Privacy Policy
How DS Financial collects, uses and protects your personal information under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
This privacy policy explains how DS Financial ("we", "us", "our") collects and uses your personal data. DS Financial is the data controller responsible for your personal data.
1. Who we are
DS Financial is a trading style of DS Financial Group Ltd, which is an Appointed Representative of Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions Ltd, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA Firm Reference: 835094. Company No: 16149960 (registered in England & Wales). Registered address: 49 Station Road, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 6EA.
2. What data we collect
- Contact form details: name, email address, phone number, and any information you choose to share in the message field.
- Mortgage advice information: if you proceed with advice, we may collect financial details such as income, expenditure, credit history, and identification documents to fulfil our regulatory obligations.
- Property Insight Report orders: name, email and property address to deliver your report.
- Cookies and third-party services: Google Fonts and the EmbedSocial reviews widget may set cookies in your browser. See our Cookie Policy for details.
3. How we use your data
- To respond to enquiries you submit via the contact form, phone or email.
- To provide mortgage and protection advice, including sourcing products from lenders and insurers.
- To deliver Property Insight Reports you have purchased.
- To comply with our regulatory obligations under the FCA Handbook.
- To keep records as required by anti-money-laundering legislation.
4. Lawful basis under UK GDPR
We process your data on the following lawful bases:
- Consent, when you submit an enquiry or sign up for a service.
- Contract, to deliver the services you have requested (such as mortgage advice).
- Legitimate interest, to operate our business, respond to enquiries, and improve our services, where this does not override your rights.
- Legal obligation, to comply with FCA, HMRC and anti-money-laundering requirements.
5. Data sharing
We share your data only where necessary to provide our services or comply with the law:
- Stonebridge Mortgage Solutions Ltd, our principal firm, for compliance oversight.
- Mortgage lenders and protection insurance providers, only with your explicit consent, to obtain a mortgage offer or insurance quotation.
- Regulators and law enforcement, where required by law.
- Service providers, such as hosting, email and payment-processing partners, under written contract.
We do not sell your data and we do not share it for marketing purposes without your consent.
6. Data retention
We typically retain client records for a minimum of six years to comply with FCA record-keeping rules (and longer where required, for example for pension or equity-release advice). After this period, records are securely deleted or anonymised.
7. Your rights under UK GDPR
You have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you.
- Request correction (rectification) of inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Request erasure of your data, subject to our legal and regulatory obligations.
- Restrict how we process your data.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interest.
- Request data portability (a copy of your data in a structured, machine-readable format).
- Withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the lawful basis for processing.
8. How to contact us about your data
To exercise any of your rights, or for any privacy-related question, contact us:
- Email: info@dsfinancial.co.uk
- Phone: 0330 22 333 10
- Post: DS Financial, 49 Station Road, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 6EA
9. Complaints to the regulator
If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO):
ico.org.uk | Helpline: 0303 123 1113
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page will reflect any change.