Legal and Regulatory Information

• Privacy Policy

  Privacy Notice

  UK Data Privacy/Data Protection Law changed significantly on 25th May 2018.

  The EU General Data Protection Regulation (or GDPR for short) was a positive step towards you having more control over how your data is used and how you are contacted by us. At 11pm on 31st December 2020, EU GDPR will no longer apply to personal data held or processed within the UK. Instead, “UK GDPR” will apply to such data. The provisions of UK GDPR are essentially the same as EU GDPR and therefore the following rights continue to apply. We confirm that we do not normally hold or process your data outside the UK but if we do we will ensure there are sufficient “adequacy” arrangements or “safeguards” in place to protect your rights.

  If you are an individual, the rights you have under the UK GDPR include the following:

  • The right to be informed
  • The right of access
  • The right to rectification
  • The right to erasure
  • The right to restrict processing
  • The right to data portability
  • The right to object
  • Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

  We have therefore updated our privacy notice to reflect these changes.

  We use your personal data to help us provide an excellent client service, which includes tailoring the information we share with you to help ensure that it’s relevant, useful and timely.

  We will respect your privacy and work hard to ensure we meet strict regulatory requirements.

  We will not sell your personal data to third parties.

  We will provide you with easy ways to manage and review your marketing choices if you receive direct marketing communications from us.

  We are a firm that is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). As you might expect, we are already subject to strict rules of confidentiality. It is therefore already part of the fabric and culture of our firm to keep your information private and secure.

  We would ask you to help us keep your data secure by carefully following any guidance and instructions we give e.g. communicating bank account details and transferring funds to us.

  We are sometimes obliged to share your Personal Data with external authorities without notifying you e.g. as required by the Anti-Money Laundering & Counter Terrorist Financing Act 2017. In all other cases, we will be transparent, and we will explain to you why we are requesting your data and how we are using it.

  Lawful Bases for Processing your Data

  The law states that we are allowed to use personal information only if we have a proper and lawful reason to do so. This includes sharing it with others outside the firm e.g. an auditor of a relevant quality standard.

  The GDPR says we must have one or more of these reasons:

  • Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract we have with an individual, or because they have asked us to take specific steps before entering into a contract.
  • Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for you to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
  • Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for our legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party unless there is a good reason to protect the individual's personal data which overrides those legitimate interests.
  • Consent: the individual has given clear consent for us to process their personal data for a specific purpose.

  A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use your information.

  Here is a list of all the ways that we may use your personal data, and which of the reasons we rely on to do so.

  Swipe left and right on the table below to view the full details. You could also try rotating your device to landscape format for a more improved viewing experience.

  Use of your Personal Data	Our reason/justification for processing	Legitimate Business Interest
  Opening, progressing, closing, archiving and storing a matter/case file	Contract Legitimate Interest Legal Obligation	Fulfilling your instructions (the retainer) Complying with regulations and the law
  Direct marketing to you	Legitimate Interest	Keeping our records up-to-date, working out which of our products and services may interest you and telling you about them Providing information on changes in the law and inviting you to contact us for advice
  To make and manage client payments. To manage fees, charges and interest due to clients. To collect and recover money that is owed to us.	Contract Legitimate Interest Legal Obligation	Keeping accounts systems up-to-date Complying with SRA Accounts Rules and other regulations Effective and efficient management of a sustainable business
  To detect, investigate, report, and seek to prevent financial crime. To manage risk for us and our customers. To comply with laws and regulations that apply to us. To respond to complaints and seek to resolve them.	Contract Legitimate Interest Legal Obligation	Developing and improving how we deal with financial crime including suspected money laundering as well as complying with our legal obligations in this respect Complying with regulations that apply to us. Being efficient about how we fulfil our legal and contractual duties.
  To run our business in an efficient and proper way. This includes managing our financial stability, business capability, planning, communications, corporate governance, and audit.	Legitimate Interest Legal Obligation	Complying with the SRA Accounts Rules and Code of Conduct and other regulations that apply to us   Being effective and efficient about how we run our business   To allow external consultants, advisers and auditors to inspect files
  To exercise our rights and comply with obligations set out in agreements or contracts	Legitimate Interest Legal Obligation	Complying with contractual requirements e.g. for the provision to clients of Public Funding by Public Bodies

  Special Categories and Criminal Convictions Data

  Further to our lawful bases for processing personal data we rely on further conditions contained within the Data Protection Act 2018 (as amended by the Data Protection, Privacy and Electronic Communications (Amendments etc.)(EU Exit) Regulations 2019 and 2020) for processing these types of data. These conditions are contained in Schedule 1, Part 3 of the Act. The primary condition we rely on is known as “legal claims” where;

  This condition is met if the processing -
  (a) is necessary for the purpose of, or in connection with, any legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings),
  (b) is necessary for the purpose of obtaining legal advice, or
  (c) is otherwise necessary for the purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights

  We would normally also rely on another condition in Schedule 1, Part 3 of the Act known as “consent” where, due to the nature of these types of data we would obtain your consent prior to processing them.

  If our reason for processing data is in connection with the Schedule 1, Part 2 of the Act, condition 18, safeguarding of individuals and children at risk,. This is because the processing will be necessary for the purposes of;
  (a) protecting an individual from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm, or
  (b) protecting the physical, mental or emotional well-being of an individual,

  In this condition;
  (a) in the circumstances, consent to the processing cannot be given by the data subject;
  (b) in the circumstances, we cannot reasonably be expected to obtain the consent of the data subject to the processing;
  (c) the processing must be carried out without the consent of the data subject because obtaining the consent of the data subject would prejudice the provision of the protection

  Also, due to the nature of these data types, we comply with Schedule 1, Part 4 of the Data Protection Act which requires us to have an appropriate written policy explaining our security procedures, and data retention periods and we are required to retain this policy document and produce it to the Information Commissioner on request. Our policy is set out in the firm’s Information Management & Security Policy.

  Types of Personal Data we process

  Swipe left and right on the table below to view the full details. You could also try rotating your device to landscape format for a more improved viewing experience.

  Type of Personal Information	Description
  Financial	Your Bank account details and your financial status and information
  Contact Information	Where you live and how to contact you
  Socio-Demographic	This includes details about your work or profession, nationality etc.
  Transactional	Details about payments to and from your bank accounts
  Contractual	Details about the products or services we provide to you
  Behavioural	Details about how you use our services
  Communications	What we learn about you from letters, emails, and conversations between us
  Social Relationships	Your family, friends and other relationships
  Open Data and Public Records	Details about you that are in public records such as the Land Registry, and information about you that is openly available on the internet
  Documentary Data	Details about you that are stored in documents in different formats, or copies of them. This could include things like your passport, drivers licence, or birth certificate
  Special types of data	The Law and other regulations treat some types of personal information as a special category. We will only collect and use these types of data if the law allows or requires us to do so: Racial or ethnic origin Religious or philosophical beliefs Trade union membership Genetic and bio-metric data Health data including gender Criminal convictions and offences
  Consents	Any permissions, consents or preferences that you give us. This includes things like how you want us to contact you.
  National Identifier	A number or code given to you by a government to identify who you are, such as a National Insurance Number
  Legal Aid Application and Bill	Information required to submit an application for public funding and to claim our fees under any legal aid certificate issued to you.

  Sources of Data

  We collect personal data from various sources:

  Swipe left and right on the table below to view the full details. You could also try rotating your device to landscape format for a more improved viewing experience.

  Data	Source	Purpose
  Data you give us when you instruct us to advise you or act for you	You	To enable us to decide whether to accept your instructions and to progress your matter
  Data you give us by letter/phone/email and other documents	You	To enable us to decide whether to accept your instructions and to progress your matter
  Data you give us when you visit our website, via a messaging service or social media	You	To enable us to deal with your query or request and to contact you if appropriate
  Data you give us during interviews	You	To enable us to advise and represent you and to communicate with other solicitors and third parties on your behalf
  Data you give us in client surveys	You	To enable us to improve our services and respond to any expressions of dissatisfaction
  Data provided to us by referrers and introducers	Referrers	To enable us to contact you and to enable us to decide whether to accept your instructions and to progress your matter
  Fraud Prevention agencies	Agency	To enable us to comply with the law and regulations and carry out client due diligence checks
  Estate Agents	Agents	To enable us to act on your behalf in relation to a land transaction
  Other Solicitors	Solicitor Firms	As part of an exchange of information to enable us to progress the matter and advise you
  Public Bodies	Public Body such as HMRC, HM Treasury, Local Authority, Land Registry, Land Charges Registry, Probate Registry, Legal Aid Agency, Police, CPS, Courts Service and other government departments	To enable us to advise you and progress your matter.   To prevent fraud and money laundering
  Your GP or other medical professional	Doctor	To obtain appropriate medical reports
  The Legal Aid Agency	LAA	Under our contractual obligations we will receive “Shared Data” from the LAA if your matter is legally aided

  Who we share your Data with

  Subject to the SRA Code of Conduct and the requirements with regard to client confidentiality, we may share your personal information with:

  • Lawyers or other organisations on the other side of a matter or case
  • Barristers or experts we instruct
  • The courts and other tribunals
  • Your Personal Representatives or Attorneys
  • Auditors
  • Lenders
  • Estate Agents, IFAs, Referrers, etc
  • Organisations that we introduce you to.
  • HM Revenue and Customs
  • The government both Central and Devolved
  • Fraud Prevention Agencies including the National Crime Agency
  • The SRA and other regulators
  • ID checking organisations

  Automated Decision-Making

  We do not use automated decision-making systems. All decisions relating to you and your matter are made by a person.

  Personal Data we use

  We typically will use the following types of personal data:

  • Your Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Home address
  • Contact details such as phone numbers and email addresses
  • Bank details and account information
  • Medical information (where applicable)
  • Employment details
  • Data that identifies you by cookies when you use our website

  Sending Data outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

  Unless you instruct us in a matter or case that involves an international element, we do not normally send your personal data outside the EEA. If we do, then we will seek your consent to do so, explain the risks to you and talk to you about potential safeguards depending on the country involved.

  Your refusal to provide Personal Data requested

  If you refuse to provide the information requested, then it may cause delay and we may be unable to continue to act for you or complete your matter.

  Marketing Information

  We may from time to time send you letters or emails about changes in the law and suggestions about actions that you might consider taking in the light of that information e.g. reviewing your will. We will send you this marketing information either because you have consented to receive it or because we have a “legitimate interest”.

  You have the right to object and to ask us to stop sending you marketing information by contacting us at any time. You can of course change your mind and ask us to send the information again.

  How long we keep your personal information

  We are legally obliged to keep certain information for at least 5 years and typically store your file for 6 years or in children cases until the youngest child of the family is aged 18 before destroying it.

  In some cases, e.g. Legal Aid Matters we are obliged to keep your files for a longer period of time, this period will be set out in our closing letter to you.

  We will store Wills and other documents indefinitely.

  We will keep your name and personal contact details on our database indefinitely to enable us to check for conflicts of interest

  How to get a copy of your Personal Information

  If you wish to access your personal data then write to:

  Kate Scammell
  Data Protection Officer/COLP
  Jackson West Solicitors
  The Old Pump House
  Stratford Upon Avon
  CV37 8HW

  Telling us if your Personal Information is incorrect (The right to rectification)

  If you think any information we have about you is incomplete or wrong, then you have the right to ask us to correct it. Please contact us as above.

  Other Rights

  As mentioned above you also have other rights, namely

  • The right to erasure
  • The right to restrict processing
  • The right to data portability

  You have the right to ask us to delete (erase) or stop us using your data if there is no longer any need for us to keep it (e.g. under a legal obligation).

  In terms of data portability then subject to any lien we may enjoy for non-payment of fees, we will comply promptly (where permitted) to your request to transfer your physical paper file to another solicitor upon receipt of your signed consent. If your file is in electronic format we will take reasonable steps to export the file to a “portable format” where possible so that your new solicitor can upload it to their system. As many different IT systems are used by the legal profession we cannot guarantee that we can provide data in a compatible format.

  Consent

  GDPR in some cases requires us to obtain your explicit consent i.e.

  (a) the racial or ethnic origin of the data subject,

  (b) his political opinions,

  (c ) his religious beliefs or other beliefs of a similar nature,

  (d) whether he is a member of a trade union (within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992),

  (e) his physical or mental health or condition,

  (f) his sexual life,

  (g) the commission or alleged commission by him of any offence, or

  (h) any proceedings for any offence committed or alleged to have been committed by him, the disposal of such proceedings or the sentence of any court in such proceedings.

  Where acting for you involves us processing such data we will seek your explicit consent e.g. when we plan to obtain your medical records.

  You have the right to withdraw your consent by contacting us as stated above.

  However, if you do so then we may not be able to progress you case or indeed continue to act for you.

  How to Complain

  If you are unhappy about how we are using your Personal Data then you can complain to us using the contact information above.

  You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Further details on how to raise a concern with the ICO can be found on the ICO’s website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns

  Cookies

  We use cookies on our following website (s):

  www.jacksonwest.co.uk

  Our cookie notice can be found on our website.

  Updating this Notice

  We will, from time to time, update this Privacy Notice to reflect emerging ICO guidance, requirements of the amended Data Protection Act 2018 and any other relevant changes in the law or regulations, adequacy decisions e.g. following BREXIT. We will also seek to learn from any published cases of Data Protection breaches.

• Complaints

  COMPLAINTS POLICY

  1. We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.

  Our Complaints Procedure

  2. If you have a complaint, in the first instance discuss this with the person who is representing you.  If this does not resolve matters, or you don’t feel comfortable doing so, please contact us with the details. Please mark your letter or e-mail with the word ‘Complaint’.

  What Will Happen Next?

  3. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three days of us receiving the complaint, enclosing a copy of this procedure.

  4. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to a Partner, Mark Eyles, who will review your file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you. If the complaint is about Mark Eyles, the complaint will be passed to Kate Scammell, Partner (CILEX).  In some cases, we will refer your case to our external complaints handling firm, CRCS Legal, whose contact details are as follows:

  E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

  Tel: 0330 2210511

  Address: 86-90 Paul Street, London EC2A 4NE  

       5. In the event we deal with your complaint internally:

  1. Mark Eyles will either provide you with a written response to your complaint or invite you to a meeting to discuss and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 28 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  2. Within three days of any meeting, Mark Eyles, will write to you to confirm what took place and any solutions he has agreed with you.
  3. At this stage, if you are still not satisfied, you should contact us again and we will consider whether a further internal review will take place or whether to refer your complaint to CRCS Legal to review the decision.

  6. In the event of a referral to CRCS Legal or a further internal review they will take the following steps:

  1. A member of the firm’s management team or a Complaint Manager from CRCS Legal will contact you either in writing, e-mail or telephone to acknowledge your concerns within 5 working days of initial contact.
  2. Following an initial acknowledgement, you will be contacted, and an understanding of your concerns will be set out to you. These two steps may be combined in that you may receive an acknowledgement which also sets out the understanding of your complaint. You may be asked to provide any further comments, or further information, and you will be asked to confirm that the understanding is correct.  You will also be asked how you would like to resolve your complaint.  This will happen within 5 working days of the initial acknowledgement of the complaint.  If you do not confirm that the understanding is correct within 7 days, it will be assumed that the summary is correct, and the firm’s representative / Complaint Manager will move to the next stage.
  3. The firm’s representative / Complaint Manager may speak with the person involved, if it is necessary to address your concerns and a review of your file will be undertaken. This action will take place within 21 working days of your providing further information or clarification that the summary is correct.
  4. The firm’s representative / Complaint Manager will then write to you setting out their view of your complaint and making any proposal for resolution, within 7 working days of completing the review. You will be asked to provide any further comments and to consider any resolution that is being proposed.
  5. If you provide any further comments, these will be addressed within 7 working days of receipt of those further comments.

  • NB The timescales are subject to the firm’s representative’s Complaint Manager’s availability, for example they may have to change to allow for holiday or absence from the office. If the timescale has to change you will be advised accordingly.

  7. We have 8 weeks in which to deal with you complaint. If we do not deal with it within this timeframe or if you still remain unhappy once your complaint has been dealt with, you can raise your concerns with The Legal Ombudsman whose contact details are as follows:

  Legal Ombudsman,

  PO Box 6167

  Slough

  SL1 0EH

  0300 555 0333

  A referral must be made to The Legal Ombudsman within 6 months of the date of the letter confirming the investigation has come to an end and your file is closed in relation to the complaint that has been dealt with. The Ombudsman expects complaints to be referred to them within one year of the act or omission complained of or within one year of you realising there was a concern. 

   What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

  The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

  They can be contacted via their website: SRA | Contact us | Solicitors Regulation Authority

• Professional Indemnity Insurance

  Jackson West maintains a minimum of £4,000,000 of professional indemnity insurance in accordance with our professional requirements. Details of the insurers who provide us with cover to that minimum level are available for inspection at our offices.

• Financial Advice

  Jackson West is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. Jackson West will not give and the scope of its instructions does not extend to providing investment services, to acting as your financial adviser or otherwise providing advice on the merits of a transaction. We are able in certain circumstances to offer a limited range of investment services to clients because we are members of the Law Society of England and Wales, which is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. We can provide these investment services if they are an incidental part of our legal work.

  The Law Society of England and Wales is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000. The Solicitors Regulation Authority is the independent regulatory arm of the Law Society. The Legal Ombudsman deals with complaints against lawyers. If you are unhappy with any insurance advice you receive from us, you should raise your concerns with either of these bodies.

• Disclaimer

  The information on this site about legal matters is provided for general information purposes only. Although we try to ensure that all the information on this site is accurate and up to date, this cannot be guaranteed. The information on this site should not be relied upon or construed as constituting legal advice and Jackson West Solicitors disclaim liability in relation to its use. You should seek appropriate legal advice before taking or refraining from taking any action.

  Links on this site to third party websites are for your reference only. We shall not be responsible for the content of any website or information linked to this website.

  Jackson West's VAT number is 770 1540 52

• Cookies Policy

  How we use cookies:

  Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device. They are created when your web browser loads a website and the site sends information to your web browser which then creates a text file.

  Cookies can store a range of information, including personal data (e.g. names, home address, email address, etc.) and information about your website preferences such as language or location. A website will then use this information to present you with information customised to fit your needs.

  This website uses "session cookies" which are cookies that last for a single session. A session starts when you launch a website and ends when you either leave the website or close your web browser window. Session cookies are automatically deleted after the session ends. Unlike other cookies, session cookies are never stored on your device. Therefore, they are also known as "transient cookies", "non-persistent cookies", or "temporary cookies".

  Session cookies fall under the categorisation of strictly necessary cookies under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Strictly necessary cookies are essential to navigate a website and use its features and functionalities. Without them, it would not be possible to use a website's basic services. GDPR exempts these cookies from consent requirements since they do not gather any personal information about users.

  Analytics:

  This website does not currently use any form of analytics or tracking and therefore the website does not store and analytics or tracking cookies on your device.