Privacy Policy &
Data Protection

1. Who We Are (Data Controller)

Motolend LTD trading as MotoLend is a credit broker (not a lender) registered in England and Wales under Company Registration Number 16564707, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA FRN: 1054100).

Registered Office: 166a Wanstead Lane, Ilford, Essex, IG1 3SW.
Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) Registration: ZC065336.
Contact Telephone: 0115 661 1111 | Email: sales@motolend.co.uk.

Under UK data protection laws, Motolend LTD is the Data Controller for the personal information processed when you use our website, enquire about vehicle finance, or submit a finance application.

2. Information We Collect

To provide credit broking services and evaluate finance eligibility, we may collect and process:

• Identity & Contact Data: Title, full legal name, date of birth, nationality, marital status, email address, and telephone numbers.
• Address History: 3 consecutive years of residential address history and residential status (homeowner, tenant, living with parents).
• Employment & Financial Information: Employment status, employer name, job title, length of service, gross/net monthly income, household expenditure, and bank account details (for setting up direct debits with lenders).
• Vehicle Requirements: Registration number, vehicle make/model, purchase price, deposit contribution, and preferred finance term.
• Credit & Fraud Prevention Data: Soft credit check results, credit scoring indicators, and fraud risk verification results.
• Technical & Usage Data: IP address, browser type, operating system, and website usage statistics via cookies and analytics.

3. Lawful Bases for Processing

We process your personal information only when there is a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR:

• Contract Performance: To take necessary steps at your request before entering into a finance agreement (e.g. checking eligibility, obtaining quotes, processing your application).
• Legal Obligation: To comply with legal and regulatory mandates, including the FCA Handbook (CONC and DISP), Anti-Money Laundering regulations, and the Data Protection Act 2018.
• Legitimate Interests: To operate and improve our broking platform, prevent fraud, ensure network security, and respond to inquiries.
• Consent: Where you provide express opt-in consent for marketing communications or optional cookie tracking (which you may withdraw at any time).

4. Credit Reference Agencies & CRAIN Notice

In order to process your finance application, we will supply your personal information to Credit Reference Agencies (CRAs), including Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. They will provide us and our panel lenders with information about you, such as your financial history.

Initial Soft Search: When checking eligibility, a soft credit search is conducted. This is recorded on your credit file for your visibility only and does not impact your credit score or ability to obtain credit.

Hard Search: If you proceed with a formal finance agreement, the lending partner will perform a full application search (hard search), which is visible to other lenders and may affect your credit score.

The identities of the CRAs, their role also as fraud prevention agencies, the data they hold, the ways in which they use and share personal information, data retention periods, and your data protection rights with the CRAs are explained in more detail in the Credit Reference Agency Information Notice (CRAIN). You can review CRAIN notices at:
• Experian: www.experian.co.uk/crain
• Equifax: www.equifax.co.uk/crain
• TransUnion: www.transunion.co.uk/crain

5. Fraud Prevention Agencies

Personal information you provide may be shared with and checked against Fraud Prevention Agencies (such as Cifas and National Hunter). If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies. Law enforcement agencies may also access and use this information.

6. Who We Share Your Data With

We may disclose your personal data to:

• Finance Providers & Lenders: Members of our panel of FCA-regulated automotive finance lenders and broker partners to obtain quotes and process your application.
• Motor Dealers: The supplying dealership of your chosen vehicle to coordinate vehicle delivery, collection, and invoicing.
• Third-Party Service Providers: Secure IT hosting, CRM systems, SMS/email communication gateways, and electronic signature providers operating under data processing agreements.
• Regulatory & Legal Authorities: The FCA, Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), law enforcement agencies, or courts where required by law.

7. Data Retention Periods

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfill the purposes for which it was collected, or to satisfy legal, regulatory, tax, accounting, or reporting obligations:

• Finance Applications & Completed Agreements: Retained for 6 years following the end of the customer relationship or completion of the finance agreement, in accordance with the FCA statutory limitation period.
• Enquiries & Quotations (Not Proceeded With): Retained for up to 2 years to assist with any follow-up questions and satisfy regulatory reporting obligations.
• Telephone Call Recordings: Retained for up to 12 months for training, quality assurance, and compliance verification.

8. Your Statutory Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK data protection legislation, you have significant rights regarding your personal data:

• Right of Access (Subject Access Request): You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to Rectification: You can ask us to rectify inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to Erasure ('Right to be Forgotten'): You can request deletion of your data where there is no compelling legal reason for its continued processing (subject to statutory financial record-keeping requirements).
• Right to Restriction: You can ask us to restrict the processing of your data under certain circumstances.
• Right to Object: You can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
• Rights in Relation to Automated Decision Making: You have the right to request human intervention or review of decisions made solely by automated processing.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact our Data Protection Team at sales@motolend.co.uk or in writing to our registered office.

9. How to Contact the Supervisory Authority (ICO)

If you have any concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us first so we can resolve the matter. However, you also have the right to lodge a complaint directly with the UK supervisory authority:

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 | Website: ico.org.uk