Cookie policy
Read Ratcliffes’ Cookie Policy to see how we use cookies, your privacy rights, and how to adjust your cookie settings.
This Cookie Policy was last updated on 24 November 2024 and applies to citizens and legal permanent residents of the United Kingdom.
1. Introduction
Our website, Ratcliffes Insurance Brokers (hereinafter: “the website”) uses cookies and other related technologies (for convenience all technologies are referred to as “cookies”). Cookies are also placed by third parties we have engaged. In the document below we inform you about the use of cookies on our website.
2. What are cookies?
A cookie is a small simple file that is sent along with pages of this website and stored by your browser on the hard drive of your computer or another device. The information stored therein may be returned to our servers or to the servers of the relevant third parties during a subsequent visit.
3. What are scripts?
A script is a piece of programme code that is used to make our website function properly and interactively. This code is executed on our server or on your device.
4. What is a web beacon?
A web beacon (or a pixel tag) is a small, invisible piece of text or image on a website that is used to monitor traffic on a website. In order to do this, various data about you is stored using web beacons.
5. Cookies
5.1 Technical or functional cookies
Some cookies ensure that certain parts of the website work properly and that your user preferences remain known. By placing functional cookies, we make it easier for you to visit our website. This way, you do not need to repeatedly enter the same information when visiting our website and, for example, the items remain in your shopping cart until you have paid. We may place these cookies without your consent.
5.2 Statistics cookies
We use statistics cookies to optimise the website experience for our users. With these statistics cookies we get insights in the usage of our website. We ask your permission to place statistics cookies.
5.3 Marketing/tracking cookies
Marketing/Tracking cookies are cookies or any other form of local storage, used to create user profiles to display advertising or to track the user on this website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
5.4 Social media
On our website, we have included content from Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter/X to promote web pages (e.g. “like”, “pin”) or share (e.g. “tweet”) on social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter/X. This content is embedded with code derived from Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter/X and places cookies. This content might store and process certain information for personalised advertising.
Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitter/X are located in the United States.
6. Placed cookies
To ensure transparency and help you understand how your data is used on our website, we provide the following information about the cookies set by various services we utilise:
6.1 Site cookies on ratcliffes.co.uk (functional):
cookie_consent
- Purpose: Records your consent to our use of cookies, ensuring that the cookie consent banner is not displayed repeatedly.
- Expiry: Expires after 1 month.
- Data sharing: This cookie is used solely by our website and does not share data with third parties.
- Purpose: Protects against Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks by ensuring that form submissions are made by you and not malicious actors.
- Expiry: Expires at the end of your browsing session.
- Data sharing: This cookie is used solely by our website and does not share data with third parties.
6.2 Google Analytics (statistics):
We use Google Analytics to gather insights into how visitors interact with our site, which helps us improve your experience.
_ga- Purpose: Identifies unique users
- Expiry: Expires after 2 years
- Purpose: Tracks user behaviour
- Expiry: Expires after 24 hours
- Purpose: Manages request rates
- Expiry: Expires after 1 minute
- Purpose: Maintains session state
- Expiry: Expires after 2 years
Data collected is shared with Google for analytical purposes. For more details, please read the Google Analytics Privacy Policy.
6.3 Google Tag Manager (functional):
This tool helps us manage various website tags efficiently.
Google Tag Manager itself doesn’t set cookies but can deploy tags that do. The cookies set depend on the tags implemented through it.
Data collected through tags may be shared with respective third parties. For more information, please read the Google Tag Manager Use Policy.
6.4 Google Maps (functional):
We embed Google Maps to provide you with interactive location information.
NID- Purpose: Remembers your preferences and other information, such as your preferred language.
- Expiry: Expires after 6 months.
- Purpose: Collects site statistics and tracks conversion rates.
- Expiry: Expires after 1 month.
- Purpose: Used for security purposes to store encrypted user ID and preferences.
- Expiry: Expires after 13 months.
Data collected is shared with Google. For more information, please read the Google Privacy Policy.
6.5 Facebook (marketing):
Integrating Facebook features allows you to share content and connect with your social network.
fr- Purpose: Delivers relevant advertisements
- Expiry: Expires after 3 months
- Purpose: Identifies the web browser used to connect to Facebook for security and fraud prevention purposes.
- Expiry: Expires after 2 years.
Data collected is shared with Facebook. For more information, please read the Facebook Cookies Policy.
6.6 LinkedIn (marketing):
We integrate LinkedIn features to enhance your professional networking experience.
li_at- Purpose: Maintains user sessions after logging in
- Expiry: Expires after 1 year
- Purpose: Preserves users’ states across page requests.
- Expiry: Expires at the end of the session.
Data collected is shared with LinkedIn. For more information, please read the LinkedIn Cookie Policy.
6.7 YouTube (functional and marketing):
We embed YouTube videos to provide you with multimedia content.
AEC- Purpose: Ensures that requests within a browsing session are made by the user, not by other sites.
- Expiry: Expires after 6 months.
- Purpose: Used for advertising purposes
- Expiry: Expires after 1 day
- Purpose: Remembers your preferences and other information, such as your preferred language.
- Expiry: Expires after 6 months.
- Purpose: Stores a user’s state regarding their cookie choices.
- Expiry: Expires after 13 months.
- Purpose: Estimates your bandwidth to determine the best video quality.
- Expiry: Expires after 6 months.
- Purpose: No description available
- Expiry: Expires after 90 days
- Purpose: Keeps track of videos you’ve watched
- Expiry: Session cookie
Data collected is shared with YouTube. For more details, please read the YouTube Privacy Policy.
6.8 Instagram (marketing):
We integrate Instagram features to display social media content.
csrftoken- Purpose: Helps prevent Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) attacks.
- Expiry: Expires after 1 year.
- Purpose: Identifies devices to enhance security and functionality.
- Expiry: Expires after 2 years.
Data collected is shared with Instagram. For more information, please read the Instagram Cookie Policy.
6.9 Twitter/X (marketing):
We integrate Twitter features to display social media content.
personalization_id- Purpose: Allows Twitter to collect data for personalization.
- Expiry: Expires after 2 years.
- Purpose: Identifies users for analytics purposes
- Expiry: Expires after 2 years
Data collected is shared with Twitter. For more information, please read the Twitter Privacy Policy.
7. Consent
When you visit our website for the first time, we will show you a pop-up with an explanation about cookies. As soon as you click on “Save preferences”, you consent to us using the categories of cookies and plug-ins you selected in the pop-up, as described in this Cookie Policy. You can disable the use of cookies via your browser, but please note that our website may no longer work properly.
7.1 Managing your consent settings
Functional: always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
8. Enabling/disabling and deleting cookies
You can use your internet browser to automatically or manually delete cookies. You can also specify that certain cookies may not be placed. Another option is to change the settings of your internet browser so that you receive a message each time a cookie is placed. For more information about these options, please refer to the instructions in the Help section of your browser.
Please note that our website may not work properly if all cookies are disabled. If you do delete the cookies in your browser, they will be placed again after your consent when you visit our website again.
9. Your rights with respect to personal data
You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:
- You have the right to know why your personal data is needed, what will happen to it, and how long it will be retained for.
- Right of access: You have the right to access your personal data that is known to us.
- Right to rectification: you have the right to supplement, correct, have deleted or blocked your personal data whenever you wish.
- If you give us your consent to process your data, you have the right to revoke that consent and to have your personal data deleted.
- Right to transfer your data: you have the right to request all your personal data from the controller and transfer it in its entirety to another controller.
- Right to object: you may object to the processing of your data. We comply with this, unless there are justified grounds for processing.
To exercise these rights, please contact us. Please refer to the contact details at the bottom of this Cookie Policy. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you, but you also have the right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority (the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)).
10. Contact details
For questions and/or comments about our Cookie Policy and this statement, please contact us by using the following contact details:
M R Ratcliffe Consultants Ltd
Wolseley House, Oriel Road, Cheltenham GL50 1TH
United Kingdom
Website: our website
Email: info@ratcliffes.co.uk
Phone number: 01242 544544