As a customer of the Coventry Building Society, we take your right to privacy very seriously. We will not disclose information about you or your accounts to anyone, other than where we have your consent, or where we are compelled or allowed by law to do so.
For this reason, we believe you are entitled to know about the information we collect and what we plan to use it for. You can then decide if you are happy to provide us with this information.
If you decide to provide us with any information, then you expressly authorise us to use that information in accordance with this policy.
Why we collect information about you?
We collect data about you:
- to set up and then administer your accounts
- to let you know about other relevant products and services
- to update our customer records
- to carry out statistical analysis to enable us to improve our products and services
- for crime prevention and for legal and regulatory compliance
In some instances, we will be unable to provide you with a product or service, if you do not provide us with the necessary information or give us your permission to process and store that information.
What do we do with your data?
Most of the information we hold is stored electronically on computer systems. However, some data, for example the details you handwrite on an application form are held as manual or paper copies. We are confident that our systems are secure, and that no one will be able to access your information unlawfully.
We occasionally use external suppliers to process data on our behalf, for example to print names and addresses on letters for large mailing campaigns. We only use reputable companies and always ensure that they meet our stringent security requirements. On occasion, we may transfer data outside this country or the European Economic Area, either for storage or to be processed.
From time to time we'll tell you about new accounts or services. You can choose not to receive this information when you open your account. You can change your instructions at any time, by writing to us with details of your savings and/or mortgage account number(s), to Mortgage and Investment Services, Coventry Building Society, PO Box 9, Coventry, CV1 5QN. However, we will continue to send notice of General Meetings if you are eligible to vote, and where appropriate information about your account and interest rate changes.
Who we share your data with
Apart from using outside companies as described above there are some specific instances when we will have to pass your details on to third parties or receive information about you from third parties.
If you apply for a mortgage we will perform a search with a licensed credit reference agency. The agency will keep a record of our enquiry and if the mortgage proceeds, we will provide them with details of how you conduct your account. Other lenders may access this record if you apply to them for credit. By carrying out a credit reference search we will also access the CML Possessions Register which records all properties taken into possession.
The credit reference agencies we normally use are:
- Equifax PLC, Credit File Advice Centre, PO Box 1140, Bradford BD1 5US
- Experian, Consumer Help Service, PO Box 8000, Nottingham NG1 5GX
- Callcredit PLC, 1 Park Lane, Leeds LS3 1EP
If you would like to see the information that they hold about you, please contact them in writing, enclosing a cheque for £2.00 made payable to the agency. They will need details of your full name, address, postcode and any other addresses you have lived at over the past six years, in order to trace your record.
- Fraud prevention and detection
We share personal data with a number of other financial service providers through schemes such as CIFAS, National Hunter, the Claims and Underwriting Exchange Register and a payment protection insurance anti-fraud register of claims. The main purpose of this is to protect us against any fraudulent or other criminal activity.
All financial institutions are required by Money Laundering legislation to collect and record personal data to confirm a customer's identity and to report any suspicious transactions to the Serious Organised Crime Agency.
Cookies
We use cookies to support some of the security features of this site and to track visitors. You will be unable to apply for an account online or use our Online Services if you do not have cookies enabled on your browser.
Telephone calls
We may record or monitor any telephone calls you make to us, to increase your security and for staff training purposes.
Emails
If you email us we will keep a record of your contact and your email address. In addition to specific services that you request, we may also email you with details of relevant products and services, as well as information about the Society. If you do not want us to do this please let us know.
For security we will not include any confidential information about you in any email we send to you, for example we will not quote account and balance information in an email to you. We would also suggest that you keep the amount of confidential information you send to us via email to a minimum.
If you have access to our Online Services we recommend that you always use the secure message service to contact us.
Data Protection legislation
The Data Protection legislation defines the legal responsibilities of data users such as ourselves. It covers the collection, storage, use, processing, disclosure and transfer of personal data. Examples of personal data are your name, postal address, email, age, sex etc.
For the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998, the Data Controller in relation to any personal data you supply is Coventry Building Society.
You have a right of access under data protection legislation to your personal records held by the Society on payment of a fee.
Links to other sites
We may link our site to other relevant sites. Where this is the case our Privacy Policy will not apply once you enter the other site.
If you'd like to change your details
If you would like to change the details we hold about you, please contact us.
We may require an original signature for identification purposes and cannot, therefore, accept any email instructions.
We reserve the right to update and/or amend this policy from time to time without notice.