Privacy Policy

YOUR RIGHTS, YOUR INFORMATION AND HOW WE USE IT

Lawcomm Solicitors, a trading name of Lawcommercial Trading Limited (“Lawcomm”) are committed to protecting your personal information. Our Privacy Policy contains important information about what personal details we collect, what we do with that information, who we may share it with and why and your choices and rights when it comes to the personal information you have given us.  We may need to make changes to our Privacy Policy from time to time, such as changes to where your personal data will be processed.  Any changes will be notified through our website and will be deemed to be accepted by you on your first use of our website following publication or following direct notification to you. You are reminded to check this page of our website regularly. This privacy policy was last updated on 17 January 2023.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions about our Privacy Policy or the information we collect or use about you, please contact the Data Protection Officer, Lawcomm Solicitors, Unit 2 Fulcrum 2, Solent Way, Whiteley PO15 7FN, e-mail: bill.dhariwal@lawcomm.co.uk and DDI: 01489 864 117.

INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND USE INCLUDES

• Information about who you are e.g. your name, date of birth and national insurance number.
• Information connected to your products or services with us e.g. your name and address details if you are conveying your property.
• Information about your contact with us e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails and letters.
• Information classified as ‘sensitive’ personal information e.g. relating to your health, marital or civil partnership status, race, ethnicity and/or religious beliefs will only be collected and used where it is needed to provide the product or service you have requested or to comply with our legal obligations.
• Information you may provide to us about other people e.g. joint owners, doctors, attorneys, trustees, personal representatives and family relationships.
• Information relating to children e.g. where a child is named as a beneficiary in a will or is named in divorce proceedings. In these cases, we will collect and use only the information required to identify the child such as their name, age and gender.

WHERE WE COLLECT YOUR INFORMATION

• an order form or contract for a product or service.
• website enquiry form.
• from an authorised introducer to this firm.
• from a sales and marketing company acting on our behalf.
• telephone conversations with us.
• emails or letters you send to us.
• any social media platform from which you connect and share your details with us or any of our personnel.
• surveys, reviews and/or newsletters.
• meeting with one of our personnel or representatives.

We may also collect personal information on you from places such as business directories, public registers and other commercially or publicly available sources e.g. to check or improve the information we hold (like your address) and/or to verify company or business details.

WHAT WE COLLECT AND USE YOUR INFORMATION FOR

We take your privacy seriously and we will only ever collect and use information which is personal to you where it is necessary, fair and lawful to do so.

We will collect and use your information only where:

• you have given us your permission (consent) to send you information about products and services offered by us which we believe may be of interest and benefit to you including products and services offered by any of our departments and any group entities from time to time.
• it is necessary to provide the product or service you have requested e.g. for the provision of legal services.
• it is necessary for us to meet our legal or regulatory obligations e.g. to tell you about changes to our terms and conditions or for the detection and prevention of fraud.
• it is in our legitimate interests to deliver appropriate information and guidance so you are aware of the options that will help you get the best outcome from our products and services. We may also need to process your information to better understand you and your needs so we can send you more relevant communications about the products and services you have with us. We may send you information about our products and services when we have a genuine business or commercial reason and it does not unfairly prejudice you.
• it is in the legitimate interests of a third party connected with you e.g. sharing information with your nominated tax adviser or estate agent.

If you do not wish us to collect and use your personal information in these ways, it may mean that we will be unable to provide you with our products or services.

WHO WE MAY SHARE YOUR INFORMATION WITH

We may share your information with third parties for the reasons outlined in 'What we collect and use your information for'

These third parties include:

• Your nominated professional advisers, agents and other parties relevant to your matter such as executors, attorneys and beneficiaries.
• Companies we have chosen to support us in the delivery of the products and services we offer to you and other clients e.g. search companies, medical and other experts, barristers, professional trustees, accountants, auditors, locums, outsourced service providers, compliance firms, technology companies, payment service providers, couriers, or companies who help us in our contact with you, for example an internet service provider or cloud provider.
• Marketing analytics, business development and customer service companies that assist us with marketing analysis and customer surveys.
• Our regulators, supervisory authority, quality assurance companies and trade bodies connected with our business.
• Law enforcement, tax and other authorities and credit and identity check agencies for the prevention and detection of crime.

WHERE YOUR INFORMATION IS PROCESSED

Your information is processed in the UK and the European Economic Area (EEA). However, some of your information may be processed by us or the third parties we work with outside of the EEA. For example, this could occur if our servers or one of our service providers is located in a country outside the EEA. These countries may not have data protection laws equivalent to those in force in the EEA. Where your information is being processed outside of the EEA, we will take all reasonable steps with the aim of ensuring that your privacy rights continue to be protected as outlined in this privacy policy e.g. we will put in place legal agreements with our third-party suppliers and do regular checks to ensure they meet these obligations.

HOW WE PROTECT YOUR INFORMATION

We take information and system security very seriously and we strive to comply with our obligations at all times. Any personal information which is collected, recorded or used in any way, whether on paper, online or any other media, will have appropriate safeguards applied in line with our data protection obligations.

Your information is protected by controls designed to minimise loss or damage through accident, negligence or deliberate actions. Our security controls are aligned with good practice standards providing a controlled environment that effectively manages risks to the confidentiality, integrity and availability of your information.

Transmission of information over the internet or by unsecured e-mail is not entirely secure and is done at your own risk. Where you have a password, which enables you to use our services, you are responsible for keeping this password complex, secure and confidential.

HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR INFORMATION

We will keep your personal information only where it is necessary to provide you with our products or services while you are a client. We may also keep your information after this period but only where required to meet our legal or regulatory obligations. The length of time we keep your information for these purposes will vary depending on the obligations we need to meet.

YOUR INDIVIDUAL RIGHTS

You have several rights in relation to how we use your information. They are:

Right to be informed

You have a right to receive clear and easy to understand information on what personal information we have, why and who we share it with and we do this in our Privacy Policy as updated from time to time.

Right of access

You have the right of access to your personal information. If you wish to receive a copy of the personal information we hold on you, you may make a data subject access request (DSAR).

Right to request that your personal information is rectified

If your personal information is inaccurate or incomplete, you can request that it is corrected.

Right to request erasure

You can ask for your information to be deleted or removed if there is no compelling reason for us to continue to have it.

Right to restrict processing

You can ask that we block or suppress the processing of your personal information for certain reasons. This means that we are still permitted to keep your information but only to ensure we don’t use it in the future for those reasons you have restricted.

Right to data portability

You can ask for a copy of your personal information for your own purposes to use across different services. In certain circumstances, you may move, copy or transfer the personal information we hold to another company in a safe and secure way.

Right to object

You can object to us processing your personal information where it is based on our legitimate interests or for direct marketing.

HOW TO MAKE A COMPLAINT

We will always strive to collect, use and safeguard your personal information in line with data protection laws. If you do not believe we have handled your information as set out in our Privacy Policy, please contact us and we will do our utmost to make things right. If you are still unhappy, you can complain to the data protection supervisory authority in the UK, the Information Commissioner’s Office, whose contact details can be found by telephoning them on 0303 123 1113 or on their website: www.ico.org.uk.

OUR WEBSITE

Our website can be found at www.lawcomm.co.uk. This Privacy Policy applies to users of our website but does not extend to any websites that may be linked or can be accessed from our website including links to any social media websites.

COOKIES

A cookie is a small text file placed on your computer when you access our website. We use cookies to improve your experience of using our website and to improve our range of services. Our cookies are carefully selected to ensure that your privacy is protected and respected at all times.

Before our website places cookies on your computer, you will be presented with a message bar requesting your consent to set those cookies. By giving your consent to the placing of cookies, you are enabling us to provide a better experience and service to you. You may, if you wish, deny consent to the placing of cookies; however certain features of the website may not function fully or as intended.

Our website may place the following cookies:

Strictly necessary cookies

These are cookies that are required for the operation of our website. They include, for example, cookies that enable you to log into secure areas of our website or make use of e-payment services.

Analytical/performance cookies:

They allow us to recognise and count the number of visitors and to see how visitors move around our website when they are using it. This helps us to improve the way our website works, for example, by ensuring that users are finding what they are looking for easily.

You can choose to enable or disable cookies in your internet browser. By default, most internet browsers accept cookies but this can be changed. For further details, please consult the help menu in your internet browser.

You can choose to delete cookies at any time; however, you may lose any information that enables you to access the website more quickly and efficiently including, but not limited to, personalisation settings.

It is recommended that you ensure that your internet browser is up-to-date and that you consult the help and guidance provided by the developer of your internet browser if you are unsure about adjusting your privacy settings.

CHANGES OF BUSINESS OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL

We may, from time to time, expand or reduce our business and this may involve the sale and/or the transfer of control of all or part of our business.

Data provided by you will, where it is relevant to any part of our business so transferred, be transferred along with that part and the new owner or newly controlling party will, under the terms of this Privacy Policy, be permitted to use your data for the purposes for which it was originally supplied to us.

We may also disclose data to a prospective purchaser of our business or any part of it. In all instances, we will take all necessary steps to ensure your privacy is protected.

GENERAL

You may not transfer any of your rights under this Privacy Policy to any other person. We may transfer our rights under this Privacy Policy where we reasonably believe your rights will not be affected.

If any court or competent authority finds that any provision of this Privacy Policy (or part of any provision) is invalid, illegal or unenforceable, that provision or part-provision will, to the extent required, be deemed to be deleted, and the validity and enforceability of the other provisions of this Privacy Policy will not be affected.

Unless otherwise agreed, no delay, act or omission by a party in exercising any right or remedy will be deemed a waiver of that, or any other, right or remedy.

This Privacy Policy is governed by and interpreted according to English law. Any disputes arising under this Privacy Policy are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English courts.

Refunds and/or Cancellation Policy. 

If you are entitled to a refund, we agree to process the refund to the credit or debit card which made the payment within 14 days from our agreement to refund. 

We are regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (No. 623098) in respect of how we deal with any refund and/or cancellation requests.

If you need any assistance with a payment or if a payment has been made by mistake, please telephone 01489 864 100 and speak to our accounts department.

‍

Version: 230117v.1