- What personal information do we collect?
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We collect and process a range of information about you. This includes
- your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number
- bank account number and sort code
- transactional data including payments to and from you
- information about medical or health conditions, including whether you have a disability
- next of kin and their emergency contact details
- financial details obtained from Credit Reference Agencies, such as Experian, but only after the debt becomes overdue In addition, in relation to housing benefit overpayments we collect the following information
- employment status and information, including your national insurance number
- housing benefit records; We collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data is collected through application forms and correspondence with you.
Information is also obtained from other government agencies such as the Department of Work and Pensions and the HMRC who may provide us with a current address and up-to-date details of employed or self-employed income relating to customers with outstanding housing benefit debt. Why do we process personal data? Processing data for the purpose of recovering housing benefit overpayments is necessary for the performance of a business task carried out in the exercise of our official authority. We are also required to prevent and detect fraudulent claims and payments. We also have a legitimate interest in collecting other debts owed to us, in order to protect public funds and for service planning and improvements.
- Why do we process personal data?
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Processing data for the purpose of recovering housing benefit overpayments is necessary for the performance of a business task carried out in the exercise of our official authority. We are also required to prevent and detect fraudulent claims and payments. We also have a legitimate interest in collecting other debts owed to us, in order to protect public funds and for service planning and improvements.
- Who has access to your personal data?
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Your information may be shared with the parties set out below for the purposes stated above.
- DWP (HBOP only)
- National Fraud Initiative (NFI)
- County Courts
- HMRC (HBOP only)
- Certified Bailiffs Agencies We require all third parties to respect the security of your personal data and to treat it in accordance with the law. We do not allow our third-party service providers to use your personal data for their own purposes and only permit them to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions and data protection laws.
They are also obliged to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of data. We will not transfer your data to countries outside the European Economic Area.
- How do we protect personal data?
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We take the security of your data seriously. The organisation has internal policies and controls in place to try to ensure that your data is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed, and is not accessed except by its employees in the performance of their duties. Data will only be processed by members of staff authorised by us for this purpose. Access to our systems is limited to authorised members of the finance team whose job role requires access to the personal data.
- How long do we keep your personal data?
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We keep data in line with legislative requirements, generally this means we keep information relating to overpayments and debtors for 6 years after recovery is completed.
- Your rights
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As a data subject, you have a number of rights, including access to your data. A request for access can be made via our website or by sending an email to foi@runnymede.gov.uk
Data Protection Subject Access Request(SAR) | Introduction – Runnymede Borough Council
To find out more about your rights please see the ‘Your Rights’ section of our main privacy statement
If you believe that Runnymede Borough Council has not complied with your data protection rights, you should initially try to resolve it with the relevant department.
If you are unable to resolve the issue to your satisfaction contact our Data Protection Officer (DPO) who will investigate. If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome of the DPO’s review you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner. You can find out further information on making a complaint to the Information Commissioner on their website Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)