Privacy Policy

Effective date: 3 August 2026  •  Last updated: 3 August 2026  •  Version: 1.0

This Privacy Policy explains how your personal data is collected, used, shared and protected when you use the Wage Arrestment Expert website and services. Please read it carefully. By using our website or submitting your details to us, you confirm that you have read and understood this policy.

1. Who we are

Wage Arrestment Expert is a service that provides free advice and support to people in Scotland who are facing a wage arrestment, council tax arrears and related debt matters. The service helps people understand their options, including special payment arrangements with local authorities, the Debt Arrangement Scheme (DAS) and Protected Trust Deeds.

Because our service relates to council tax and local authority debt rather than regulated consumer credit, it falls outside the scope of Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regulation. Where you may benefit from a regulated debt solution, we may introduce you to an appropriately authorised or qualified provider (see section 6).

The website and service involve two companies:

Simply Quote Comparison Ltd owns the Wage Arrestment Expert website and is the data controller responsible for your personal data. Complete 2 Financial Solutions Ltd provides and operates the service. The two companies share your personal data with one another as necessary to deliver the service to you and for the marketing purposes described in this policy. Where the two companies jointly determine how and why your data is used, they act as joint controllers and each is responsible for handling your data in line with this policy and applicable data protection law.

In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” refer to Simply Quote Comparison Ltd and, where relevant, Complete 2 Financial Solutions Ltd acting on its behalf.

2. What we mean by personal data

“Personal data” means any information that relates to you and can be used to identify you, either on its own or when combined with other information we hold. It does not include data where your identity has been removed (anonymous data).

Some of the information we handle may be “special category” data or information about your financial circumstances, which is treated as sensitive. We only collect this where it is necessary to help you and where we have an appropriate lawful basis to do so.

3. How we collect information

We collect personal data about you in the following ways:

• Information you give us directly — when you complete an online enquiry or callback form, request advice, speak to us by telephone, email us, or otherwise correspond with us.
• Information we collect automatically — when you visit our website, we automatically collect certain technical data through cookies and similar technologies (see section 12).
• Information from third parties — we may receive your details from partners, referral partners or marketing partners where you have consented to your information being passed to us, and from service providers who help us operate our website and communications.

4. What information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Identity and contact details — your name, postal address, postcode, email address and telephone number.
• Financial and circumstantial information — information about your debts, council tax arrears, wage arrestment, income, expenditure, employment and financial situation, where you provide this so that we can advise you.
• Correspondence — records of your communications with us, including call notes and emails.
• Technical and usage data — your IP address, browser type and version, device information, operating system, referring website, and information about how you use our website.

5. Why we use your information & our lawful bases

We use your personal data for the purposes set out below. Under UK data protection law we must always have a valid “lawful basis” for using your data. The table shows the main purposes and the lawful basis we rely on for each.

Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time (see section 7 and section 11). Where we handle sensitive information about your financial circumstances, we do so on the basis of your explicit consent or another applicable condition under data protection law.

6. Who we share your information with

We do not sell your personal data. We share it only as described below.

6.1 Between our two companies

Your personal data is shared between Simply Quote Comparison Ltd (the data owner) and Complete 2 Financial Solutions Ltd (the service provider) so that the Wage Arrestment Expert service can be provided to you. Both companies are bound by this policy and by appropriate data-sharing arrangements.

6.2 To provide advice and solutions

With your consent, we may pass your details to carefully selected partners so that they can provide, or advise you on, an appropriate debt solution or service. These recipients fall into the following categories:

• Debt advice and debt solution providers (including providers of the Debt Arrangement Scheme and Protected Trust Deeds);
• Insolvency practitioners and qualified money advisers;
• Financial services and financial support partners;
• Local authorities and their appointed agents, where relevant to your council tax or wage arrestment matter.

6.3 For third-party marketing

By submitting your details to us, you are opting in and giving your consent for your personal data to be shared with selected third parties so that they can contact you with marketing about their own products and services. These third parties are broadly in the categories of debt and financial solution providers, financial services companies, and related consumer service providers. They may contact you by telephone, email, SMS or post using the details you provide.

This consent is given when you submit an enquiry, callback request or other form on our website, or otherwise provide your details to us. You can withdraw your consent at any time (see section 7), and withdrawing it will not affect the advice or service we provide to you.

6.4 Service providers and other recipients

We also share data, where necessary, with:

• IT, hosting, communications and email-delivery providers who help us operate the website and contact you;
• Professional advisers such as lawyers, auditors, accountants and compliance consultants;
• Regulators, law enforcement, courts and other authorities where we are required to do so by law or to protect our rights.

All third parties who process data on our behalf are required to keep your data secure and to use it only for the purposes we specify.

7. Marketing & your choices

By submitting your details to us, you opt in and consent to receiving marketing from us and from the selected third parties described in section 6. Even though this consent is given when you provide your details, you remain in control and can opt out or withdraw your consent at any time by:

• clicking the “unsubscribe” link in any marketing email;
• replying “STOP” to a marketing text message; or
• contacting us using the details in section 17.

Please note that if you withdraw consent for third-party marketing, we cannot control any further use of data by a third party who already holds your details lawfully — you would need to contact that organisation directly. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew it.

8. International data transfers

We aim to store and process your personal data within the UK. Where any of our providers process data outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards required by UK data protection law are in place — such as an adequacy decision or the International Data Transfer Agreement (or equivalent contractual clauses) — so that your data continues to receive an equivalent level of protection.

9. How we protect your information

We take the security of your personal data seriously and use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or alteration. These measures include access controls, secure storage of digital and physical records, and staff confidentiality obligations. While no method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, we work to protect your data and to maintain safeguards that meet our legal obligations.

10. How long we keep your information

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including to satisfy any legal, accounting, regulatory or reporting requirements. In practice this means:

• Enquiries that do not proceed: typically up to 12 months from your last contact, unless you ask us to delete your details sooner.
• Customers and service records: typically up to 6 years after our relationship ends, reflecting financial record-keeping and anti-money-laundering obligations and the period for potential legal claims.
• Marketing consents: retained until you withdraw consent or after a period of inactivity, after which we will review and remove your details.

When we no longer need your personal data, we securely delete or anonymise it.

11. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• The right to be informed — to know how your data is used, as set out in this policy.
• The right of access — to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• The right to rectification — to have inaccurate or incomplete data corrected.
• The right to erasure — to ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances (“the right to be forgotten”).
• The right to restrict processing — to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• The right to data portability — to receive your data in a portable format and, where technically feasible, have it transferred to another organisation.
• The right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to object to direct marketing at any time.
• Rights relating to automated decision-making — see section 13.
• The right to withdraw consent — where we rely on consent, to withdraw it at any time.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in section 17. We will respond within one month of receiving your request. There is normally no charge, although we may charge a reasonable fee or decline to act on requests that are clearly unfounded, repetitive or excessive. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

12. Cookies

Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to help the site function, to remember your preferences, to measure how the site is used, and — where you consent — for analytics and marketing. When you first visit, you can accept or manage non-essential cookies through our cookie banner, and you can change your cookie settings at any time. You can also control cookies through your browser settings; however, disabling some cookies may affect how the website works. For full details, please see our Cookie Policy.

13. Automated decision-making

We do not make decisions that produce legal or similarly significant effects about you based solely on automated processing without human involvement. If this changes, we will update this policy and tell you about your rights.

14. Children’s privacy

Our services are intended for adults aged 18 and over. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us and we will delete it.

15. How to complain

If you have any concerns about how we handle your personal data, please contact us first (see section 17) and we will do our best to put things right.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection:

16. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or legal requirements. When we make material changes, we will update the “last updated” date at the top and, where appropriate, notify you. Please check this page periodically to stay informed.

17. How to contact us

If you have any questions about this policy or wish to exercise your rights, you can contact us at: