Privacy policy

Here at RCL Accountants Ltd we care about the importance of your personal data and privacy. This Privacy Policy will explain how we collect and process your personal data.

Who we are

Company name: RCL Accountants Ltd registered in England & Wales with company number 15997627. Registered office address

33 Hillbourne Road, Poole, Dorset BH17 7JA.

Email address: sam@rclaccountants.co.uk

Telephone number: 07748 323849

Information we collect and use

Our company collects the following information:

Contact data: Email addresses, individual addresses, company addresses, landline telephone numbers, mobile telephone numbers.

Identity verification data: First name, Middle name, Surname, Maiden name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, nationality marital status, national insurance numbers, unique tax reference numbers.

Financial data: Personal and business bank statements along with account numbers and sort codes, credit card statements and account numbers, loan agreements, details of asset ownership, P60’s, P11D’s, Mortgage statements, employment contracts.

Technical data: Internet protocol (IP) address, your login data, browser type and version, time zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access this website.

Marketing data: Your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties.

Usage data: Details of how our website is used which are obtained using analytical tools provided by the website host.

Where we need to collect personal data by law, or under the terms of a contract we have with you and you fail to provide that data, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you. In this case, we may not be able to continue with client onboarding procedures or we will have to withdraw from the engagement but we will notify you if this is the case at the time.

Special categories of personal data
The UK GDPR defines special categories of personal data as information about a person's race and ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union memberships, political opinions, genetic data, biometric and health data, and information concerning a natural person's sex life or sexual orientation. RCL Accountants Ltd does not collect special categories of personal data.

How we collect your data

We collect most of this information from our clients through direct interaction. However, we may also collect information from publicly accessible third-party sources such as HMRC, Companies House, your previous accountant and social media platforms.

The legal basis for processing (how we use your personal information)

Under data protection law, we can only use personal data if we have an appropriate legal basis for doing so, e.g.:

• to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations;
• for the performance of our contract with a client or to take steps at a client’s request before entering into a contract;
• for our legitimate interests or those of a third party; or
• where we have been given consent by the data subject.

A legitimate interest is when we have a business or commercial reason to use personal information, so long as this is not overridden by the data subject’s own rights and interests.

RCL Accountants Ltd collect and process your data so that we can:

respond to an enquiry submitted on the website, via phone or email and manage our relationship with you which is necessary to enable us to perform a contract with you.
provide accounting, taxation, payroll, bookkeeping and other professional services to clients. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is so that we can perform our contract with clients or to take steps at clients’ request before entering into a contract.
conduct checks to identify our clients and verify their identity which is necessary to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations.
improve efficiency, training and quality control. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to be as efficient as we can so we can deliver the best service for clients at the best price.
ensure the confidentiality of commercially sensitive information. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to protect our intellectual property and other commercially valuable information.
prevent unauthorised access and modifications to systems. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, i.e. to prevent and detect criminal activity that could be damaging for us and for our clients.
update and enhancing client records. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is for the performance of our contract with clients or to take steps at clients’ request before entering into a contract.
administer and protect our business and this website (including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing, system maintenance, support, reporting and hosting of data). The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is necessary for the running of our business, the provision of administration and IT services, network security, and to prevent fraud.
use data analytics to improve our website, products/services, marketing, customer relationships and experiences. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is necessary to define types of customers for our products and services, to keep our website updated and relevant, and to develop our business.
make suggestions and recommendations to you about services that may be of interest to you. The legal basis for collecting and processing this data is necessary so that we can develop our products/services and grow our business.
comply with legal and regulatory requirements including under anti-money laundering legislation.

We have put in place appropriate security measures to prevent your personal data from being accidentally lost, used or accessed in an unauthorised way, altered or disclosed. In addition, we limit access to your personal data to individuals and other third parties who do not have a have a business or commercial reason to access this data. They will only process your personal data on our instructions and they are subject to a duty of confidentiality. We have put in place procedures to deal with any suspected personal data breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a breach where we are legally required to do so.

How long will we keep your data?

Your personal information will only be kept for the period of time which is necessary for us to fulfil the above purposes.

We will keep personal data after we have completed the services in relation to which we have been instructed by clients. We will do so for one of these reasons:

to respond to any questions, complaints or claims made by clients;
to show that we treated clients fairly;
to keep records required by law and accounting practice or by HMRC.

We will not retain client data for longer than necessary for the purposes set out in this notice. Different retention periods apply for different types of data.

When it is no longer necessary to retain personal data, we will delete it from our systems. In any cases where hardcopy information is held this will either be returned to you or destroyed using an approved confidential waste disposal entity.

Sharing personal information to third parties

In order to meet the purposes described above, we may on some occasions need to share your personal information with other third parties. Those third parties will be:

HMRC
any third parties with whom you require or permit us to correspond
an alternate appointed by us in the event of incapacity or death
tax insurance providers
professional indemnity insurers
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants in their capacity as a money laundering supervisory body in relation to practice assurance and/or the requirements of MLR 2017 (or any similar legislation)

If the law allows or requires us to do so, we may share your personal data with:

the police and law enforcement agencies
courts and tribunals
the Information Commissioner’s Office (“ICO”).

We may need to share your personal data with the third parties identified above in order to comply with our legal obligations, including our legal obligations to you. If you ask us not to share your personal data with such third parties we may need to cease to act.

Data subject rights

RCL Accountants Ltd would like to make sure that you’re aware of your data rights and how to control your personal information. You have the following data subject rights which can be exercised free of charge:

[1] The right of access

The right to be provided with a copy of your personal data (commonly known as a "data subject access request"). This enables you to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to check that we are lawfully processing it.

[2] The right of rectification

The right to request correction of the personal data that we hold about you. This enables you to have any incomplete or inaccurate data we hold about you corrected, though we may need to verify the accuracy of the new data you provide to us.

[3] The right to be forgotten

The right to request erasure of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to delete or remove personal data where there is no longer a business or commercial reason for us to continue processing it. You also have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where you have successfully exercised your right to object to processing, where we may have processed your information unlawfully or where we are required to erase your personal data to comply with local law. Note, however, that we may not always be able to comply with your request of erasure for specific legal reasons which will be notified to you, if applicable, at the time of your request.

[4] The right of portability

The right to request the transfer of your personal data to you or to a third party. We will provide to you, or a third party you have chosen, your personal data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format. Note that this right only applies to automated information which you initially provided consent for us to use or where we used the information to perform a contract with you.

[5] The right to restrict processing

The right to request restriction of processing of your personal data. This enables you to ask us to suspend the processing of your personal data in the following scenarios: (a) if you want us to establish the data's accuracy; (b) where our use of the data is unlawful but you do not want us to erase it; (c) where you need us to hold the data even if we no longer require it as you need it to establish, exercise or defend legal claims; or (d) you have objected to our use of your data but we need to verify whether we have overriding legitimate grounds to use it.

[6] The right to object

The right to object to processing of your personal data where we are relying on a legitimate interest (or those of a third party) and there is something about your particular situation which makes you want to object to processing on this ground as you feel it impacts on your fundamental rights and freedoms. You also have the right to object where we are processing your personal data for direct marketing purposes. In some cases, we may demonstrate that we have compelling legitimate grounds to process your information which override your rights and freedoms.

[7] The right to withdraw consent

The right to withdraw consent at any time where we are relying on consent to process your personal data. However, this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdraw your consent. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain products or services to you. We will advise you if this is the case at the time you withdraw your consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact us.

You will not have to pay a fee to access your personal data (or to exercise any of the other rights). However, we may charge a reasonable fee if your request is clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. Alternatively, we may refuse to comply with your request in these circumstances.

Cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer's hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us.

You can set your browser to refuse all or some browser cookies, or to alert you when websites set or access cookies. If you disable or refuse cookies, please note that some parts of this website may become inaccessible or not function properly.

Links to other sites

Where links are provided to other websites it should be noted that they are not and cannot be governed by our privacy statement. We cannot guarantee your privacy when you access other websites, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy.

Right to complain

If you have requested details of the information we hold about you and you are not happy with our response, or you think we have not complied with the GDPR or DPA 2018 in some other way, you can complain to us. Please send any complaints to RCL Accountants Ltd at 33 Hillbourne Road Poole Dorset BH17 7JA or by email to sam@rclaccountants.co.uk.

If you are not happy with our response, you have a right to lodge a complaint with the ICO (www.ico.org.uk).

Changes to this privacy policy

We regularly review and update this Privacy Policy in order to reflect the best practices and current laws, and will update our policy on this webpage. This privacy policy was published on 23 November 2024 and last updated on 23 November 2024.

Copyright

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only.
you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material.

You may not, except with our express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.