Privacy notice for customers

Introduction

This privacy notice explains how M R Ratcliffe Consultants Ltd (We, Our, Us) use and protect (You, Your) personal data.

Why do We need to hold personal data?

We are a general insurance broker, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), firm number 309607 which can be confirmed by visiting the FCA register.

We need to hold personal data to meet requests for insurance by providing a quotation relevant to insurance needs and risks, and if a quotation is accepted, to arrange an initial insurance contract, any renewals and to handle any claims. Performance of a contract is a lawful basis for processing personal data.

Unless required by law and the FCA, We will only pass on any personal information to facilitate Your insurance needs. All participants in the insurance market chain are subject to the same data protection rules as Us.

Consent

To provide insurance cover and deal with insurance claims in certain circumstances, We and other insurance market participants may need to process Your special categories of personal data, such as medical and criminal convictions records. Your consent to this processing may be necessary for the insurance market participant to achieve this. You may withdraw Your consent to such processing at any time. However, if You withdraw Your consent, this will impact the ability to provide insurance or pay claims.

We may send marketing material about Our products and services to existing and potential customers on a legitimate interest basis as We consider that the information We send, will be of interest to You. You may unsubscribe from receiving marketing emails at any time.

Examples of sources We may use for collecting personal data

You (e.g. by letter, email, online, telephone, text, face to face)

Other insurance market participants in the insurance life cycle

Credit reference agencies

UK sanctions lists

Government agencies such as the DVLA and HMRC

In the event of a claim, third parties including the other party to the claim (claimant / defendant), witnesses, experts (including medical experts), loss adjustors, solicitors, and claims handlers

Use of artificial intelligence (AI)

We may use AI-assisted tools to help Us provide and administer insurance services, including to summarise information You provide, organise records, draft communications, support policy administration, and identify relevant information for quotations, renewals and claims. Where personal data is processed using AI-assisted tools, We will only use it for the purposes set out in this notice, on an appropriate lawful basis, and with appropriate security and human oversight.

We will not use AI to make solely automated decisions about You that have legal or similarly significant effects, unless We tell You, have a lawful basis to do so, and provide any safeguards required by data protection law. AI-generated output will be checked by Our staff where it is used to support insurance advice, administration, renewals or claims.

We will not knowingly use Your personal data to train publicly available AI models. Where We use third-party AI providers, We will take reasonable steps to ensure they protect personal data, process it only under Our instructions where applicable, and do not use it for their own purposes unless there is a lawful basis and transparency to do so.

What are Our legal obligations to protect Your personal data?

The way We (and other participants in the insurance market chain) handle and hold Your personal data is in accordance with UK data protection law as follows:

• Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner
• Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes
• Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed
• Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; every reasonable step must be taken to ensure that personal data that are inaccurate, having regard to the purposes for which they are processed, are erased or rectified without delay
• Kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed
• Processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction or damage using appropriate technical or organisational measures
• Accountable for handling personal data in accordance with the above principles by putting in place appropriate measures and keeping records to demonstrate compliance

Your rights

The right to be informed

The right of access

The right to rectification

The right to erasure

The right to restrict processing

The right to data portability

The right to object

Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling (activity not applicable to Us)

Access to Your personal data and correction

You have the right to request a copy of the personal data We hold about You, free of charge. However, We are permitted to charge a ‘reasonable fee’ when a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, particularly if it is repetitive.

We must respond to Your request without undue delay and at the latest within one month of receipt. However, We are allowed to extend the time limit by a further two months where requests are complex or numerous, provided We explain to You within one month why an extension is necessary.

If You would like a copy of some or all of Your personal data, please email info@ratcliffes.co.uk. You have the right to rectification or erasure if inaccurate.

Retention of Your personal data

We will keep Your personal data only for so long as (a) is necessary for the purpose for which it was originally collected, (b) there is any possibility that either You or We may wish to bring a legal claim under this insurance, or (c) We are required to keep Your personal data due to legal or regulatory reasons. If We provide a quotation and You do not take out a policy in the first instance, We will retain this information so that We are better able to assist You when the policy is up for renewal.

How We comply with legislation

We continually review the control measures We have put in place to reduce the risk of breaches of UK data protection law. Should you have any concerns about the way We have handled Your personal data, please email compliance@ratcliffes.co.uk. Should you not be satisfied with Our response, You are entitled to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office: see its website how to make a complaint.

Updated 08/2026