Data protection · UK Bailiffs
Privacy notice
How UK Bailiffs collects, uses, shares, stores and protects personal information—and the rights available to you under UK data protection law.
Our commitment to your information
UK Bailiffs handles personal information in connection with its website, enquiries, instructions, enforcement and property-related services, business administration and professional relationships. We recognise that some of this information may be sensitive.
This notice explains what we do with personal information. In this notice, “process” means any action involving personal information, including collecting, recording, organising, using, sharing, storing or deleting it.
Who we are
UK Bailiff Services Ltd, trading as UK Bailiffs, is the data controller responsible for the personal information described in this notice unless we tell you otherwise.
Who this notice covers
This notice may apply if you are:
- a client, prospective client or a representative of an instructing organisation;
- a tenant, debtor, occupier, trespasser, respondent or another person connected with a case;
- a visitor to our website or someone who contacts us;
- an enforcement agent, contractor, supplier, professional adviser or business contact; or
- a job applicant, employee or former employee.
Where we process information on a client’s documented instructions, the client may also be a separate data controller and its own privacy notice may apply.
Information we may collect
The information we process depends on the service, relationship and circumstances. It may include:
Sensitive information
Where relevant and lawful, case records may contain special category information, such as health, disability, ethnicity, religion or biometric information, and information about criminal allegations, convictions or offences. We process this information only where an additional legal condition applies and appropriate safeguards are in place.
We aim to collect only information that is adequate, relevant and reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it is used.
Where personal information comes from
We may obtain personal information:
- directly from you, including through forms, telephone calls, emails, payments or in-person contact;
- from clients, landlords, managing agents, housing providers, local authorities, solicitors and other instructing parties;
- from enforcement agents, process servers, locksmiths, security providers and other authorised contractors;
- from courts, public authorities, law-enforcement bodies and professional advisers;
- from public registers, publicly accessible sources and lawful information services; and
- automatically when you use our website, subject to your cookie choices and applicable law.
If another organisation supplied your information, we may not always contact you directly where doing so would be impossible, involve disproportionate effort, prejudice a lawful process or where another legal exception applies.
How and why we use personal information
Providing services and managing instructions
We use information to assess proposed instructions, verify identity and authority, plan and carry out authorised work, communicate with relevant people, take or record payments, keep an audit trail and report outcomes. The lawful basis is usually performance of a contract, steps requested before entering a contract, legal obligation and/or legitimate interests.
Case administration, evidence and legal rights
We keep and use appropriate records to demonstrate what occurred, respond to enquiries or complaints, establish or defend legal claims, prevent fraud and protect the rights, safety and property of clients, affected people, our agents and others. We usually rely on legal obligation and/or legitimate interests.
Safety, welfare and vulnerability
We may use relevant information to assess risk, identify vulnerability, support reasonable adjustments, safeguard people and plan proportionate attendance. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on legal obligation, legitimate interests, vital interests or another condition permitted by law.
Business operations and improvement
We use information to manage suppliers and contractors, train staff, monitor standards, protect systems, maintain records, obtain professional advice, insure business risks and improve our services. We normally rely on contract, legal obligation and/or legitimate interests.
Consent
Where consent is the appropriate lawful basis, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal does not affect processing that was lawful before consent was withdrawn. We do not rely on consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate to the circumstances.
If we need personal information to meet a legal or contractual requirement and it is not provided, we may be unable to accept an instruction, provide a service or complete the requested action. We will explain this where appropriate.
Who we may share information with
We do not sell personal information. Where necessary and lawful, we may share relevant information with:
- the client or instructing organisation and its authorised representatives;
- enforcement agents, process servers, locksmiths, security providers and other operational contractors;
- solicitors, barristers, courts, insurers, auditors and other professional advisers;
- payment, banking, communications, document-management, hosting and other technology providers;
- police, local authorities, regulators, government bodies and other competent authorities;
- another person where disclosure is required by law, court order or a lawful request; and
- a prospective purchaser, investor or professional adviser in connection with a genuine business transaction, subject to appropriate safeguards.
We limit disclosures to information reasonably required for the purpose. Service providers acting on our behalf are required to protect information and use it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable law.
International transfers
Some technology or service providers may process or allow access to personal information from outside the United Kingdom. Where this amounts to a restricted transfer, we use a lawful transfer mechanism. This may include UK adequacy regulations, the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to approved contractual clauses, together with any required risk assessment and additional safeguards.
You may contact us for further information about the safeguards relevant to your personal information. We may redact commercially confidential or third-party information from copies of contractual safeguards where the law permits.
How long we keep personal information
We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to provide services, meet legal, tax, accounting, regulatory and contractual requirements, deal with complaints and establish or defend legal claims.
Retention periods vary by record type and case. When deciding the appropriate period, we consider the amount and sensitivity of the information, the potential risk of harm, why we need it, whether the purpose can be achieved another way, limitation periods and applicable legal or regulatory requirements.
When information is no longer required, we securely delete or destroy it, anonymise it, or restrict its use where deletion is not immediately possible.
How we protect information
We use proportionate technical and organisational measures designed to protect personal information against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure or misuse. Measures may include access controls, authentication, encryption in transit, secure systems, staff and contractor obligations, audit records, backups and incident-management procedures.
Access is limited to people who need the information for an authorised purpose. Although no internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure, we regularly review our safeguards and respond to suspected personal data breaches in accordance with law.
Website, cookies and communications
Cookies and technical data
Our website may use strictly necessary cookies for core functions and, subject to your choices, analytics, preference or marketing technologies. These can collect technical data such as IP address, browser, device, pages visited, referring website and approximate location.
You can use the website’s cookie controls and your browser settings to manage non-essential cookies. Blocking some cookies may affect website functionality. Cookie lifetimes and the providers in use may change as our website is updated; the consent tool displayed on the website provides the current choices available to you.
Enquiries and support
If you contact us by telephone, email, web form or another channel, we use the information you provide to respond, maintain an appropriate communication record and manage any resulting request, complaint or instruction.
Marketing
We may send relevant business updates where we have consent or another lawful basis to do so. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe method in the message or contacting us. We do not sell personal information or share it with other organisations for their own direct marketing.
Your information rights
Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you may have the following rights. Some rights are qualified and exemptions may apply, particularly where information forms part of legal proceedings, enforcement activity, confidential material or another person’s information.
Making a request
Email help@ukbailiffs.org or use our data subject access page. Please describe the information or right concerned and provide details that will help us locate relevant records.
We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request. We normally respond within one month, although the period may be extended where the law permits because a request is complex or multiple requests have been made. We do not normally charge a fee, but may do so or decline to act where a request is manifestly unfounded or excessive, as permitted by law.
You have an absolute right to object to direct marketing. You may also object to processing based on legitimate interests, although we may continue where we demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds or the processing is needed for legal claims.
Children and young people
Our website and commercial services are not directed at children. However, information about a child or young person may sometimes form part of a lawful instruction or safeguarding matter. In those circumstances, we take account of the person’s age, vulnerability, best interests and the sensitivity of the information, and apply appropriate safeguards.
Contact, complaints and changes
Contact us
Questions about this notice or our use of personal information should be sent to:
- Data protection contact: Craig Whinray
- Email: help@ukbailiffs.org
- Post: UK Bailiff Services Ltd, 223 Bacup Road, Rossendale, Lancashire, BB4 7PA
- Telephone: 0330 133 1818
Complaints to the ICO
Please contact us first so we have an opportunity to address your concern. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, the UK supervisory authority for data protection. Visit the ICO data protection complaints service or call 0303 123 1113.
Changes to this notice
We review this privacy notice and may update it when our services, systems, suppliers or legal obligations change. The current version will be published on this page with its latest update date. Please tell us if your personal information changes so that relevant records can be kept accurate.
A question about your personal information?
Contact our data protection lead or use the dedicated data subject access page to make a request.
