This privacy notice sets out and explains the various types of data that this firm may collect about you in our day-to-day dealings with you when we act for you and interact in relation to your claim.
The notice explains how we ensure that we keep your personal data safe – how we store it and handle the data in our possession. It also sets out your legal rights.
Ensuring and maintaining the security of your data is paramount and we are committed to ensuring that your data is handled fairly and legally at all times.
The legal basis for using data
Companies are permitted to collect and process data for a number of different reasons pursuant to data protection law. These include:
- Consent – if you consent to collection and processing of your personal data
- Contractual obligations – it may be necessary to collect and process data to comply with contractual obligations
- Legal compliance – the Law may require us to collect and process your data
- Legitimate interests – collection and processing of customer data is necessary for the legitimate interests of Fletchers
Legitimate interests for Fletchers collection and retention of data may include:
- It is required to fulfil the firm’s duties and to provide an effective service to its customers
- Personal information regarding the client has to be processed to enable the firm to provide its services to its customers
- Client data needs to be processed to enable an assessment to be made as to whether a claim merits investigation
- Such data needs to be processed and retained when presenting a claim to another party.
- Information needs to be provided to the Court or the Opponent in a legal case, which can only be obtained by processing client data.
- Personal details contained within medical reports, medical records and witness statements have to be retained and processed, as these are vital ingredients in a legal claim
- Data is needed to enable a conflict check to be undertaken
- It is required to enable the firm to respond adequately to complaints and expressions of dissatisfaction or to manage any insurance claims made by clients
- It is important to retain personal data during the course of a claim to ensure that the firm is able to protect the client’s position and make sure that their best interests are protected at all times
- It is important to retain personal data of employee’s to protect their safety, health and welfare
- It may be necessary to fulfil the company’s legal and regulatory obligations or to prevent, investigate or detect crime or fraud, including working with law enforcement agencies
- Improving products and services and developing new products and services
- Promoting and advertising our products and services
- We need personal information to process applications for employment
Who are Fletchers?
Fletchers Solicitors Ltd is a firm of Solicitors based in Southport and Manchester.
The company’s registered office is Dukes House, 34 Hoghton Street, Southport PR9 0PU.
The company operates under a number of brand names:
- Fletchers Solicitors
- Fletchers Data Claims
- Patient Claim Line
- Cycle Claim Line
- Medical Law Network
- The Compensation Experts
- The Medical Negligence Experts
- The Inheritance Experts
It is an essential part of our business to collect and manage client and non-client data.
Contact Information
If you have any questions about how Fletchers Solicitors uses your personal data or if you want to exercise your legal rights in relation to your personal data, please contact us by any of the following means:
By telephone – 01704 546919
By e-mail – enquiries@fs.co.uk
Write to us – St James’ Tower, 7 Charlotte Street, Manchester, M1 4DZ
You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office. Further information and contact details are available at https://ico.org.uk
When do we collect your data?
The main situations where we may collect your data are as follows:
Personal injury, medical negligence, data breach and emissions/miss-selling claims
- When you contact us to consider a potential claim against another party arising from an accident, medical negligence, data breach or emissions/miss-selling claim surrounding a vehicle purchase or lease.
- We will ask you to provide personal data to enable us to make an assessment of the merits of your claim or instruction to act for you
- When you complete a claim form online
- If we accept instructions to act for you or we believe reasonable prospects exist in respect of a claim and you wish to proceed, we may gather additional data required to allow us to proceed with case and will retain such data to enable that case to be continued
- We may collect data if you make an enquiry online via our website or by e-mail enquiry
- This is needed to enable us to contact you and respond to your query
- To enable a case to be progressed, it is often necessary to obtain personal information about you from third parties – this may include your employer, your family, your medical advisers or your insurance company
- It is necessary for this information to be obtained and retained so that your legal case can be effectively processed
- We collect data when you give a third-party permission to share with us the information they hold about you
- We may obtain data when we are supplied with documents from such third parties; for example, medical records
- Medical records are often a very important factor in a personal injury claim – it is necessary for a client’s medical records to be reviewed thoroughly by our lawyers to ensure that any pre-existing conditions or medical complications will or may have an impact upon recovery following and accident or medical negligence
- Similarly, information regarding a customer’s earnings and financial situation are often required to enable a claim for loss of earnings to be included
- When you contact us by any means with queries or complaints etc.
- When you choose to complete any surveys that we may send you
- We record our customer and third-party interactions – any information captured will be stored for a period in excess of 12 months but no longer than when the file is destroyed.
- To provide services under Patient Claim Line and Medical Law Network it may be necessary to refer your enquiry to another firm of solicitors or other third parties that we work with in the provision of legal services, for that third party company to progress the enquiry and claim.
Court of Protection Team
- When you contact us to consider a potential instruction to act for you in the creation of a Will, obtaining a Grant of Probate, administering an Estate, application to the Public Guardianship Office or administration of a Trust
- When we are instructed to provide legal services by a Deputy or Trust Corporation (such as Fletchers Trust Corporation Limited) on behalf of a person lacking capacity to manage their own legal or financial affairs
- In providing services on behalf of a Deputy or Trustee, it will be necessary for us to gather data quickly after instruction to enable the team to fully understand the client’s financial, employment and family situation – to enable the team to act in the client’s best interests from the outset.
What personal data do we collect?
To enable us to fulfil our obligations and provide our service to you, these are the main types of personal data we may collect, depending upon the complexity of the claim:
- Details of your name, address, contact number
- Employment details
- Date of birth
- E-mail address and contact details generally
- Your family situation and details of family members
- Information regarding your claim, which could include vehicle details, insurance information, medical history, family situation
- Your financial records including details of your income and earnings
- Your medical records
- Your occupational health records
- Details of your work history
- Information relating to you educational achievements
- Possibly bank details
- DWP records in appropriate cases
- Pension details
- Personal details relating to hobbies, interests and pastimes
Court of Protection Team
In a matter involving our Court of Protection team, to enable us to fulfil our obligations and provide our service to you, these are the main types of personal data we may collect, depending upon the nature of the instruction:
- Financial details – such as bank accounts, income and expenditure
- Details of living arrangements and family situation
- Information and details regarding medical conditions and care requirements
- Testamentary information/details of testamentary wishes and intentions
- Any existing grants of probate/wills
- Information regarding past and existing employment
- Pension information
- Details of savings and asset ownership (including home)
- Mortgage and other loan arrangements
- Details of existing insurance arrangements
- Information regarding existing utilities contracts/regular outgoings
- Tax information
- Details regarding any criminal history (to include road traffic offences)
- Details relating to any existing claim or settlement information – direct or via solicitors
- Accident details (where applicable)
- Social care records
- Benefits information
- Data provided by various agencies e.g. council, housing authority, care providers
Using our website
When filling out contact or feedback forms on our website, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your name, e-mail address, phone number or a time at which we can contact you directly using manual methods.
We use third-party analytics provided by Google Analytics.
When viewing our site we may collect information on your site-viewing activity, such as pages visited, duration of session and geolocation data.
For information on how Google Analytics collects and processes information about you and information on how to opt out from Google’s collection of information from you, please click here.
When you register your CV or Application Form with Fletchers Solicitors it will be made available to our recruitment team in connection with the recruitment process unless you request otherwise.
Should you wish for us to remove your CV from our database, please contact Alison Pye.
Using our App
We communicate with clients and third parties using traditional methods such as post and telephone. We also use email systems plus text messages to mobile phones. Further we provide access to the Fletchers Mobile App for all ongoing client matters to the data subject of that matter. This is used to pass messages and documents between the firm and the data subject in a secure and controlled manner. These messages and documents will contain data belonging to the data subject. The app is managed by Lavatech Ltd who are a processor. If a data subject does not wish to use the Fletchers App to deal with communications during the course of any contract then they should contact their main point of contact or email compliance@fs.co.uk and ask for removal from that system.
How do we use your data?
Fletchers Solicitors Ltd (and trusted partners acting on our behalf) uses your personal data in the following ways:
- As indicated above, it is necessary for personal data to be processed to enable a claim to be presented to your opponent in a personal injury claim
- As indicated above, it is necessary for personal data to be processed to enable a case to be progressed in accordance with our contract for services
- Details need to be provided relating to your identity, address, date of birth and occupation to allow us to fulfil our “know your client” checks as well as our anti-money laundering obligations
- To succeed in a claim this information needs to be provided to your opponent and the court, together information relating to your income – if you are pursuing a claim for loss of earnings following and accident or medical mistake
- Your medical information and medical records are in most personal injury claims very relevant to the outcome. It is necessary for our lawyers and team members to review your records in detail to ensure that they are no entries within them which may be adverse to your case or which may undermine your case. Review of this medical information is vital to ensure that we are in a position to advise you appropriately with regard to any offers that may be made
- As part of the claim process, it will be necessary for your medical records to be made available to other parties: any medical experts preparing a report in relation to injuries that you have suffered; the solicitor acting on behalf of your opponent or their insurers, who is entitled to review the records and make them available to your opponent’s nominated expert; the court i.e. the Judge hearing your case, who will need to take your previous medical history into account when determining the outcome of your case
- Similarly, with your financial information – if you are pursuing a claim for lost earnings or pension loss, for example, your personal information in this regard may be reviewed by our team members but may also be considered by financial experts instructed on your behalf. They must also be made available to the court or your opponents, for the same reasons as above with medical records
- We will use your personal information to prepare a detailed witness statement in support of your case
- We may use parts of the information within your medical records to enable to enhance our in-house processes, to enable us to provide a better service to customers, particularly the development of decision support software and pagination in medical negligence cases
- We may use your data to tell you information which we believe may be of use and interest to you or to advertise our services, unless you tell us that you do not want us to
- We use All Response Media Ltd. for media campaign analysis and optimisation and they utilise your web activity data from our site (only) to plan and optimise our media campaigns to most effectively deliver our marketing strategies and ensure the ads that you receive from us are relevant to you. They do this through Analysis cookies from their Tag4ARM web tracking system. You will not be affected as an individual by these campaign optimisation practices.‘Analysis’ cookies are used to understand user behaviour and optimise marketing campaigns e.g., we may track which creative and medium has more resonance with our client base. This process enables us to serve relevant ads to our clients and to deliver a better experience with our brand. PLATFORMS: TAG4ARM
Court of Protection Team
- To successfully complete the contracted case information may need to be provided to the Public Guardianship Office, financial institutions, insurance companies, accountants and other organisations linked specifically to the contracted instructions
- Financial records may also be released to the Public Guardianship Office, HM Revenue and Customs in line with the requirements of the contracted case
- In a matter where we are instructed by the Deputy or Trustee, we collate information to enable us to manage the affairs of the client effectively and in their best interests. This may include providing relevant information to third parties such as independent financial advisers and accommodation experts as appropriate to assist in providing services to the client e.g. investment advice or property adaptation
- We may use the data provided to recommend and arrange more appropriate alternative arrangements e.g. for insurance and utilities
- We may use the data provided to recommend and arrange testamentary services, such as will writing
- We may provide information relating to medical condition and restrictions to care providers and experts to ensure that care requirements are provided for
- Details of living arrangements and family situation (and current benefits) may be necessary to ensure that appropriate arrangements are in place and full entitlement to the welfare benefits system is being utilised. This may involve passing information to a third party to assist in providing this service
- Details of existing and past employment may be utilised to ensure that all existing pension arrangements are identified and to assist the client with opportunities for re-employment, in appropriate circumstances. This may involve passing information to a third party to assist in providing advice and assistance
- Details relating to the current position of any personal injury claim following an accident may be used to assist in financial planning to cater for the needs of the individual concerned, to include assessment of available funds and timing of availability
- Information regarding any previous criminal charges (to include road traffic) may be necessary to assist in the event of any issues arising during the course of the firm’s instruction
Customer experience
So we have a better understanding of all our clients, we tailor our range of services to meet the needs of individual customers.
We will use the personal information you share with us, or which we collect, for example, what you searched for on the website, your search device or general location.
A few ways in which the information we collect is used:
- To personalise your experience (your information helps us to better respond to your individual needs)
- To improve customer service (your information helps us to more effectively respond to your customer service requests and support needs)
- Provide customised content and advertising.
How do we protect your personal data?
We are committed to keeping your personal data safe and secure.
Our responsibilities
- We will only collect and retain relevant and essential data.
- We will store your information safely and securely, protecting it from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure.
- We will ensure that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.
- We will destroy your information securely.
To help protect the privacy of data and personally identifiable information you submit through our website, we maintain physical, technical and administrative safeguards.
We update and test our security technology on an ongoing basis.
We restrict access to your personal data to those employees who need to know that information to provide benefits or services to you.
In addition, we train our employees about the importance of confidentiality and maintaining the privacy and security of your information.
After a transaction, your information will be kept in accordance with our data retention policy.
All of our electronic data is stored within the European Economic Area and we complete regular back-ups.
- Do we use cookies?
Yes – cookies are small files that a site or its service provider transfers to your computer’s hard drive through your Web browser (if you allow) that enables the site’s or service provider’s systems to recognize your browser and capture and remember certain information.
Our website uses cookies to better the users experience while visiting the website.
As required by legislation, where applicable our website uses a cookie control system, allowing the user to give explicit permission or to deny the use of and saving of cookies on their computer/device.
See our Cookie Policy for more details.
- Do we disclose any information to outside parties?
We do not sell, trade or otherwise transfer to outside parties your personally identifiable information.
This does not include trusted third parties who assist us in operating our website, conducting our business, or servicing you, so long as those parties agree to keep this information confidential.
We may also release your information when we believe release is appropriate to comply with the law, enforce our site policies, or protect ours or others’ rights, property or safety.
However, non-personally identifiable visitor information may be provided to other parties for marketing, advertising or other uses.
- How long will we keep your personal data?
If you make an enquiry with us that we do not then continue with we shall retain your full data for 12 months following closure of your enquiry case.
If we act for you then we are obliged by our regulator and insurer to keep your file information available for 6 years.
This is to ensure that we can deal with any complaints or potential claims arising from our handling with your claim within the relevant limitation period.
We will only keep your information for longer than this where it is in your interests to do so, for example:
- In a situation where we are acting for a client as our capacity as Deputy or Trustee, we will retain access to the file until 6 years after such engagement has ceased
- We may hold your information for longer in situations where we may be involved in property transaction or probate, for example where we hold deeds or wills etc.
At the end of the retention period, your data will either be deleted completely or anonymised so that it can be used in a non-identifiable way for statistical analysis and business planning
- What are your rights?
You have the following rights:
- The right to ask what personal data we hold about you at any time. We reserve the right to charge a fee for the provision of this information – details of the amount can be provided upon request
- The right to ask us to update and correct any out of date or incorrect personal data that we hold about you, at no cost
- The right to opt out of any marketing communications that we may send you
- The right to request that we stop using your personal data for direct marketing
- The right to request that we stop any consent-based processing of your personal data after you withdraw your consent
- The right of review by a Director of any decision made based solely on automatic processing of your data
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details set out above.
Your right to withdraw consent
Whenever you have given your consent to use personal data, you have the right to change your mind at any time and withdraw consent
Where we rely on our legitimate interest
Where we are processing your data based on our legitimate interest, you can ask us to stop for reasons connected to your individual situation.
We must stop unless we believe that we have a legitimate overriding reason to continue processing your personal data.
Direct marketing
You have the right to stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing activity – this can be through all channels or selected channels.
We must always comply with your request.
Checking your identity
We will ask you to verify your identity before proceeding with any request to take action under this privacy notice.
If you have asked and authorised someone else to submit a request on your behalf, we will ask ten to verify their identity and prove that they have your permission to act.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
We may change this Privacy Policy from time to time, and if we do we will post any changes on this page.
If you continue to access this website or use services available from this website after those changes have come into effect, you will have agreed to the revised policy.
How to stop the use of your data for direct marketing
As indicated above, you have the right to stop the use of your personal data for direct marketing activity.
If you wish to exercise this right, please e-mail compliance@fs.co.uk who will ensure that you do not receive any further marketing information.