PRIVACY POLICY
Wander Homes are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. This Privacy Notice explains how we will collect your personal data and how we use your personal data when you visit our website.
Wander Homes Estate Agents Limited are the data controllers in respect of the personal data processed when you visit our website. If you have any questions or concerns in relation to this Privacy Notice, you can contact our Data Protection Officer at lettings@wanderhomes.co.uk.
This privacy notice was last amended in May 2021. It supersedes any earlier version.
Third-party links
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, or applications which may allow third parties to collect or share your personal data. We are not responsible for their use of your personal data and cannot control it.
1. The information we may collect and how we will use it
As an Estate Agent and Lettings business, we collect, use, store, and transfer different types of personal data depending on who you are.
If you are purchasing, renting, selling, or letting a property through Wander Homes, or purchasing, renting, selling, or letting a property from one of our clients, we collect and use your personal data in order for us to provide you with our services. The personal data we collect and use may include:
- Identity Data (name, marital status, title, date of birth, gender, username and password, purchases made by you, your interests and preferences, feedback, and survey responses)
- Contact Data (email address and telephone numbers)
- Financial Data (bank account and payment details)
- Transaction Data (details about payments to and from you and other services you have purchased through us)
- Technical Data (internet protocol address, login information, browser type and version, time zone setting, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform, identification number, online identifier, location data, and other similar identifying information required for the customer’s device(s) to communicate with websites and applications on the internet)
- Usage Data (how you use our website products and services, the full uniform resource locators clickstream to, through and from our site (including date and time), download errors, lengths of visit to certain pages, page interaction information, methods to browse away from the page, and any phone numbers you use to call us)
- Marketing and Communications Data (your marketing preferences from us and our third parties and your communication preferences)
We also may collect and use Aggregated Data. For example, when you visit our website, we may aggregate data about your usage to tell us about how certain features on our website are used. This is not usually classified as personal data as while it derives from personal data (in the example, it is derived from your Usage Data), it does not reveal your identity to us. If we do link this Aggregated Data to your personal information, it will be treated as personal data in line with this policy.
It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if any of your personal data changes during your relationship with us. You can ask us to rectify or update your personal information at any time by email to lettings@wanderhomes.co.uk.
2. How is your personal data collected?
We use different methods to collect data from and about you including through:
Direct interactions
You may give us your Identity, Contact and Financial Data by filling in forms or by corresponding with us by post, phone, email or otherwise. This includes personal data you provide when you:
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apply for our services;
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create an account on our website;
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subscribe to our service or publications;
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request marketing to be sent to you;
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contact us through social media;
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walk-in to our branch offices or telephone our office;
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enter a competition, promotion or survey; or
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give us some feedback.
Third parties or publicly available source
We may receive personal data about you from various third parties and public sources as set out below:
Identity and Contact Data from data brokers or aggregators such as:
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Rightmove based inside the EU
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Zoopla Property Group based inside the EU
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On The Market based inside the EU
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Facebook based outside the EU
Identity and Contact Data from publicly availably sources such as Companies House and the Electoral Register based inside the EU.
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3. How we use your Personal Data
We plan to use your personal data for various purposes to enhance our services and fulfill our contractual obligations. This includes contacting you, managing financial transactions, and marketing communications, all based on the performance of a contract with you or for our legitimate business interests. Additionally, we may share your data with selected third parties for marketing purposes or to improve our services, subject to your consent for certain communications. We also use personal data to verify identities, provide customer support, facilitate property viewings, and comply with legal obligations. All processing activities are grounded in legal compliance, contract performance, or our legitimate interests in running and developing our business.
Marketing
You have the right to withdraw your consent for us to use your personal data for marketing purposes at any time. You also have the right to withdraw consent for us to pass your information to third parties for marketing purposes. If you do withdraw your consent, this will result in us ceasing to market goods and services to you.
You can ask us to stop sending you marketing messages at any time by:
contacting us at any time by emailing lettings@wanderhomes.co.uk.
If you do withdraw your consent to receiving marketing messages, we will still process your personal data in order to fulfil our contract with you and in accordance with our legal, accountancy, and regulatory obligations.
If you no longer wish to be contacted by third parties for marketing purposes, please follow the instructions in their marketing communications, or consult their privacy policies about how to unsubscribe.
Third-party marketing
We will get your express opt-in consent before we share your personal data with any company outside of our business for marketing purposes.
Cookies
The Wander Homes website and applications may automatically collect data about how you use our services in order to help us improve future functionality. We use Google Analytics, which is a web analysis service provided by Google.
The cookies on the Wander Homes website do not track, collect or upload data such as your name, email address, or billing information, but it may collect data about your equipment and browsing activities. We may collect and report on the adoption and usage of specific features, crashes and exceptions, and other useful, anonymous metrics.
4. DISCLOSURES OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We may have to share your personal data with the parties set out below for the purposes set out in the “Purposes for which we will use your personal data” section. We have agreements in place with our third parties that restrict their use of your personal data. We only allow third parties to use your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.
Related Third Parties
- Our mortgage brokers – The Mortgage Store, John Charcoal Financial Planning, and Mortgage Wise (Where you have consented for us to do so)
External Third Parties
- Service providers acting as processors based in the United Kingdom who provide IT and system administration services, anti-money laundering service providers, we use Smart Search, our chosen Deposit Registration providers TDS and DPS, and other services to enable us to perform our contract with you.
- Advertisers and advertising networks (including social media) that require the data to select and serve relevant adverts to you.
- Professional advisers acting as processors or joint controllers including lawyers, bankers, auditors, and insurers based in the United Kingdom who provide consultancy, banking, legal, insurance, and accountancy services.
- HMRC, regulators, and other authorities acting as processors or joint controllers based in the United Kingdom who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances.
Other Third Parties
- If you are a tenant and we are helping you with the administration in moving, we will refer your personal information to either Homeshift, One Utility Bill t/a Notify, or Red Brick Bills which acts on our behalf to provide these services. Homeshift, One Utility Bill t/a Notify, or Red Brick Bills may contact you about the other services that they provide if you consent for them to do so.
- Sometimes there may be 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 notice.
Anti-Money Laundering
Wander Homes is committed to operating its business in a transparent and open manner consistent with our legal and regulatory obligations. We are aware that the real estate industry is a target for organised criminals seeking to launder the proceeds of criminal activity. We always seek to prevent this activity by cooperating fully with the authorities and reporting suspicious activity to the National Crime Agency.
As part of this commitment, we adopt a strict compliance of all Anti-Money Laundering rules, with specific emphasis on the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, the Bribery Act 2010, and the Terrorism Act 2000.
Wander Homes' policy commitment is applicable to all of our customers, including vendors, buyers, landlords, and tenants. As a result, we obtain and hold for a period of at least seven years evidence pertaining to our customers’ identity and, where appropriate, we obtain proof of ownership of property and source/destination of funds. We will be unable to proceed with any work on behalf of our customers if we are unable to obtain this information. Customers’ identity will be subject to an electronic identity check, which may also include a credit check.
Wander Homes is registered and supervised by HM Revenue & Customs for compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2017.
5. DATA SECURITY
Once we have received your personal data, we will use reasonable and necessary procedures and security features to try and prevent unauthorized access. For example, we limit who can access your personal data to those individuals and third parties who need to know it and who are subject to a duty of confidentiality. If we become aware of a data breach, we will notify the Information Commissioner’s Office. If we believe that the data breach is serious, we may notify you in accordance with our legal requirements.
6. INTERNATIONAL TRANSFERS
We will not transfer your personal data outside of the European Economic Area, except to a country offering the same level of protection for your personal data. For example, with certain service providers, we may use specific contracts approved by the European Commission which ensures that your personal data has the same protection as it would have in Europe.
7. DATA RETENTION
We hold on to your personal data whilst you use our services (or whilst we provide services connected to you) and for at least seven years thereafter, for legal, regulatory, and accounting purposes. If we need to hold on to your personal data for longer, we take into consideration the potential risks in continuing to store your data against why we might need to keep it. In some circumstances, we might anonymize your personal data so it is not associated with you, and we may then use this information indefinitely.
8. YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS
Under data protection laws, you have the right to protect and look after your personal data. You have the right to:
- Ask us for the personal data that we hold and process about you (this is commonly known as a data subject access request). You have rights to the following information:
- The purpose(s) for which we are processing your information;
- The categories of personal information we hold about you;
- The recipients or categories of recipient to whom the personal data have been or will be disclosed;
- The period for which we will store your information, or the criteria used to determine that period;
- Prevent the use of your personal data for marketing purposes by:
- Informing one of our staff via telephone; or
- By ticking the relevant boxes on the data collection forms; or
- By emailing lettings@wanderhomes.co.uk
- Please note that even if you refuse marketing, we will still contact you to discuss the services you have asked us to provide to you or to tell you about changes to our terms and conditions;
- Ask that any inaccurate information we hold about you is corrected;
- Ask that we delete the personal data we hold about you in certain situations;
- Ask that we stop using your personal data for certain purposes;
- Ask that we do not make decisions about you using completely automated means; and/or
- Ask that personal data we hold about you is given to you, or where technically feasible a third party chosen by you, in a commonly used, machine-readable format.
The rights listed above may apply in certain circumstances, and so we may not always be able to comply with your request to exercise these rights. We will usually respond to a request from you to exercise your rights within 28 days of receipt, but it might take longer if your request is particularly complex or if you have made a number of requests. Please be aware that we may need to process your personal data and/or request specific information from you to help us comply with your request. You will not usually have to pay a fee to exercise these rights, but we reserve the right to if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive, alternatively we may refuse to comply with your request.
9. INTERNAL COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE
Wander Homes Estate Agents aims to provide a high standard of service to all our customers, and we hope that you will draw to our attention any areas that may fall short of this in order to help us improve our standards.
If you have a complaint, please put it in writing, including as much detail as possible. We will then respond in line with the timeframes set out below. If you feel we have not sought to address your complaints within eight weeks, you may be able to refer your complaint to the Property Ombudsman to consider.
You should inform the Company Secretary of Wander Homes Estate Agents, of your complaint, in writing. Written acknowledgment of your complaint will be sent within three working days of its receipt, together with an indication of when the investigation will be completed. A formal written outcome of our investigation will be sent to you within 15 working days of sending the acknowledgment letter.
If you remain dissatisfied after this investigation, you should refer your complaint in writing to the Branch Manager. We will write to you within 15 working days of receiving your request for a review, confirming our final viewpoint on the matter.
If your complaint has not been resolved through the above channels within 8 weeks of it being advised in writing, you may elect to refer the matter to binding arbitration through The Property Ombudsman Service.
The Property Ombudsman, Milford House, 43-55 Milford Street, Salisbury SP1 2BP
Telephone: 01722 333 306, email: admin@tpos.co.uk or www.tpos.co.uk
Please note the following:
- You will need to submit your complaint to The Property Ombudsman within 12 months of receiving our final viewpoint letter, including any evidence to support your case.
- The Property Ombudsman requires that all complaints are addressed through this In-house Complaints procedure, before being submitted for an independent review.
10. WHEN YOU CALL US
Please be advised that for quality assurance and training purposes, we may record phone calls that you make to our customer service team. These recordings are used to improve our services and ensure the highest level of customer support. We handle all recordings with the utmost respect for your privacy, in accordance with our privacy policy and applicable legislation.