Privacy

Unity Mutual is a trading name of The Oddfellows, one of the largest and oldest friendly societies in the UK and is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. As a member based friendly society we believe that it is important you know how we treat the information the Society holds about you during your membership of the Society.

This privacy policy sets out how we will process personal information about you. Please read the following carefully.

We may revise this privacy policy from time to time and where significant changes, for example regulatory or process changes, are made.

If you do not agree with any aspect of the policy, you should contact us within the 30 days ‘cooling off’ cancellation period as you may wish to cancel your policy.

Your rights

Where we process your personal data you retain a number of rights. For example, you are able to request we stop or change the way we process your data. You can request we stop sending you information on products, services, events and Society news or that we send you a copy of the information we hold on you. Where you feel the data we hold on you is incorrect, you are able to request that this is updated, corrected or rectified.

For more information on your rights under GDPR please visit: ico.org.uk/for-the-public.

Access rights (Subject Access Request) 

You have a right to access the personal data that is held by the Society about you. For information on how to access the personal data the Society holds, please take a look at our information about Subject Access Requests. Should you have any further questions or concerns, these should be directed to the Society’s Data Protection Advisor, Daniel Bowdler by emailing: daniel.bowdler@oddfellows.co.uk or calling: 0161 832 9361 (ext. 2204). 

Legitimate interest 

The Society is a non-profit member based organisation run for the benefit of its members. It encompasses a Fraternal Membership (the Oddfellows) and an Insurance Business (Unity Mutual). The Society understands that its members have an expectation that they will be kept informed of new products and services, as well as Society news and events.

Use of your information

We will process your data using the personal information you provide on a legitimate interest basis for any of the following purposes:

(1) for the purposes of setting up and administrating the policy you are signing up to;

(2) to respond to specific requests from you;

(3) keep you updated with Society news, events and updates; and

(4) inform you of offers and discounts that you may be eligible for as a result of being an Oddfellows member.

The Society may also contact you in order to make you aware of the financial services products offered by the Society. We do so as membership of the Society may mean you have access to, or you are eligible for discounted or preferential rates for some of our products and services.  These communications may take the form of mailings, telephone calls, emails and other methods of contact.

We hope such contact will ensure that you get the most out of your membership of the Society, however we acknowledge that some members might not necessarily wish to receive this information. As such, should you wish for this contact to cease, or for your preferences to change, please contact:

 0161 832 9361

 Unity Mutual, Oddfellows House, 184-186 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WB

 insure@unitymutual.co.uk

Please specify whether you wish one, a combination of, or all types of communications to stop.

Disclosures of your information

Unless otherwise confirmed at the point of collection, personally identifiable information is retained by us for the duration of your membership. We do not sell, transfer or otherwise disclose your information to any third parties without your consent, except where disclosure is required by law or is necessary to comply with a police request, or is necessary to protect you or any of our other users.

Some of the Society’s products and services do require your data to be transferred to a third party, however you will be informed of this on application and we will only do so with your explicit consent.

First Home Coach customers only – we are required to share data with First Home Coach for billing purposes only. First Home Coach will only use your data for this our purpose. They will not share your data with any other parties.

Third party benefits 

As a member of the Society you may be able to take advantage of the member offers available through the Society’s selected third party providers. Please note, the information you share with our providers will not be controlled by the Society and, as such, the third party provider will be responsible for the processing and security of your personal information. In the unlikely event that something goes wrong, with your consent and where possible, the Society will be happy to assist with your complaint.

How We Use Personal Data to Ask for Feedback via Email:

We share your name, email address, and details of the product/service you purchased (as obtained during the order process) with Feefo. Feefo will then send you an email on our behalf, inviting you to provide feedback on your purchase. Our legal basis for this data processing is our legitimate interest in requesting feedback to improve our products and services. Please refer to Feefo's privacy policy for more information on how Feefo uses the reviews you submit.

Money Laundering Regulations 

Money Laundering Regulations requires firms to undertake Customer Due Diligence (CDD) measures and ongoing monitoring on a risk-sensitive basis (depending on the type of customer, business relationship, product or transaction) in order to establish whether any customers pose an increased risk in relation to terrorist financing and money laundering. Firms must be able to demonstrate to their regulators that the extent of their CDD measures and ongoing monitoring is appropriate and proportionate in view of the money laundering and terrorist financing risk facing the Society.

To do so the Society engages GBG in order to carry our CDD and Money Laundering checks on our behalf. For more information on GBG please visit their website.

Transferring data outside the European Union 

All countries within the European Union (EU) (plus the United Kingdom) are bound by GDPR. The Society will not transfer your personal information outside of the EU.

Looking after your data  

The Society is committed to ensure your data is stored using appropriate data security measures as well as complying with all relevant data protection regulatory requirements. We use a number of different methods to ensure that your data remains accurate, up-to-date and secure.

Other websites  

This site may contain links to other sites owned and operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those other sites. Where you access one of these websites it may be beneficial for you to review their own privacy policy.

Cookies

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as log in information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting. Find out more about the cookies we use and set your preferences.

Child Trust Fund Claims Portal

The information gathered by the Claims Portal is used for the purpose of processing your claims. Unity Mutual would like to continue to provide you with information about the products we offer which may be of interest to you. We do so on a legitimate interest basis but you may opt out at any time by contacting us.

We won’t share your information with third parties and we will only provide you with information relevant to your CTF maturity.

The Unity Mutual Child Trust Fund Claims Portal uses Necessary cookies ONLY. These cookies are necessary for the portal to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. If you set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, the claims portal will not be able to function. As an alternative you can contact the claims team on 0161 214 4650 or by emailing insure@unitymutual.co.uk. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

It is not possible for one of these cookies to retrieve data stored elsewhere on your hard drive, or find email addresses, personal data or credit card information stored on your computer.

Most browsers allow you to prevent cookies being stored on your computer. If you want to know how to do this please look at the help menu on your browser. Please note that doing so may restrict your use of this website. You can find out more about cookies by visiting: www.allaboutcookies.org

How long we retain data  

The Society is committed to only retaining your data for as long as it is needed. Generally speaking this will be for seven years after you no longer hold any membership with us. This is to ensure we are able to deal with any requests or complaints you may have after you have left us. However certain legal, regulatory and/or other requirements mean we sometimes need to hold you data for longer than this time frame.

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal data, we consider 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.

Here’s a more detailed breakdown:

  • Successful product applications – For the full policy term plus a further 6 years
  • Cancelled, surrendered, stalled, incomplete and failed applications – 6 years from the date of the last action
  • Complainant data – 6 years from the date the complaint was made
  • Product enquirer but not taken up – 90 days
  • Retargeting advertising – 180 days Google Ads, Youtube. 90 days Facebook/Instagram, TikTok. Google Analytics retains data for a maximum 14 months.

Should you wish to discuss the specific data retention details in relation to your membership please do not hesitate to contact the Society Data Protection Advisor by emailing: daniel.bowdler@oddfellows.co.uk

Data Protection Advisor  

Should you wish to discuss any aspect of this Privacy Policy please contact the Society’s Data Protection Advisor, Daniel Bowdler on:

 0161 214 4650 (ext. 2204)

 Unity Mutual, Oddfellows House, 184-186 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WB

 daniel.bowdler@oddfellows.co.uk