Privacy Notice and cookie policy

Last updated: July 2019

A new data privacy law was introduced in the UK in May 2018. As a result, we’re publishing our latest updated Privacy Notice to make it easier for you to find out how we use and protect your information within Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited. We haven’t changed the ways we use your personal information, but the updated notice provides you with additional details such as:

  • Your increased rights in relation to the information we hold about you
  • How we keep your personal information secure
  • The types of personal information Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited collects about you, and how we share and use it
  • The legal grounds for how we use your information

Privacy policy

Who we are

We are Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited, part of the Severn Trent Group.  We work with Severn Trent Water Limited and a limited number of carefully selected insurance providers and third party companies including HomeServe Membership Limited (HomeServe), to introduce insurance solutions to customers (homeowners or landlords) in the Severn Trent Water region.

We are registered under the Companies Acts (Reg. No. 02562471). Our registered office is Severn Trent Centre, 2 St John’s Street, Coventry, CV1 2LZ.

Within this document ‘We’, ‘Us’ or ‘Our’ means Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited.

Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for insurance activity. For more information visit www.fca.org.uk

We are committed to protecting your privacy and We therefore ask that you please read this Privacy policy before providing Us with any Personal information.

To help Us deal with your request promptly, please use the details in ‘How to contact Us’ and not the Registered office address.

Your information

We will record the information you provide to Us if you write, email or telephone Us about the content of this website or to enquire about the introduction relationship with Our business partners and links to, or from, the Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited website.

The information which We record, will not be sold or used for marketing purposes.

We may be provided with information unrelated to your use of this website, to answer a query or assist with resolving a complaint you have raised through one of Our business partners. Any personal data which We are provided with from other sources will not be sold or used for water marketing introductions.

Our Lawful basis and data use

We rely on the lawful basis of legitimate interest to process your data and contact you for water marketing purposes. Any personal data provided by a third party and shared specifically for the introduction activity will be processed as mentioned in this Privacy notice, subject to you not having opted out with the company who controls the processing of the data.

If you agree that We can share your data from any correspondence or a conversation you have directly with Us, We will pass your data on to our partners, where appropriate, as we do not have a customer base to add to. All written or verbal contacts you make to Us will be recorded for investigating and responding, as well as for quality training and monitoring purposes.

In relation to your data, We would like to confirm:

  • any personal information you provide to Us when making an enquiry or complaint will not be used for introduction or marketing purposes.
  • any personalised marketing you receive from Severn Trent companies will not be from visiting this website.
  • We cannot capture your opt out choice to data sharing or water marketing on this website and We do not have marketing lists to apply those choices to.
  • if you tell Us you want to opt out of data share or water marketing in correspondence or a conversation you have directly with Us, We will arrange the opt out on your behalf with our business partners, Severn Trent Water Limited and HomeServe, and confirm those actions and relevant timescales to you, providing we have been given sufficient details to do so.

Who we share personal data with

Introducing a third party company such as HomeServe provides support to help you with your individual responsibility to repair customer side leaks and ensure that water is not lost unduly. It also gives you the opportunity to consider taking out insurance cover or make preparations for those unexpected water and drainage related instances which can occur inside or outside your home.

By providing this information We can let those customers who are not already aware know that, as a homeowner or landlord, they are responsible for water and drainage pipes and apparatus which may be outside your home and lie underground, and in the case of the water supply pipes, may be shared with neighbours and may cross private land.

This introduction activity is carried out in several ways including in writing from Us which may be personalised using data shared from Severn Trent Water Limited. Introductions can also be made during an internet web chat you initiate, during a call you have made to Severn Trent Water Limited, or from your visit to a Severn Trent website.

For the reasons stated above, you may be asked if you wish to speak to HomeServe after Severn Trent Water have assisted you with a telephone enquiry. This only applies if you are a homeowner or landlord and have not previously told Severn Trent Water that you do not want to be asked this type of water marketing question.

Please note: If you are not the homeowner or landlord, or you do not want to be told about HomeServe when you call in to Severn Trent Water, please let them know during your call, or let Us know (see ‘Your rights’ below).

Introductions can also be made using your data if you:

  • are a current or previous customer of HomeServe and have not asked them to opt you out of water marketing.
  • are a customer of Severn Trent Water and have not opted out of water marketing.
  • are no longer a homeowner or landlord but have not updated your accounts or policy information and have not opted out of water marketing.
  • contact Our partners or Our group companies and subsequently become their customer, you may be contacted for water marketing purposes unless you opt out.
  • We or Our Group companies or Our third-party partners such as HomeServe may on occasion obtain personal information from external organisations; We or Our business partners may use this information for water marketing purposes.

If you decide to engage with or purchase a product or service from one of Our business partners, including HomeServe, the way in which they use your personal data is their responsibility only, and details will be set out in their own privacy notice. Please ensure that you read and are happy with such notices.  If you leave this site via a link to visit Our partners website or to visit Our group companies, you will become subject to their terms and conditions, and their privacy notice and cookie policy.

We may share your personal data through a number of channels:

  • Severn Trent Water, unless you have opted out, will share your information, and We may introduce you to water related services (by direct mail, bill insert, phone, email, SMS or when you visit our websites). We think you’ll find it useful, to know about insurance products to help to fix a leak in your home, or sort out  problems on your private water and drainage systems which may affect your home.
  • If you receive a bill for your water and/or drainage from Severn Trent Water, the bill will be personalised. An introduction letter may be included as an insertion but will not be personalised. If you want to opt out of receiving similar unaddressed and non-personalised inserts with your bill, please inform Severn Trent Water or contact Us. It is helpful to let Us know whether an unaddressed letter came with a bill or arrived separately (see below).
  • If you receive a letter separately through the Royal Mail Door to Door Service We are not using or sharing any personal data. These letters are addressed to the homeowner or occupier and do not have any address information. We are unable to opt you out of this type of mail, but you can contact Royal Mail directly and complete their Opt out form which is available at https://www.royalmail.com/ to stop all similar literature, including some important local government correspondence, from being delivered. This usually runs for a period of two years.
  • We may also share contact information with Severn Trent Water and/or HomeServe to investigate a complaint, to help to resolve a problem or query related to the introduction activity or use of data.
  • If We are asked for assistance by you or any companies on your behalf:
    • to check and maintain quality standards; or
    • to ensure that you are not sent personalised water marketing introductions from Us; or
    • that you are not told about HomeServe products and services when you call Severn Trent Water in future.

If you need to provide Us with special categories of personal information you consent to Us processing this information, where necessary, limited to and for the purposes described in this Privacy notice.

We may also disclose your personal information to others in the following circumstances:

  • Where We are required to do so by law or to comply with legal obligations.
  • If you communicate with Us electronically, including by e-mail, telephone or fax, this communication may be randomly monitored to protect the interests of Our business and Our customers. This is for the purposes of maintaining high quality standards, training purposes, and to ensure that Our employees comply with legal obligations and Our policies and procedures.

Your rights

By providing Us with personal data, you will have consented to Us handling it for the purposes mentioned. If you would like to change the way we are able to contact you, you can simply email us with your details and your request. You have the following rights under UK Data Protection laws. These rights include:

  1. Right to Access your Personal Data
    You can request a copy of the information We hold about you.  There is no charge for this. You can do this by contacting Us by email, phone or post.
  2. Right to Rectification
    You have the right to question any information we have about you that you think is wrong or incomplete. Please contact us if you want to do this.  If you do, we will take reasonable steps to check its accuracy and correct it.
  3. Right to Object
    You can request that your personal data is not processed for specific purposes such as direct marketing. We’re keen to promote efficient water use and Severn Trent Water may send you offers or make you aware of products that help with this. Also, from time to time We may tell you about other offers We think may interest you. We may do this, or We may share your information with carefully selected partners who offer services or products that we think you may be interested in. If you don’t want to receive such offers at all, please let Us know.
  4. Right to be Informed
    You can ask for details of how We process your personal data, as covered by this Privacy Notice.
  5. Right of Erasure
    You can request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no reason for its continued processing. This right is also known as the “Right to be Forgotten”
  6. Right to Restrict Processing
    You can request that no further processing of the personal data we have previously collected occurs.
      
    Where the enquiries may need to be directed to the company whose customer database you are on, and with whom you have a current or past business relationship with, such as Severn Trent Water and HomeServe, and We receive such a request we will be required to pass it on and confirm that action to you.

Please be aware that there may be circumstances when We are unable to complete your request. If this is ever the case, We will inform you of the reason, and provide details of how you can register a complaint with the Information Commissioners Office if you believe we have got this wrong.

Important reminder

This website belongs to Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited and the following relates to Us and not Severn Trent Water or HomeServe Membership Limited.

We do not have records of your water and drainage account with Severn Trent Water or any other water company you may pay charges to. We also do not have details of any policies you hold or have held through HomeServe Membership Limited.

If We receive a request relating to your rights, We may only have records of prior contact you have made directly to Us or previously been made to Us on your behalf.

You will need to contact Severn Trent Water if you want to know about the data they hold about you for your water and drainage account or related to other contacts you have had with them, however:

  • If we receive a request relating to your rights where we deem that you intended to contact Severn Trent Water, We will get in touch with you promptly to check if this is the case before forwarding to that company. Alternatively We will confirm to you that we have forwarded your request to them, providing you have given Us sufficient contact details to do so.

If you provide an account number without contact details, with a request relating to your rights, We may have to assume your request was not intended for Us and We will forward your request to Severn Trent Water. If you have provided sufficient contact information to Us, We will consult with you or confirm any appropriate forwarding action.

If you provide a policy number without contact details, with a request relating to your rights, We may have to assume your request was intended for HomeServe Membership Limited and We will forward your request to that company. If you have provided sufficient contact information to Us, We will consult with you or confirm any appropriate forwarding action.

Security

We will take appropriate technical and organisational measures to prevent unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to personal data.

We will ensure that the personal information that you provide us via this website is held on secure servers.

Contact Us:

Write to Us at:  

Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited
Pure Offices
Sherwood Business Park
Lake View Drive
Nottingham
NG15 0DT

Email Us:  affinity@stservices.co.uk

Telephone:  0115 971 3550 (Mon – Thu 9am – 5pm, Fri 9am – 4.30pm)

Website: www.severntrentaffinity.co.uk

Complaints

Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited

Please let Us know if you are unhappy with how We have used your personal information (see ‘Contact Us’) or email your details to affinity@stservices.co.uk

If your complaint relates specifically to Our use of the personal data held by Severn Trent Water or HomeServe or other third-party data, We are required to reply to you. We may have to consult with the third-party company before responding fully, or We may have to refer you to them directly in some limited circumstances and will explain why in Our reply to you, providing you have given us your contact details.

As We are regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, we will aim to contact you promptly and comply with their timescales for general complaints and enquiries including those about data use. If you make a Subject Access Request to Us,responses will be provided within one calendar month in line with Data Protection law.

Severn Trent Water

For any queries on the use of customer data or to make a Subject Access Request (SAR):

  • Please let Severn Trent Water know if you are unhappy with their use of your personal information by contacting dataprotection@severntrent.co.uk or writing to:
     
    Group Data Protection Officer
    Severn Trent Water
    2 St. John’s Street
    Coventry
    CV1 2LZ

    •  

  • To request a Subject Access Request please email: customerSAR@severntrent.co.uk or write to us at:
     
    SAR Officer
    Severn Trent Water
    2 St. John’s Street
    Coventry
    CV1 2LZ

In some limited circumstances, for example if your request to Severn Trent Water includes a specific concern about the use of data in connection with the activity involving Us and the introduction of  HomeServe, Severn Trent Water may need to consult with Us or We may be required to reply directly to you, dependent on your request. This is because Severn Trent Retail and Utility Services Limited manages the insurance introduction activity and is a company authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Find out on their website how to report a concern.

Cookie policy

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a piece of text which attaches to your hard drive and can store and sometimes track information about how you make use of a website.

How we use cookies

We track how visitors arrive at our website and then track how the visitor travels through our website, what pages are visited, how long they stay, whether they have visited us before, and their general location, but we still won’t know who the visitor is or anything about them.

We also track how visitors leave our website.

What else do you need to know?

If visitors leave this website to go via a link to a third party, this third-party website may use cookies to track the visit. Please see the cookie policy for that site.

Our website stores limited information in the form of cookies in accordance with the EU Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications.

We have no control over third party website cookies.

How to remove cookies

A visitor can usually opt out or disable cookies in several ways. However, depending how this is done, it may affect the functionality of a website and the way it can be viewed in future.

You can:

  • Remove cookies from your hard drive
  • Set your browser to block cookies
  • Set your browser to send you a warning notices before a cookie is stored on your computer

This can vary depending on your browser and its current version i.e. Internet Explorer 8. Below are the links for disabling cookies on the four main browsers.

Google Chrome cookie preferences
Mozilla Firefox cookie preferences
Internet Explorer cookie preferences
Safari cookie preferences

If you want to know more the following website may help: http://www.allaboutcookies.org/ or please research independently.