Privacy Policy
We take your privacy very seriously. Please read this privacy policy carefully as it contains important information on who we are and how and why we collect, store, use and share your personal data.
It also explains your rights in relation to your personal data and how to contact us or supervisory authorities in the event you have a complaint.
We collect, use and are responsible for certain personal data about you. When we do so we are subject to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). We are also subject to the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU GDPR) in relation to services we offer to individuals in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Timms Solicitors are committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. It is possible to use our site without providing personal information. However you may wish to provide personal information by completing forms or submitting e-mails to contacts listed throughout the website.
Key Terms
It would be helpful to start by explaining some key terms used in this policy:
| We, us, our | Timms Solicitors ‘Timms’ |
| Information Compliance Co-ordinator | Fiona Moffat Contact via the Derby Office or email legal@timms-law.com |
| UK GDPR | UK General Data Protection Regulation |
| Personal data | Any information relating to an identified or identifiable individual |
| Special category personal data | Personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious beliefs, philosophical beliefs or trade union membership Genetic and biometric data Data concerning health, sex life or sexual orientation |
Personal Data We Collect About You
The table below sets out the personal data we will or may collect in the course of advising and/or acting for you.
| Personal data we will collect | Personal data we may collect depending on why you have instructed us |
| Your name, address and telephone number
Information to enable us to check and verify your identity, e.g. your date of birth or passport details Electronic contact details, e.g. your email address and mobile phone number Information relating to the matter in which you are seeking our advice or representation Information to enable us to undertake a credit or other financial checks on you Your financial details so far as relevant to your instructions, e.g. the source of your funds if you are instructing on a purchase transaction Information about your use of our IT, communication and other systems, and other monitoring information, e.g. if using our secure online client portal |
Your National Insurance and tax details
Your bank and/or building society details Details of your professional online presence, e.g. LinkedIn profile Details of your spouse/partner and dependants or other family members, e.g. if you instruct us on a family matter or a will Your employment status and details including salary and benefits, e.g. if you instruct us on matter related to your employment or in which your employment status or income is relevant, such as determining eligibility for funding or exemptions from the payment of fees. Your nationality and immigration status and information from related documents, such as your passport or other identification, and immigration information, e.g. if you instruct us on a matter for which this is relevant. Your employment records including, where relevant, records relating to sickness and attendance, performance, disciplinary, conduct and grievances (including relevant special category personal data), e.g. if you instruct us on matter related to your employment or in which your employment records are relevant Your racial or ethnic origin, gender and sexual orientation, religious or similar beliefs, e.g. if you instruct us on discrimination claim Your trade union membership, e.g. if you instruct us on discrimination claim or your matter is funded by a trade union Personal identifying information, such as your eye colour or your parents’ names, e.g. if you instruct us to incorporate a company for you Your medical records, e.g. if we are acting for you in a personal injury claim or a family matter where they are required Your social services records, e.g. if you instruct us in relation to a family matter or compensation claim in relation to that Police records e.g. in some family matters Financial details relevant to completion of tax returns and other documents, e.g. in trust matters |
This personal data is required to enable us to provide our service to you. If you do not provide the personal data we ask for, it may delay or prevent us from providing services to you.
How Your Personal Data Is Collected
We collect most of this information from you in direct communication in interviews, over the telephone, in emails, and via our secure online client portal for conveyancing quotations.
However, we may also collect information:
- from publicly accessible sources, e.g. Companies House, the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Register, or HM Land Registry;
- directly from a third party, e.g.:
- sanctions screening providers;
- credit reference agencies;
- client due diligence providers;
- from a third party with your consent, e.g.:
- your bank or building society, another financial institution or advisor;
- consultants and other professionals we may engage in relation to your matter;
- your employer and/or trade union, professional body or pension administrators;
- your doctors, medical and occupational health professionals;
- Local Authorities;
- Etc.
- Via our website—we use cookies on our website (for more information on cookies, please see our Website Management Policy
- from publicly accessible sources, e.g. Companies House, the Bankruptcy & Insolvency Register, or HM Land Registry;
- via our information technology (IT) systems, e.g.:
- case management, document management and time recording systems;
- automated monitoring of our websites and other technical systems, such as our computer networks and connections, access control systems, communications systems, email and instant messaging systems;
- Etc.
How And Why We Use Your Personal Data
Under data protection law (UK GDPR), we can only use your personal data if we have a proper reason for doing so, e.g.:
- to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
- for the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract;
- for our legitimate interests or those of a third party; or
- where you have given consent.
A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information, so long as this is not overridden by your own rights and interests.
The table below explains what we use (process) your personal data for and our reasons for doing so:
| What we use your personal data for | Our reasons |
| To provide legal services to you | For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract |
| Conducting checks to identify our clients and verify their identity
Screening for financial and other sanctions or embargoes Other processing necessary to comply with professional, legal and regulatory obligations that apply to our business, e.g. under health and safety regulation or rules issued by our professional regulator |
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Gathering and providing information required by or relating to audits, enquiries or investigations by regulatory bodies | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Ensuring business policies are adhered to, e.g. policies covering security and internet use | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures so we can deliver the best service to you |
| Operational reasons, such as improving efficiency, training and quality control | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service for you at the best price |
| Ensuring the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to protect our intellectual property and other commercially valuable information To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Statistical analysis to help us manage our practice, e.g. in relation to our financial performance, client base, work type, client feedback or other efficiency measures | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can delivery the best service for you at the best price |
| Preventing unauthorised access and modifications to systems | For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for you To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Updating and enhancing client records | For the performance of our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. making sure that we can keep in touch with our clients about existing and new services |
| Statutory returns | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
| Ensuring safe working practices, staff administration and assessments | To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, e.g. to make sure we are following our own internal procedures and working efficiently so we can deliver the best service to you |
Marketing our services to:
|
For our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to promote our business to existing and former clients |
| Credit reference checks via external credit reference agencies | For our legitimate interests or a those of a third party, i.e. for credit control and to ensure our clients are likely to be able to pay for our services |
| External audits and quality checks, e.g. for Lexcel, ISO, CQS, Investors in People or other accreditations and the audit of our accounts | For our legitimate interests or a those of a third party, i.e. to maintain our accreditations so we can demonstrate we operate at the highest standards
To comply with our legal and regulatory obligations |
The above table does not apply to special category personal data (see the Key Terms above), which we will only process if we are permitted to do so under data protection laws eg
- we have your explicit consent;
- the processing is necessary to protect your (or someone else’s vital interests where you are physically or legally incapable of giving consent; or
- the processing is necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
Marketing
We will use your personal data to send you updates (by email, text message, telephone or post) about our services, including exclusive offers, promotions or new services.We have a legitimate interest in using your personal data for marketing purposes (see above ‘How and why we use your personal data’). This means we do not usually need your consent to send you marketing information. If we change our marketing approach in the future so that consent is needed, we will ask for this separately and clearly.
You have the right to opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by:
- Contacting us at marketing@timms-law.com
- using the ‘unsubscribe’ link in emails or ‘STOP’ number in texts.
We may ask you to confirm or update your marketing preferences if you ask us to provide further services in the future, or if there are changes in the law, regulation, or the structure of our business.
We will always treat your personal data with the utmost respect and will never sell or share it with other organisations for marketing purposes.
Who We Share Your Personal Data With
We routinely share personal data with:
- professional advisers who we instruct on your behalf or refer you to, e.g. barristers, medical professionals, accountants, tax advisors or other experts;
- other third parties where necessary to carry out your instructions, e.g. your mortgage provider or HM Land Registry in the case of a property transaction, or Companies House;
- credit reference agencies;
- our insurers and brokers;
- external auditors, e.g. in relation to ISO, CQS, Lexcel or other accreditations and the audit of our accounts;
- The Legal Aid Agency, in cases where you are eligible for public funding (Legal Aid)
- our banks;
- external service suppliers, representatives and agents that we use to make our business more efficient, e.g. typing services, marketing agencies, document collation or analysis suppliers.
We only allow our service providers to handle your personal data if we are satisfied they take appropriate measures to protect your personal data.
We may disclose and exchange information with law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
We will not share your personal data with any other third party.
Where Your Personal Data Is Held
Personal information may be held at our offices and home and those of third party agencies, service providers, representatives and agents as described above (see ‘Who we share your personal data with’).
In exceptional circumstances, some of these third parties may be based outside the European Economic Area. For more information, including on how we safeguard your personal data when this occurs, see below: ‘Transferring your personal data out of the EEA’.
How Long Your Personal Data Will Be Kept
We will keep your personal data after we have finished advising or acting for you. We will do so for one of these reasons:
- to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by you or on your behalf;
- to show that we treated you fairly;
- to keep records required by law.
We will not retain your data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this policy. Different retention periods apply for different types of data. Client Care letters and file closure letters give details for specific matter types.
When it is no longer necessary to retain your personal data, we will delete or anonymise it.
Transferring Your Personal Data Out Of The EEA
Countries outside the EEA and the UK have differing data protection laws, some of which may provide lower levels of protection of privacy.
It is sometimes necessary for us to transfer your personal data to countries outside the UK and EEA and in those cases we will comply with the applicable UK and EEA laws designed to ensure the privacy of your personal data.
Under data protection laws, we can only transfer your personal data to a country outside the UK where:
- the UK government has decided the particular country ensures an adequate level of protection of personal data (known as an ‘adequacy regulation’) further to Article 45 of the UK GDPR;
- there are appropriate safeguards in place, together with enforceable rights and effective legal remedies for you, or
- a specific exception applies under relevant data protection law
If you would like further information please contact our Information Compliance Co-ordinator.
Your Rights
You have the following rights, which you can exercise free of charge:
| Access | The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data |
| Rectification | The right to require us to correct any mistakes in your personal data |
| To be forgotten | The right to require us to delete your personal data—in certain situations |
| Restriction of processing | The right to require us to restrict processing of your personal data—in certain circumstances, e.g. if you contest the accuracy of the data |
| Data portability | The right to receive the personal data you provided to us, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and/or transmit that data to a third party—in certain situations |
| To object | The right to object:
—at any time to your personal data being processed for direct marketing (including profiling); —in certain other situations to our continued processing of your personal data, e.g. processing carried out for the purpose of our legitimate interests. |
| Not to be subject to automated individual decision-making | The right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing (including profiling) that produces legal effects concerning you or similarly significantly affects you |
| The right to withdraw consent | If you have provided us with a consent to use your personal data you have a right to withdraw that consent easily at any time by contacting us. Withdrawing a consent will not affect the lawfulness of our use of your personal data in reliance on that consent before it was withdrawn. |
For further information on each of those rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, please contact us or see the Guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.
If you would like to exercise any of those rights, please:
- email, call or write to us OR our Information Compliance Coordinator – see below: ‘How to contact us’; and
- let us have enough information to identify you (e.g. your full name, address and client or matter reference number);
- let us have proof of your identity and address (a copy of your driving licence or passport and a recent utility or credit card bill); and
- let us know what right you want to exercise and the information to which your request relates.
Keeping Your Personal Data Secure
We have appropriate security measures to prevent personal data from being accidentally lost or used or accessed unlawfully. We limit access to your personal data to those who have a genuine business need to access it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
How To Complain
Please contact us if you have any queries or concerns about our use of your personal data. We hope that we will be able to resolve any issues you may have. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or by telephone: 0303 123 1113.
Changes To This Privacy Policy
This privacy policy was last updated on 18th October 2022.
We may change this privacy policy from time to time, when we do we will inform you via letter, email, or the Timms website.
Printed Copies Of This Privacy Policy
Printed copies of this policy can be provided by contacting any of our office receptions or by using the contact details below.
How To Contact Us
Please contact us and/or our Information Compliance Officer by post, email or telephone if you have any questions about this privacy policy or the information we hold about you.
Our contact details are shown below:
Email: legal@timms-law.com
Free phone: 0800 011 6666
Timms Solicitors, St. Michael’s, Queen Street, Derby, DE1 3SU