Privacy Policy

QualitySolicitors Chapman and Chubb is committed to protecting the privacy of our clients and website visitors. We understand the importance you place on the privacy and security of information which personally identifies you, and we value our relationship with you. Whether you are a first-time visitor or a regular user, we take your privacy seriously. This document sets out our Privacy Policy and defines data processing of personal records in accordance with General Data Protection Regulations.

Scope

This policy is applicable to all areas processing personal records containing personal data at QualitySolicitors Chapman and Chubb.

Responsibilities

DPO – Michael Tucker

Privacy Policy

Data Controller or Processor

If QualitySolicitors Chapman and Chubb is provided with personal information under contract via a third party, it is likely we will be acting as a Data Processor or acting as Joint Controllers.  If this is not the case, then QualitySolicitors Chapman and Chubb will be acting as the Data Controller.

To progress your enquiry, we will ask for your consent based on your acceptance of this privacy policy and understanding how we process your personal data.

Collecting personal information

We ask you for personal data only when it is needed to provide services you have enquired about, or asked us to provide, or to respond to your requests for information.

We may collect, store and use the following kinds of personal information: 

(a) information about your computer and about your visits to and use of our website including your IP address, search terms, geographical location, browser type and version, operating system, referral source, length of visit, page views and website navigation paths;

(b) information that you provide to us when registering with our website including your email address and contact details;

(c) information that you provide when completing your profile on our website including your name, address, gender, date of birth, relationship status, health records, employment records and payment details;

(d) information that you provide to us for the purpose of subscribing to our email notifications and/or newsletters;

(e) information that you provide to us when using the services on our website, or that is generated in the course of the services we provide;

(f) information relating to any purchases of services or any other transactions that you enter into through our website, online chat or directly through our contact centre including your name, address, telephone number, email address and card details;

(g) information that you provide when responding to customer service feedback or complaints;

(h) information contained in or relating to any communication that you send to us or send through our website, email or telephone calls (call recording) including the communication content and metadata associated with the communication; and

(i) Information we receive from other sources. We may receive information about you if you use any of the other websites we operate or the other services we provide. In this case we may collect that data and share it internally and combine with data collected on this site. We also work closely with third parties (including, for example, QualitySolicitors Head Office, business partners, sub-contractors and any third-party affiliate) who may provide services on our behalf and we may receive information about you from them;

(j) payment data when purchasing services.

(k) where relevant information that may fall under special categories such as race, ethnic origin, politics, religion, trade union membership, genetics, health, sex life; or sexual orientation;

We may also record phone calls for the purposes of staff training, mitigation of disputes and the collection of consent from data subjects. 

Using personal information

Personal information submitted to us through our website, phone calls, emails or in person will be used for the purposes specified in this policy.

We may use your personal information to: 

(a) administer our website and business;

(b) pass information to QualitySolicitors Head Office for the purpose of passing on enquiries relating to legal services and obtaining customer feedback;

(c) personalise our website for you;

(d) enable your use of our services;

(e) send you information;

(f) process payments;

(g) send statements, invoices and payment reminders to you, and collect payments from you;

(h) send you non-marketing commercial communications;

(i) send you email notifications that you have specifically requested that form part of the service;

(j) send you our email newsletter, if you have requested it (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require the newsletter);

(k) send you marketing communications relating to our business or the businesses of carefully-selected third parties which we think may be of interest to you, by post or, where you have specifically agreed to this, by email or similar technology (you can inform us at any time if you no longer require marketing communications at the following address/email address Shane House 157 Nottingham Road, Somercotes, Alfreton Derbyshire DE55 4JH or 103 High Street, Alfreton Derbyshire DE55 7DP/chapsol@qualitysolicitors.com);

(l) provide third parties with statistical information about our users (but those third parties will not be able to identify any individual user from that information);

(m) deal with enquiries and complaints;

(n) keep our website secure and prevent fraud; and

(o) verify compliance with the terms and conditions governing the use of our website (including monitoring private messages sent through our website private messaging service).

(p) We will not, without your express consent, supply your personal information to any third party for the purpose of their or any other third party's direct marketing.

(q) All our website and financial transactions are handled through our payment services provider, Barclays Online Banking, Barclays.Net and World Pay. We will share information with our payment services provider only to the extent necessary for the purposes of processing payments you make via our website, directly, refunding such payments and dealing with complaints and queries relating to such payments and refunds.

(r) Data supplied by you for the purposes of our services is stored in our data centres currently hosted within the EEA. Details of their security standards can be found here Life IT, Rackspace and Infinity.

(s) We do not use any automated decision-making processes or profile of you based on the data you provide.

(t) Information we receive from other sources. We may combine this information with information you give to us and information we collect about you. We may use this information and the combined information for the purposes set out above (depending on the types of information we receive).

Disclosing personal information

We may disclose your personal information to any of our employees, officers, insurers, professional advisers, consultants, agents, suppliers or subcontractors insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy and in the delivery of our services. 

We also share your data with advertisers and advertising networks for the purposes of selecting and serving relevant adverts to you and others (more information can be found here http://www.atlasconsortium.info/cookies) and analytics and search engine providers that assist us in the improvement and optimisation of our site.

We may disclose your personal information to any member of our group of companies. This means our subsidiaries, our ultimate holding company and all its subsidiaries insofar as reasonably necessary for the purposes set out in this policy as defined in Section 1159 of the UK Companies Act 2006.

We may disclose your personal information: 

(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;

(b) in connection with any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings;

(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk;

(d) to the purchaser (or prospective purchaser) of any business or asset that we are (or are contemplating) selling; and

(e) to any person who we reasonably believe may apply to a court or other competent authority for disclosure of that personal information where, in our reasonable opinion, such court or authority would be reasonably likely to order disclosure of that personal information.

(f) except as provided in this policy, we will not provide your personal information to third parties.

International data transfers

We do not transfer any personal data outside of the EEA, should this requirement change then we will contact you again to obtain your explicit consent to the transfers.  

Retaining personal information

This section sets out our data retention policies and procedure, which are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention and deletion of personal information.

Personal information that we process for any purpose or purposes shall not be kept for longer than is necessary. The retention period is based upon consideration of the amount, nature and sensitivity of the personal data, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal data, the purposes for which we process your personal data and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means and the applicable legal requirements.

Without prejudice to other obligations set out in this policy or legal obligations, we will usually delete personal data falling within the categories set out below at the date/time set out below:

(a) personal and sensitive data including marital status, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation, dependants, dependants’ names, medical history, criminal history, property related details, financial status – debt, CCJ, nationality, employment status, employer details where relevant, to which you explicitly consent;

(b) when you ask us to erase your data compliant with GDPR Article 17;

Notwithstanding the other provisions of this policy, we will retain documents and records containing personal data:  

(a) to the extent that we are required to do so by law;

(b) if we believe that the documents may be relevant to any ongoing or prospective legal proceedings; and

(c) in order to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights (including providing information to others for the purposes of fraud prevention and reducing credit risk).

There is no statutory period defined in legislation, so our retention period is based on the matter type with QualitySolicitors Chapman and Chubb retention policy.

Security of personal information

We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information.

We will store all the personal information you provide on our secure (password- and firewall-protected) servers.

All communications via our website, payment transactions, electronic documents and database records will be protected by encryption technology.

You acknowledge that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure, and we cannot guarantee the security of data sent over the internet.

Amendments

We may update this policy from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.

You should check this page occasionally to ensure you are happy with any changes to this policy.

We may notify you of any changes to this policy by email.

Please let us know if the personal information that we hold about you needs to be corrected or updated.

Your rights

You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you; provision of such information will be subject to: 

(a) there is no payment required; and

(b) the supply of appropriate evidence of your identity for this purpose, we will usually accept a photocopy of your passport certified by a solicitor or bank, plus an original copy of a utility bill showing your current address.

(c) We may withhold personal information that you request to the extent permitted by law.

(d) You may instruct us at any time not to process your personal information as permitted by law.

(e) You can instruct us to erase your data, compliant to GDPR Article 17.

(f) You have the right to lodge a complaint with the Data Protection Authority, if you consider your rights have been breached in anyway.

You have the right to ask us not to process your personal data for marketing purposes. We will usually inform you (before collecting your data) if we intend to use your data for such purposes or if we intend to disclose your information to any third party for such purposes. You can exercise your right to prevent such processing by checking certain boxes on the forms we use to collect your data.

Note: The UK Data Protection Authority can be contacted on the following link: https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/  

Third party websites

Our website includes hyperlinks to, and details of, third party websites.

We have no control over, and are not responsible for, the privacy policies and practices of third parties if you register with them independently.  If you follow any link to any of these websites, please note that these websites have their own privacy policies and that we do not accept any responsibility or liability for these policies.

Cookies and Trackers

Our website uses cookies and trackers.

Trackers

We use Infinity Call Tracking.  This is a Cloud based call tracking service with integrated visitor tracking capabilities allowing us to track calls from our website and know which marketing activity brought you to our site. The privacy policy for Infinity Call Tracking can be found here Infinity.

Cookies

A cookie is a file containing an identifier (a string of letters and numbers) that is sent by a web server to a web browser and is stored by the browser. The identifier is then sent back to the server each time the browser requests a page from the server.

Cookies may be either "persistent" cookies or "session" cookies: a persistent cookie will be stored by a web browser and will remain valid until its set expiry date, unless deleted by the user before the expiry date; a session cookie, on the other hand, will expire at the end of the user session, when the web browser is closed.

Cookies do not typically contain any information that personally identifies a user, but personal information that we store about you may be linked to the information stored in and obtained from cookies.

We use both session and persistent cookies on our website.

The purposes for which they are used, are set out below:

We use cookies to track your behaviour on our websites such as pages clicked on and how you navigate around our site. This type of information can help us provide a better user experience for our web visitors and customers. Specifically, we use Google Analytics cookies. These cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of visitors to the site, where visitors have come to the site from and the pages they visited.

Category 1 - Session Cookies

These expire at the end of a browser session that is when the user exits the browser. They allow website operators to link the actions of users during a single browser session to allow them to use the website most efficiently. For example, session cookies enable a website to remember that a user has placed items in an online shopping basket.

Category 2 – Performance Cookies

These are cookies we use to gather browsing data anonymously to enable us to monitor the effectiveness of our website. The information gathered is not used for any other purpose.

Atlas cookies. These cookies are used to collect information about the marketing activity and the sales driven from this activity. The information is used to compile reports and to help improve the site and marketing activity. The cookies collect information in an anonymous form, including the number of clicks to the site from marketing activity, where the clicks have come from and the number of sales.

NONE of the cookies on this site contain or pass any personal, confidential or financial information or any other information that could be used to identify individual visitors or customers purchasing from our website.

Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies; for example: 

(a) in Internet Explorer (version 11) you can block cookies using the cookie handling override settings available by clicking "Tools", "Internet Options", "Privacy" and then "Advanced";

(b) in Firefox (version 47) you can block all cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options", "Privacy", selecting "Use custom settings for history" from the drop-down menu, and unticking "Accept cookies from sites"; and

(c) in Chrome (version 52), you can block all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Content settings", and then selecting "Block sites from setting any data" under the "Cookies" heading.

Note: Blocking all cookies will have a negative impact upon the usability of many websites and you may not be able to use all the features on the website.

You can delete cookies already stored on your computer; for example:

(a) in Internet Explorer (version 11), you must manually delete cookie files (you can find instructions for doing so at http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/internetexplorer/delete-manage-cookies#ie=ie-11);

(b) in Firefox (version 47), you can delete cookies by clicking "Tools", "Options" and "Privacy", then selecting "Use custom settings for history" from the drop-down menu, clicking "Show Cookies", and then clicking "Remove All Cookies"; and

(c) in Chrome (version 52), you can delete all cookies by accessing the "Customise and control" menu, and clicking "Settings", "Show advanced settings" and "Clear browsing data", and then selecting "Cookies and other site and plug-in data" before clicking "Clear browsing data".

Note: Deleting cookies will have a negative impact on the usability of many websites.

Links to third party cookie tools  – Google Analytics  Google AdWords  Google AdSense Bing Crazy Egg  Facebook

Data protection registration

We are registered as a data controller with the UK Information Commissioner's Office.

Our data protection registration can be found here:  https://ico.org.uk

Our details

Our principal place of business is at Shane House, 157 Nottingham Road, Somercotes, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 4JH.

You can contact us:

by post, using the postal address given above;

using our website contact form;

by telephone, on the contact number published on our website; or

by email, using the email address published on our website.

by online live chat

Or you can contact our Data Protection officer directly by email at abc@chapsol.com; please note consent is granted for genuine customer enquiries, consent for any other purpose is NOT granted. 

Records management policy+

Introduction

Maintaining business records in a systematic and reliable manner is essential to comply with our legal and regulatory requirements, eg relating to data protection, tax and employment. It also reduces the costs and risks associated with retaining unnecessary information.

This record management policy has been developed to help properly manage the records of QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb. It sets outs what records are, how records should be classified and stored, how long different classes of record should be retained and how records should be disposed of.

Responsibility and application

QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chub, Aileen Chapman principle is responsible for this policy.

What are records?

For the purposes of this policy, records are documents, communications and other materials that are written, recorded or otherwise machine readable. Records can exist in different formats including electronic, paper, book, facsimile, film, videotape, audiotape, and other formats available through existing and emerging technologies.

Voicemail, text or instant messages do not constitute records, except those that have been recorded and retained for business or regulatory purposes. There are two types of records: business records and short-term records. Business/Client records are records created or received in the course of QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb’s business that, document a business-related event or activity, demonstrate a business transaction, identify individuals who participated in a business activity, support a business-related event, activity, or transaction, or are needed for other legal, business, or compliance reasons.

Business/Client records must be properly classified, stored, retained and disposed of in accordance with this policy.

Short-term records are those with no enduring business or operational value, and which are not considered to be business/Client records. These include general departmental announcements, notices or updates, unsolicited vendor bids and/or offers, unsolicited CVs or resumes sent to non-HR personnel, routine and general correspondence having only an immediate or short-term value, and personal files, emails or other documents.

As a general rule, short-term records should be retained for no longer than necessary. Short-term records, including any personal files, emails or other documents on company premises or systems, may become business records if they are relevant to a legal or business matter of QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb.

Creation of records

The individual or department that authored, created or is the primary custodian of a record is responsible for ensuring it is retained and destroyed in accordance with this policy.

All records and other communications pertaining to Quality Solicitors Chapman & Chubb business are to be appropriately and accurately worded. You must act responsibly, lawfully and professionally when creating records regarding our business activities and/or on our systems.

QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb prohibits staff from creating records that are misleading, intentionally false, fraudulent, sexually explicit, abusive, offensive, harassing, discriminatory, profane, libellous, defamatory, unethical, or that violate any laws, regulations or internal policies.

Retention of business records

Our record retention schedule at QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb sets out how long records will normally be held and when the record will be destroyed. We periodically review and update the schedule with additional record types.

Client records should not be disposed of or destroyed before the relevant retention period expires.

Client records should not, however, be kept longer than the relevant retention period unless the retention period for that particular record has been suspended.

Where more than one retention period applies to a record, it should be retained in accordance with the longest retention period, unless otherwise directed by Aileen Chapman the Data Protection Officer.

If a record type is not listed in the record retention schedule and is not a short-term record, contact Aileen Chapman for guidance.

The following are not subject to the record retention schedule:

IT system backups—these are designed for operational restoration purposes and are not to be used for the retention of business records emails of former employees that do not constitute business records—these may be retained for transitional or other business purposes, but are to be disposed of within 1 year of the date of employee’s termination, except as may be required under a litigation hold.

Storage of records

Business/Client records must be stored on QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb premises.

Matter type Retention period – from the date the matter concluded.
Mediation 2 years unless otherwise indicated on file closure form
Pi (adult) 6 years
PI on behalf of minor 6 years after the date of the child’s 18th birthday
Family (non children) 6 years
All other miscellaneous client matter files, including employment and litigation matters and all matters not otherwise specifically mentioned on the list. 6 years
Conveyancing - Sale 6 years
Conveyancing - Purchase 20 years from date of completion
Conveyancing – Lease Sale 6 years
Conveyancing – Lease Purchase 20 years from date of completion
Tax 12 years after the end of the period or assessment
Wills Date of client’s 110th birthday
Trust End of trust period or date of vesting plus 6 years, Documents relevant to VAT liability - 6 years, Tax papers -12 years after the end of the trust period
Internal Central Business Records & H.R. Records for retention+

Introduction

This Record retention schedule accompanies and is incorporated into QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb Record management policy. It sets out the time periods that different types of (employment-related) business/client records must be retained for business and legal purposes. This is a relatively lengthy document listing the many types of employment-related records used by QualitySolicitors Chapman & Chubb and the applicable retention periods for each record type.

The retention periods are based on business needs and legal requirements. If you maintain any types of records that are not listed in this Schedule, and it is not clear from the existing record types in this Schedule what retention period should apply, please contact the data protection officer Aileen Chapman for guidance.

Any deviation from the retention periods in this Schedule must be approved in advance by Aileen Chapman principle.

Business/Client Schedule

Matter type Retention period from the date the matter concluded.
Mediation 2 years unless otherwise indicated on file closure form
PI (adult) 6 years
PI on behalf of minor 6 years after the date of the child’s 18th birthday
Family (non children) 6 years
Family (children matters) 6 years or the youngest child’s 18th birthday (whichever is the later)
All other miscellaneous client matter files including employment and litigation matters and all matters not otherwise specifically mentioned on the list. 6 years
Conveyancing - Sale 6 years
Conveyancing - Purchase 20 years from date of completion
Conveyancing – Lease Sale 6 years
Conveyancing – Lease Purchase 20 years from date of completion
Tax 12 years after the end of the period or assessment
Wills Date of client’s 110th birthday
Trust End of trust period or date of vesting plus 6 years, Documents relevant to VAT liability - 6 years, Tax papers -12 years after the end of the trust period

Notes – Matters on behalf of minors include financial matters on divorce but not matters where only the divorce was dealt with. You will need to look on the file- Divorce documents for finances and court papers for children act matters are useful to find the age of the youngest child and calculate from there.

Remember to check if the subject of a PI case is a minor who is represented by an adult as then the matters on behalf of a minor rule applies.

Do not destroy Wills and Probate archived files unless cleared by Aileen Chapman.

Do not destroy deeds and Wills unless told to do so and you have cleared it with Aileen.

Look at related files eg.002/003 etc. as these may mean you cannot destroy older files until the destruction date on the newer ones.

If in doubt ask Aileen.

Central Business Records

Record type Retention period Authority
Accounts records six years  
Data relating to non-member interest holders three years after interest ceases SRA Practice Framework Rules 2011, r 17.1(a).
Data relating to non-member owners three years after ownership ceases SRA Practice Framework Rules 2011, r 17.1(b).
Complaints records one year from the conclusion of the complaint You are required to provide information on complaints to the SRA annually (see further SRA news—First-tier complaints: New information requirement for firms). It is therefore recommended that you retain records on complaints for at least one year after the complaint is closed, resolved or concluded.

HR records

Record type Retention period
Accident books, reports and records 3 years from the date of the last entry (if an accident relates to a child or young adult—until that person reaches 21 years)
Income tax and NI records and correspondence with HMRC 3 years after the end of the financial year to which they relate
Retirement Benefits Schemes—notifiable events 6 years from the end of the scheme year in which the event took place
Statutory Maternity Pay records 3 years after the end of the tax year in which the maternity period ends

Statutory Sick Pay records 3 years after the end of the tax year to which they relate
Salary and pay records 6 years
Application forms and interview notes for unsuccessful candidates (the same data for successful candidates will be transferred to their Personnel files—see Personnel files below) 6 months
Parental leave records 5 years from the birth or adoption of the child or 18 years if the child receives a disability allowance
Pension scheme investment policies 12 years from the end of any benefit payable under the policy
Personnel files and training records (including disciplinary records and working time records) 6 years after employment ceases
Redundancy records 6 years from date of redundancy
Other HR records 1 year

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