1. Who we are
This website is operated by Michael Watt, a mortgage and financial adviser trading as Dollar Financial Services and operating as a trading style adviser of Freedom Financial Services, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No. 920865).
For the purposes of UK data protection law, the data controller responsible for your personal data is [Michael Watt / Dollar Financial Services / Freedom Financial Services — to be confirmed]. If you have any questions about this policy or how your data is handled, you can contact us at [EMAIL ADDRESS].
[ICO registration number: to be added once registered]
2. What information we collect
We may collect and process the following information about you:
- Information you provide directly, such as your name, email address, telephone number, and any details you share when you complete a contact form, book a call, join our email community, or otherwise correspond with us.
- Financial information you choose to share with us in the course of seeking mortgage or financial advice, such as your income, deposit amount, and general circumstances.
- Technical information collected automatically when you visit the website, such as your IP address, browser type, device information, and how you use the site, collected through cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookies section below).
3. How we use your information
We use your personal information to:
- Respond to your enquiries and provide the mortgage and financial advice services you request.
- Contact you about your enquiry, including arranging and conducting consultations.
- Send you email updates, tips, and information about getting onto the property ladder, where you have signed up to our community or otherwise consented to receive them.
- Comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, including those imposed by the FCA.
- Improve our website and understand how visitors use it.
4. Our lawful basis for processing
Under UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing your data:
- Consent — where you have signed up to receive our email community updates or marketing communications. You can withdraw consent at any time.
- Legitimate interests — to respond to enquiries you initiate and to operate and improve our business and website, where this does not override your rights.
- Contract — where processing is necessary to provide the advice services you have requested.
- Legal obligation — where we are required to retain certain records to meet our regulatory and legal duties.
5. Sharing your information
We may share your personal information with:
- Freedom Financial Services, under whose regulatory authorisation we operate, and its network PRIMIS, where necessary to provide regulated advice and meet compliance obligations.
- Lenders, providers, and product partners, where necessary to progress a mortgage or protection application you have asked us to pursue.
- Service providers who help us operate our website and email communications (for example, our email marketing platform and website hosting provider), who process data on our behalf under appropriate agreements.
- Regulatory authorities, law enforcement, or other third parties where we are required to do so by law.
We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
6. How long we keep your information
We retain your personal information for as long as necessary to provide our services and to meet our legal and regulatory obligations. Financial services records are typically retained for a minimum period in line with FCA requirements [confirm specific retention period with Freedom Financial — commonly a minimum of six years for advised cases, longer for certain products]. Where you have signed up to our email community, we retain your details until you unsubscribe.
7. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Request access to the personal information we hold about you.
- Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete information.
- Request erasure of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Object to or restrict our processing of your information in certain circumstances.
- Request the transfer of your information to another party in certain circumstances.
- Withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your information.
To exercise any of these rights, please contact us at [EMAIL ADDRESS]. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk if you are unhappy with how we have handled your data.
8. Cookies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to function and to help us understand how visitors use the site. You can control and manage cookies through your browser settings. [If the site uses any analytics or third-party cookies — e.g. Google Analytics, Meta Pixel — they must be specifically named here, along with a cookie consent banner. Confirm what the Lovable build actually uses.]
9. Data security
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal information against unauthorised access, loss, or misuse. However, no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.
10. Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. Any changes will be posted on this page with an updated "last updated" date.
11. Contact us
If you have any questions about this privacy policy or how we handle your personal information, please contact:
Michael Watt
[Email address]
[Business address, if you want it public]