection issues (www.ico.org.uk). We would, however, appreciate the chance to deal with your concerns before you approach the ICO so please contact us in the first instance.

Changes to the privacy policy and your duty to inform us of changes

We keep our privacy policy under regular review. Updates of this policy will be published on our website. Any questions, comments or requests concerning this policy should be sent to info@utilinkconsulting.co.uk.

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your relationship with us.

Third-party links

Our website may include 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 statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy policy of every website you visit.

THE DATA WE COLLECT ABOUT YOU

Personal data, or personal information, means any information about an individual from which that person can be identified. It does not include data where the identity has been removed (anonymous data).

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

Identity Data includes first name, maiden name, last name, username or similar identifier, title, date of birth and gender.
Contact Data includes postal address, email address and telephone numbers.
Transaction Data includes details about enquiries made to us and other interactions you have had with us.
Technical Data includes internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, and other technology on the devices you use to access our website.
Profile Data includes details specific to which type of energy supply you would like to receive a quote for.
Usage Data includes information about how you use our website, products and services.
Marketing and Communications Data includes your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties and your communication preferences.

We also collect, use and share Aggregated Data such as statistical or demographic data for any purpose. Aggregated Data could be derived from your personal data but is not considered personal data in law as this data will not directly or indirectly reveal your identity. For example, we may aggregate your Usage Data to calculate the percentage of users accessing a specific page. However, if we combine or connect Aggregated Data with your personal data so that it can directly or indirectly identify you, we treat the combined data as personal data which will be used in accordance with this privacy policy.

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you, and you fail to provide that data when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have or are trying to enter into with you (for example, if you fail to provide the information we request from you, our partners may not be able to obtain energy quotes for you). In this case, we may have to cancel a service you have with us but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:

Direct interactions. You may give us your Identity and Contact Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you give us feedback or contact us.
Automated technologies or interactions. As you interact with our website, we will automatically collect anonymised Technical Data about your equipment, browsing actions and patterns. We collect this anonymised data by using cookies, server logs and other similar technologies. We may also receive Technical Data about you if you visit other websites employing our cookies.
Third parties or publicly available sources. We may verify your personal data with various third parties and public sources.
Technical Data from the following parties:
- analytics providers such as Google based outside the EU;
- advertising networks based inside the EU; and search information providers inside the EU.

HOW WE USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

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

To assist in providing you with quotes for energy supplies as requested by you.
Where it is necessary for our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests.
Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

Please refer to the Glossary at section 11 to find out more about the types of lawful basis that we will rely on to process your personal data.

Purposes for which we will use your personal data

We have set out below, in a table format, a description of all the ways we plan to use your personal data, and which of the legal bases we rely on to do so. We have also identified what our legitimate interests are where appropriate.

Note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful ground depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data. Please contact us if you need details about the specific legal ground we are relying on to process your personal data where more than one ground has been set out in the table below.

Lawful basis for processing including basis of legitimate interest

To register you as a new user

Identity Data
Contact Data
Profile Data
Transaction Data
Marketing and Communications Data

To administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data)

To deliver relevant website content and advertisements to you and measure or understand the effectiveness of the advertising we serve to you

Identity Data
Contact Data
Profile Data
Usage Data
Marketing and Communications Data
Technical Data
Transaction Data

Type of data

Identity Data
Contact Data
Profile Data
Transaction Data

Identity Data
Contact Data
Technical Data

Performance of a contract with you
Necessary to comply with a legal obligation
Necessary for our legitimate interests (to keep our records updated and to study how customers use our products/services)

To use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences

To manage our relationship with you which will include:

Notifying you about changes to our terms or privacy policy
Asking you to leave a review or take a survey

Necessary for our legitimate interests (for running our business, provision of administration and IT services, network security, to prevent fraud and in the context of a business reorganisation or group restructuring exercise)
Necessary to comply with a legal obligation

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to study how customers use our products/services, to develop them, to grow our business and to inform our marketing strategy)

Purpose/Activity

Performance of a contract with you

Technical Data
Usage Data

Necessary for our legitimate interests (to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, to develop our business and to inform our marketing strategy)

Marketing / Renewal Reminders

We strive to provide you with choices regarding certain personal data uses, particularly around marketing and advertising.

Utilinkconsulting.co.uk may contact you via email and/or SMS to remind you about your upcoming renewal around the anniversary of when you last completed a quote form on our website, this will give you the opportunity to receive quotes again from our panel. If you would prefer not to be contacted for this purpose, then please email info@utilinkconsulting.co.uk

Third-party marketing

We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any third party for marketing purposes.

Opting out

You can ask utilinkconsulting.co.uk to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by contacting us via email – info@utilinkconsulting.co.uk

Where you opt out of receiving these marketing messages, this will not apply to personal data provided to us as a result of enquiries submitted to us, services provided by us or other transactions.

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly. For more information about the cookies we use, please click here.

Change of purpose

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If you wish to get an explanation as to how the processing for the new purpose is compatible with the original purpose, please contact us.

If we need to use your personal data for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

We may share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the table in section 4 above.

Internal Third Parties as set out in the Glossary at section 11.
External Third Parties as set out in the Glossary at section 11.
Partners as set out in the Glossary at section 11.
Third parties to whom we may choose to sell, transfer or merge parts of our business or our assets. Alternatively, we may seek to acquire other businesses or merge with them. If a change happens to our business, then the new owners may use your personal data in the same way as set out in this privacy policy.

We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS OF DATA

Many of our external third parties are based outside the EEA so their processing of your personal data will involve a transfer of data outside the EEA.

Whenever we transfer your personal data out of the EEA, we ensure a similar degree of protection is afforded to it by ensuring at least one of the following safeguards is implemented:

We will only transfer your personal data to countries that have been deemed to provide an adequate level of protection for personal data by the European Commission. For further details, see European Commission: Adequacy of the protection of personal data in non-EU countries.
Where we use certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which give personal data the same protection it has in Europe. For further details, see European Commission: Model contracts for the transfer of personal data to third countries.
Where we use providers based in the US, we may transfer data to them if they are part of the Privacy Shield which requires them to provide similar protection to personal data shared between Europe and the US. For further details, see European Commission: EU-US Privacy Shield.

DATA SECURITY

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to those employees, agents, contractors and other third parties who have a business need to know. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We have put in place procedures 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

How long will you use my personal data for?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as reasonably necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or reporting requirements. We may retain your personal data for a longer period in the event of a complaint or if we reasonably believe there is a prospect of litigation in respect to our relationship with you.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal, regulatory, tax, accounting or other requirements.

Details of retention periods for different aspects of your personal data are available in our retention policy which you can request from us by contacting us.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. Including the right to:

Request access to your personal data.
Request correction of your personal data.
Request erasure of your personal data.
Object to processing of your personal data.
Request restriction of processing your personal data.
Request transfer of your personal data.
Right to withdraw consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us – info@utilinkconsulting.co.uk

No fee usually required

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we could refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

What we may need from you

We may need to request specific information from you to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data (or to exercise any of your other rights). This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it. We may also contact you to ask you for further information in relation to your request to speed up our response.

Time limit to respond

We try to respond to all legitimate requests within one month. Occasionally it could take us longer than a month if your request is particularly complex or you have made a number of requests. In this case, we will notify you and keep you updated.

COMPLAINTS

We endeavour to offer a first-class service to all our customers; however, we understand that there may be occasions where we fail to achieve this.

Should you have cause for complaint, we’d like you to tell us straight away, please email info@utilinkconsulting.co.uk

Should your complaint be against one of our panel members or affiliates, we will pass your complaint onto them. The company will then reply to your complaint, in line with their own complaints procedure which is monitored by the Financial Conduct Authority.

GLOSSARY

LAWFUL BASIS

Legitimate Interest means the interest of our business in conducting and managing our business to enable us to give you the best service/product and the best and most secure experience. We make sure we consider and balance any potential impact on you (both positive and negative) and your rights before we process your personal data for our legitimate interests. We do not use your personal data for activities where our interests are overridden by the impact on you (unless we have your consent or are otherwise required or permitted to by law). You can obtain further information about how we assess our legitimate interests against any potential impact on you in respect of specific activities by contacting us.

Performance of Contract means processing your data where it is 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.

Comply with a legal obligation means processing your personal data where it is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation that we are subject to.

THIRD PARTIES

Internal Third Parties - Other companies in the same group acting as joint controllers or processors and who are based in the United Kingdom and provide related or complementary services.

External Third Parties - Service providers acting as processors based in the EU who provide IT and system administration services.

PARTNERS

When arranging a utilities contract for you (electricity, gas, water, waste, telecoms, and insurance), we will provide data to one or more utilities suppliers, in order to provide a quote and ultimately to arrange an utilities contract for you.

Utilities suppliers who can source, and provide quotes for, suitable utilities contracts based on the information you submit to us. We have relationships with a large number of utilities suppliers. The list of Partners we deal with changes on a regular basis and accordingly it is impractical to list in full all those Partners we have an active relationship with.

If you would like a list of Partners we deal with at any particular point, please contact our Data Protection Officer who will be able to provide a list as at a particular date - email info@utilinkconsulting.co.uk

.If you would like to know who your information has been shared with in the course of arranging your contracts, then you can request this information at any time.

YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS

You have the right to:

Request access to your personal data (commonly known as a “data subject access request”). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

Request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

Request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no good reason for us continuing to process it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing (see below), where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

Object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

Request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios:

If you want us to establish the data’s accuracy.
Where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it.
Where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
You have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

Request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.