Protecting your personal information is extremely important to us at LFDS. The following Privacy Notice sets out how we collect, use and store your personal data and how we make sure your data is secure. This notice applies to you if you provide your personal information to us, even if you do not go ahead with an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (“IVA”).

If you have any questions about how we may use your personal information, please contact us using the details below.

1. THE INFORMATION WE COLLECT

The information we collect from you relates to assisting you with your debts, the assessment of your suitability for an IVA and if appropriate the setting up and implementation of your IVA. We will only collect data that we actually need for these tasks, or where we’re required to collect the information to enable us to perform our legal, regulatory or contractual obligations or if we have your permission.We will collect:

A. personal information (such as your name and date of birth)
B. your home address
C. contact information (e.g. telephone number, mobile, email)
D. special personal information (if necessary)
E. financial information
F. information about your employment

If you provide us with personal information about someone else (such as a partner) please do so only with that person’s express consent. If you enter into a joint IVA, your personal information and any information about the service provided to you will be shared with the other person.

We will also use the personal information about the other person as set out under the terms of this privacy notice.

2. HOW WE COLLECT YOUR DATA

We collect information about you in a variety of ways:
• Through your enquiry/application via telephone, email, through our website, through other media channels such as WhatsApp or by other electronic means
• Information received from a third party, for example a creditor providing information about an account you hold with them, or where you have previously agreed for your information to be shared with us, for example, if you have been introduced to us by another company
• By communicating with us on social media such as Facebook
• If we may need to obtain current information about you to meet our legal or regulatory obligations such as credit searches
• Where you have given permission for your information to be provided to us

3. USING YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We may only use/process your personal information lawfully if it falls into one or more of the following categories:

A. If you give specific consent
B. In order for us to meet our contractual obligations to you
C. Where we are legally required to do so
D. To protect your vital interests
E. If it is in the public interest
F. If we have a legitimate interest in doing so

4. HOW LFDS PROCESSES YOUR INFORMATION

Initial Advice/Enquiry
If you ask us for help or advice about your debts and/or make an application for us to assist you with an IVA, we will use your information to help us provide you with advice on appropriate solutions. If this information is not available, we may not be able to advise you or assist with an IVA.The information will be used to enable us to contact you via letter, email, text or telephone about your circumstances to provide advice and if relevant to keep you informed of where your IVA application is up to.In order to provide you with advice on your debts we must collect the following personal data:

A. Contact details so we can advise and keep you informed of where your application is up to
B. Details of who you owe money to and your assets – to enable us to give you correct advice on your personal circumstances
C. Details of what you earn and your monthly expenditure to allow us to assess which debt solution is the most appropriate for you and advise you accordingly
D. Your personal circumstances such as your employment, details of your dependents etc so we can provide suitable advice on financial solutions available to< you
E. Any special personal data relevant to your situation if it affects the advice or recommended solution

We may use information from your credit file to provide confirmation of your creditor details and any history of insolvency or outstanding county court judgements.

If a third party introduced you to us, we will share information about what debt solution we have recommended and whether you have chosen to use LFDS to provide that solution.

We may share your information with:
F.
i. any companies we work with such as professional advisers (eg solicitors) or on an outsourced basis such as insurers or our IT service provider but this will only happen if they agree to keep the information confidential.
ii. Our regulator, The Institute of Chartered Accountants, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office or any other regulatory body or authority which may request certain information where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to
provide this.
iii. With your authority or if we have a legitimate interest to do so or where we may be legally entitled to, we will share information with credit reference agencies, so we can obtain information about your financial circumstances or credit commitments.

Ongoing Services
Where we are providing you with an IVA we will process your personal data to administer your IVA. This may include contacting you if we need further information, or sending you updates on the progress. We will normally require you to agree to the terms and conditions of the IVA which will set out how we will provide the service to you and where we will be required, under the terms and conditions, to process your personal information. For example, we would need to share your information with your creditors to enable us to set up and administer an IVA. If an IVA is implemented on your behalf in our role as Supervisor of the arrangement we have a legal obligation to comply with relevant Insolvency legislation.

5. OTHER PURPOSES FOR PROCESSING YOUR PERSONAL DATA

Client Feedback
Where we have a copy of your personal information we may contact you to ask you to provide a review about the services you’ve received which may help us improve our current services.

Although this information would really help us, you wouldn’t be required to provide us with this information unless you were happy to. We consider that it is in our legitimate interests to contact you in this way.

Legal or Regulatory Obligation
We are required to process your personal information where we have a legal or regulatory obligation to do so, for example, to adhere to anti-money laundering or other regulatory obligations.

Responding to Complaints or Enquiries
If you make an enquiry or complaint to us, we will use your personal information to investigate the complaint and deal with your enquiry. We have a legal and regulatory obligation to deal with your complaint appropriately.Internal AnalysisAs part of our legitimate interest to develop our business we will use your personal information to assess our performance and for statistical analysis. We will use as little personal data as we can to achieve this. We may also share this analysis with third parties who provide us with services and where we have a contractual obligation to do so.

Social Media
We use publicly available social media platforms to promote our services. If you post a message on our Facebook page or similar platforms you should be aware that:
• the social media web pages are publicly available and you must not provide any personal or sensitive information on our pages that are accessible to the public; and
• each social media platform will process any personal information you provide through the platform and will be processed in accordance with its own privacy policy. The privacy policies are available to view on each social media platform.

Cookies
When visiting our website, some information may be collected automatically using ‘cookies’.

These are small text files that allow the processing of your data and enable us to analyse how the website is being used. Cookies can be temporary or permanent.

Temporary cookies are part of the security process while you are using the website; permanent cookies identify the link you used to find our website, check your browser so that we can make sure that our website and services work well with your computer and to help us monitor traffic on our website.

Cookies allow sites to do things like provide personalised content and remember their log-in details and settings. You can turn them off – this won’t stop a website from working, but it might mean it won’t work as well as it could, or that you have to do the same thing more than once.

Cookies tell website owners things like: what search engine a visitor used to find the website, how often they’ve visited it, how long they’ve spent on it, and so on.

The following cookies are the ones we use at LFDS:
• Facebook conversion tracking;
• Google Analytics – this is used to collect information about how visitors use our website. They keep track of when a visitor enters and leaves the website and any search engines and keywords that are used, including any personal and/or special categories of data; and
• Zopim – Online chat functionality.

For more information about cookies and how to turn them off, please visit the websites of the relevant provider.

6. SHARING INFORMATION OUTSIDE THE EEA

We will only share your personal information outside the European Economic Area (EEA), where we have your consent or to comply with a legal obligation, or where we work with a business partner to enable us to provide you with our services, and they process information outside of the EEA.If we do share your information outside of the EEA, we will make sure that it is protected in the same way as if it was being used in the EEA ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.

This may include putting in place a contract with the business partner that means they must protect the personal data to the same standards as the EEA.More information on this can be found on the European Commission Justice Website.

7. SECURITY

We take the protection of personal information seriously and will maintain appropriate measures to maintain the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the information you have provided.

Such measures include:
• company security policies and standards
• staff security awareness and training
• access controls to prevent unauthorised access to the information
• encryption
• anti-malware technologies
• security monitoring & testing
• secure archiving and deletion
• ompliance with industry regulation and legislation

8. CONTACTING YOU

To help us keep you up to date about the service we provide to you and to ensure that you’re kept fully informed, we may contact you by letter, telephone, email, text message, social media or may send you messages by any online customer platforms or other electronic means.If you start an application for an IVA through us we will attempt to contact you shortly after if you were unable to complete your application for whatever reason.

If you have provided us with your consent or where we are legally entitled to do so, we may contact you to let you know about other offers, products and services that we provide which may be of interest to you. We may do this through post, emails, text messages, telephone, social media or other electronic means.

If you do not want to be contacted in a particular way then you can request this at any time, but if we are providing a service to you, we do need to be able to send you communications. This can often be due to a legal or regulatory requirement.

It is important that you keep us up to date when you change your contact details to ensure that we use your up to date contact information.

You can easily let us know at any time if you would no longer like to receive these messages using the details below.

9. YOUR RIGHTS

Access to your personal information
You have the right to request from us a copy of the personal information that we may hold about you. This is called a “Data Subject Access Request”. You can request this information by contacting us as set out below. We won’t charge to provide you with this information.Before providing this information to you (or to another person or company where you have requested), we may ask for proof of identity or ask sufficient questions to enable us to locate the information and ensure that we’re only providing it where you have given your agreement.

Right to have your personal information corrected
If the personal information we hold about you is incorrect you have the right to request that we correct this.

Right to stop or limit the processing of the data we carry out
You may request that your personal information is deleted or that we stop processing the information if we’re no longer entitled to process it. There may be occasions where we are unable to delete the data due to our legal or regulatory obligations. We will however discuss this with you if you request for your information to be deleted.

Portability
In some cases, you may be able to request for your information to be provided to you or to another company in a format that can be processed electronically by you or the other company.

If you want to request this, you’ll need to contact us and we will do our best to accommodate your request

10. HOW LONG WE KEEP YOUR PERSONAL DATA

A. If you enter into an IVA with LFDS, we will keep a record of your personal information where we are required to keep your data to meet our legal and regulatory obligations. This will normally be kept for 6 years after we have finished providing this service. Telephone
calls will be retained for at least 6 years from the date the call was made.

B. If you do not go ahead with an IVA, your personal information will normally be deleted after 2 years unless there is any other reason to keep your personal information, for example, if you have given your consent for some other purpose.

C. After the above time periods, we will delete or anonymise the data so that it cannot be linked back to you.

CONTACT US

If you have any questions or queries about how we use your personal information you can contact us at the address or email below:

Lawson Fox Debt Solutions Limited
Falcon Mill
3rd Floor
Handel Street
Bolton
BL1 8BL

Email: gdpr@lawsonfox.co.uk

If you are not happy with how we process your personal information you should contact us in the first instance. If you’re not happy with how we have dealt with your complaint you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office. You can find their details on their website at https://ico.org.uk/

DEBT SOLUTIONS

Individual Voluntary Arrangement

 
What is an IVA?

An IVA, or individual voluntary arrangement, is a legally binding agreement between you and your creditors, in which you agree to pay an affordable monthly payment for a set period of time – usually 5 or 6 years. After this set period of time any remaining debt will be written off. Your credit file could be affected for 6 years.

 
Will an IVA affect my property?

For homeowners regulations state that if you have equity, some form of equity release may be required by creditors. If you do not have equity or you can’t re-mortgage, you will most likely have an extra 12 months of payments added on to your IVA.

 
How will an IVA affect you?

When you enter an IVA, your creditor accepts what you can afford to pay over the course of 5 years. Once that time period is up, your outstanding balance is written off. This amount could be up to 75% of your initial debt balance.

 Your ability to obtain credit for credit cards, loans, mortgages and other unsecured debts may be affected for 6 years. An IVA will be on your credit report for a minimum of 6 years from the date of arrangement and longer if the arrangement lasts more than 6 years.

 Your IVA will be added to the Insolvency Register and is removed 3 months after the IVA ends.

 
Who can set up an IVA?

An IVA can only be set up by a qualified professional, person known as an Insolvency Practitioner (IP).

 
What fees are payable if I decide to apply for an IVA

If we determine that an IVA is a suitable option for you and you agree, we will fully explain the fees involved. This is summarised in the Fee Policy below.

 

What happens during an IVA?

An IVA involves making a profile of your financial situation and making contact with all of your creditors. During a meeting with all of your creditors, your proposed monthly payment will be voted on. As long as 75% of your creditors agree upon the amount you proposed, your IVA will be approved. The proceeds from the monthly payment sent to your insolvency practitioner each month will then be divided among your creditors (this is distributed based on your debt level with each creditor).

Benefits 

• Gives you a date on which your debt will be cleared.

• Stops letters and phone calls from your creditors.

• Stops debt collectors and bailiffs from calling you.

 
Disadvantages

• You will be obligated into the agreement for the full term.

• Your details will be recorded on the insolvency register.

• You will not be able to get additional credit of more than £500 without your supervisor’s consent.

• Homeowners will need to look into releasing equity from their home.

• Failure to comply with the IVA may lead to bankruptcy.

• Your credit file may be affected for six years.

• Certain debts will still be outstanding.

 

Debt Management Plan

 
What is a debt management plan?

When you are looking into how to solve your debt problems, you hear the term ‘debt management plan’ and many people have absolutely no idea what one actually is. 

A debt management plan is an informal arrangement where providers come to an arrangement with your creditors to repay your debts, but at a rate which you can afford. They do this by looking at your income and expenditure and coming up with a realistic payment plan that is good for all parties – your creditors get paid in full and you can repay your debts without struggling for food or warmth. If your situation changes and you can afford to pay more (or less) you can change your payment amount quickly and easily. Alternatively if at any point you decide you no longer need to be on a debt management plan you can cancel at any time, although you will still have any outstanding debt with your creditors. In many cases Debt Management providers can even have any charges and interest frozen, although there is no guarantee that the creditors will agree to this. A Debt Management plan is not a solution we administer in-house.

 
What are the fees for debt management?

Some debt management companies charge you a monthly debt management fee to pay the daily administration of your plan, the assistance from an expert agent, setting up communication with your creditors, payment of postal fees and phone calls, requesting that interest and other charges be stopped and providing you with an annual review of your financial situation. However you can obtain this service for free from a charity such as Stepchange.

 
How do you set up a Debt Management Plan?

The debt management company will conduct a full financial review of your accounts and determine a monthly affordable payment. They will then communicate directly with your creditors on your behalf, and develop a repayment plan. Once the plan is in place, all you will need to do is make one monthly payment. We will always recommend you speak to The Money Advice Service for free & impartial money advice before speaking to a debt management company.

 
Can I pay off my debts early?

A debt management plan does allow you to pay off debt early. As a non-legally binding agreement, you will be allowed to use pay rises or other sources of income to make larger payments and relieve yourself of debt sooner.

 
Benefits

• Your plan is flexible so payments can be changed to meet your circumstances.

• If you complete the plan, your unsecured debts will be cleared.

• Making one regular monthly payment allows you better control over your finances.

• In many cases, you will no longer be contacted by your creditors or debt collectors.

 
Disadvantages

• Creditors don’t have to agree to a debt management plan and may still contact you asking for immediate repayment.
• Mortgages and other ‘secured’ debts are not covered by a debt management plan.
• Your debts must be repaid in full – they will not be written off.
• Paying over time may mean the amount you pay is increased

 

Bankruptcy

 
Bankruptcy is one way of dealing with debts you cannot afford to repay. It is a court order that you can apply for if you have unmanageable debts. It may be the best way for you to free yourself from excessive debts but the decision should not be taken lightly.

 
What is bankruptcy?

Bankruptcy is a legally binding form of insolvency, which gives you some relief from your debt in return for you agreeing to certain terms. To clear your debts, your assets are sold and split among creditors. While you are usually discharged from bankruptcy after a year, certain circumstances and disposable income may require you to pay into it for three years. You are protected from legal action and at the end of the term your outstanding debt is written off.

 
How long will bankruptcy last for you?

Bankruptcy normally lasts for 12 months. Once this has passed, regardless of what you owe, your bankruptcy will usually be discharged.

 
Will your credit rating be affected?

Your credit rating will be affected in the long term as the bankruptcy order will remain on your file for 6 years following bankruptcy.

 
What are the criteria for a Bankruptcy?

• You can’t afford to pay your debts
• The cost of bankruptcy is £680 – this fee can be paid in instalments to the Insolvency Service via gov.uk until the £680 fee has been reached, so you can pay it at a rate that’s affordable for you.

 
WHAT HAPPENS DURING A BANKRUPTCY?

• During the bankruptcy you cannot use your bank account, credit cards etc

• The official receiver must be given details regarding all financial affairs

• Creditors cannot take legal action against, or pursue you
• Details of your bankruptcy status may be published so creditors can submit a claim

• You cannot act as a director of a company until you are discharged (released) from bankruptcy. This is usually 12 months from the date the court made you bankrupt

• If you are self-employed, you can lose your business and employees may lose their jobs

• You are on an insolvency register until three months following discharge

 

Benefits

• Once you have completed the bankruptcy you will be completely free from any unsecured debts that were included in the bankruptcy proceedings.

• Bankruptcy provides automatic discharge after one year – less in some cases

 

Disadvantages

• Your assets, including your home and car, can be included and sold to raise money to repay creditors.

• You won’t be able to act as a director of a company.

• You will need court permission to take any part in the management of a limited company.

• If the official receiver believes it would help the investigation, members of your family, or employers could be scrutinised in court.

• It may be difficult to obtain credit in future, as a record of the bankruptcy order will stay on your credit history for up to six years.

 

Debt Relief Order

 What is a Debt Relief Order?

A debt relief order is an alternative to bankruptcy for people struggling with debts of less than £30,000.

A debt relief order is only available to people who have a disposable income of less than £75 per month and personal assets worth less than £2,000.

Motor vehicles worth less than £2,000 will generally not be included in this limit (This is in addition to the general assets that you can have)

 
What debts count towards a debt relief order?

• Unsecured debt – Loans, credit cards, store cards, overdrafts, payday loans.

• Household debts – Rent, utilities, telephone, council tax.

• Finance – Hire purchase, credit agreements, buy now pay later agreements.

 
Who is a debt relief order suitable for?

Individuals with relatively low liabilities, small surplus income and few or no assets and who are possibly not in a position to pay off their debts in a reasonable time.

 
What are the criteria for a Debt Relief Order?

It costs £90 to arrange a Debt Relief Order and you can pay in instalments over 6 months. However, you need to have paid the fee in full before your application will be looked at. To qualify for a Debt Relief Order, you need to meet the following criteria: 

• Your disposable income must be £75 or less.
• You have less than £2,000 in assets and your car is worth no more than £2,000.
• Your debt totals less than £30,000

 
What will a Debt Relief Order mean to me?

• Discharge of a DRO usually occurs after a year

• Your name is placed into the insolvency register

• You are removed from the insolvency register after three months but your credit rating will be affected for at least 6 years following

• All debt is frozen while in the DRO

• Legal action against you cannot be taken while in the DRO nor can creditors pursue you

• A DRO can seriously affect current and future employment

Fee Policy

IVA Fee’s

How much does an IVA Cost?
The IVA fees will have been fully explained by your advisor and will be detailed in your IVA proposal. But, if, at any time, you do not feel you fully understand the fee structure we have in place, please contact us and we will explain the cost in more detail.

The fees charged for initiating and supervising your IVA are included in the agreed amount you pay each month into your arrangement. There are no additional or hidden IVA costs.

There are two sets of fees which are charged for an IVA: The Nominee’s fee and the Supervisor’s fee. No other fees are charged.

The Cost of an IVA: Nominee’s Fee
The Nominee’s fee covers the time and expertise needed to consult with you and establish your income and expenditure, assets and liabilities in order to put together the IVA Proposal which is submitted to your creditors. The Nominee represents you from the beginning of your instructions to help you put a proposal to your creditors until the creditor’s meeting and, if the proposal is accepted, your Nominee becomes your Supervisor thereafter.

The Nominee’s fee can typically vary from £1,000 to £2,000 depending on your creditors agreement. This will be drawn typically over the first year of the arrangement.

If you are a sole trader, partner in a business or have complicated affairs, the Nominees fees may occasionally be higher.

The Cost of an IVA: Supervisor’s Fee

In addition to the above, following approval of the IVA, a monthly Supervisor’s fee will be taken. The Supervisor’s fee covers the specialist work carried out throughout the duration of your IVA (normally a five year period) to ensure it is managed correctly and ethically. One of our experienced  will manage the day to day running of your account and can help you should any changes to your circumstances affect your ability to pay your monthly IVA contribution. Furthermore, your Supervisor will conduct annual reviews throughout your IVA term to ensure payments are still affordable and to address any variations that may be needed.

The Cost of IVA Advice
We don’t make any charge to you for any debt advice given prior to the IVA being prepared, 

If, in the unlikely event your proposal is refused by creditors, we do not make any charge to you. If appropriate we will suggest an alternative program to you which may be acceptable to your creditors at that time.