Vision Financial Strategies Ltd takes the privacy of personal data seriously and the legal and compliant treatment of this data is at the core of our operations. We therefore ask you to please read the following important information which explains how we collect, store and use your personal data.

Vision Financial Strategies Ltd is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018. 

1. Who are we?

Vision Financial Strategies Ltd is a Limited Company offering restricted financial advice to individuals, trustees and their businesses. Vision Financial Strategies Ltd (Company No. 6605832) has its registered office at 50 Brambles Enterprise Centre, Waterberry Drive, Waterlooville, PO7 7TH

2. What do we mean by Personal Data?

By personal data (or personal information), we mean information that relates to you and is used to identify you, either directly or in conjunction with other material we hold.

3. How do we collect information from you?  

We collect personal information about you as and when you consent to us doing so by signing our Data Consent forms/Client Agreement, or by indicating consent on our online forms. We gather your consent in writing before entering into business relations with you. We may also collect personal information on you from places such as business directories and other commercially or publicly available sources e.g. to check or improve the information we hold (like your address) or to give better contact information if we are unable to contact you directly.

4. What type of information do we collect?

The information we collect may include, 

• Information about who you are e.g. your name, date of birth and contact details
• Information connected to your product or service with us e.g. your bank account details
• Information about your contact with us e.g. meetings, phone calls, emails / letters
• Information classified as ‘sensitive’ personal information e.g. relating to your health, marital or civil partnership status, your lifestyle and your finances. This information will only be collected and used where it’s needed to provide the advice or service you have requested or to comply with our legal obligations
• Information you may provide us about other people e.g. joint applicants, children or beneficiaries
• We may also ask for evidence of your identity, for example your passport, driving license, proof of residence or income.

5. Why do we collect information from you?

We use your personal information for the following:

• Provision of advice and services or to provide you with the information, products and services you have requested from us.
• To comply with legislation in relation to anti money laundering regulations and the Financial Services Act.

6. How do we protect your personal information?

Any personal information we collect, record, or use in any way, be it on computer, hard copy or in any other form, is secured through our safeguarding processes to ensure that we meet our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018.

7. What are your rights surrounding your personal information?

• The right to be informed – we will provide you with a copy of this privacy policy before seeking your consent to store/process your personal data.
• The right of access – you have the right to request a copy of any personal information we hold on you. This will be provided in a structured format, free of charge, within 30 days of your request. Requests can be made in writing, by phone or by email, to any of our contact details provided below.
  • 50 Brambles Enterprise Centre, Waterberry Drive, Waterlooville, PO7 7TH
  • 023 9223 3073
  • enquiries@visionfs.org.uk
• The right to rectification – you have the right to request us to rectify any of your personal data which you believe is inaccurate or incomplete. We will respond within one month (this can be extended by two months where the request for rectification is complex). Requests can be made in writing, by phone or by email, to any of our contact details provided above.
• The right to erasure – you have the right to request ‘to be forgotten’, i.e. for us to delete all records of your personal data. We will comply with your request, unless we have a legal obligation to continue to hold your personal data, in which case we will inform you of the reason we are unable to complete your request.
• The right to restrict processing – you have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data – in this case we will retain just enough information about you to ensure that the restriction is respected in future.
• The right to data portability – you may request a copy of your personal data, in order to use it for your own purposes across different services, e.g. moving it from one IT environment to another in a safe and secure way. We will provide the data in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable form, e.g. CSV files. This will be provided free of charge and within one month (this can be extended by two months where the request is complex).
• The right to object – you have the right to object to us processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes, and historical or statistical purposes, and we will respect this request as soon as we receive it (by post / email / phone, details of which are provided above).

8. Who do we share your personal information with?

We will only share your personal data with third parties when it is necessary for the service you have asked us to provide, and we will have contracts/safeguards in place to ensure that they treat the privacy of your personal data with the same importance as we do. You will be advised of the specific third parties with whom we may share your data.

These third parties, amongst others, may include:

• Companies within the Vision Financial Strategies Group.
• Your product provider
• Companies we have chosen to support us in the delivery of the products and services we offer to you and other clients e.g. research, consultancy or technology companies providing back office services or companies who can help us in our contact with you, for example an internet service provider
• Our regulators and Supervisory Authority e.g. the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Information Commissioner’s Office for the UK (the ICO)
• Law enforcement, credit and identity check agencies for the prevention and detection of crime
• HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) when required by law to do so e.g. for the prevention of tax avoidance

We will never sell your details to someone else. Whenever we share your personal information, we will do so in line with our obligations to keep your information safe and secure.

9.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 and 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.

10. Updates to this Policy

Our Privacy Policy will be reviewed periodically and updated to comply with any new legislation.

We may therefore need to make changes to our Privacy Policy, so please check our website for updates from time to time. If there are important changes such as changes to how your personal data will be processed we will contact you to let you know. 

This policy was last updated in April 2023.