Privacy | The Edge Mortgages

PRIVACY POLICY

We respect your personal information and this Privacy Policy explains how we handle your information.

We need to collect personal information about you to provide you with our home loan, finance broking & related services. This Privacy Statement tells you how we collect your information, what we use the information for and who we share the information with. If we collect information that can be used to identify you, we will take reasonable steps to notify you of that collection.

What personal information do we collect and hold?

General information

The types of general information that we collect and hold about you include:

ID (name, postal address, telephone number, date of birth, email)
Financial details including but not limited to your tax file number
Details relating to your personal situation (relevant to a home loan application as required by the lender)

We may collect information about you because we are required by law to collect it. For example, we require personal information to verify your identity under Australian Anti-Money Laundering Law.

How we collect and hold your information

Unless it's unreasonable and impracticable, we will try to collect personal information directly from you (referred to as 'solicited information').

For this reason, it is therefore very important that you help us to collect your personal information accurately and this information and your contact details remain up to date.

There are a number of ways in which we may seek information from you. We might collect your information when you fill out a form with us, when you've given us a call, used our website, or via electronic means such as via email.

How we collect your information from other sources

Sometimes we will collect information about you from other sources as the Privacy Act 1988 permits. We will only do this if it's reasonably necessary to do so, for example where:

we collect information from third parties about the loan made available to you arising out of the services we provide
we can't get hold of you and we rely on public information (for example, from public registers or social media or made available by third parties) to update your contact details
we exchange information with your legal or financial advisers or other representatives

What if you don't want to provide us with your personal information?

If you don’t provide your information to us, it may not be possible to:

assist you in finding a loan relevant to your circumstances;
verify your identity or protect against fraud; or
let you know about products or services that might be suitable for your financial needs.

How we collect and hold your credit information

We will collect your credit information in the course of answering the enquiries we make of you relating to the credit assistance you seek from us. In addition to what we say above about collecting information from other sources, other main sources for collecting credit information are:

your co-loan applicants or co-borrowers;
your guarantors/proposed guarantors;
your employer/accountant, real estate agent or other referees;
your agents and other representatives like the person who referred your business to us, your solicitors, conveyancers and settlement agents;
organisations that help us to process credit applications;
organisations that check the security you are offering such as valuers;
bodies that issue identification documents to help in checking your identity
our service providers involved in helping us to process any application you make for credit through us

What do we do when we get information we didn't ask for?

Sometimes people share information with us we haven't sought out (referred to as 'unsolicited information'). Where we receive unsolicited personal information about you we will check whether the information is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities. If it is, we'll handle this information the same way we do with other information we seek from you. If it is not, we'll ensure we do the right thing and destroy or de-identify it.

When will we notify you that we have received your information?

When we receive personal information from you directly, we'll take reasonable steps to notify you how and why we collected your information, who we may disclose it to and outline how you can access it, seek correction of it or make a complaint.

Who we use your personal information

What are the main reasons we collect, hold and use your information?

Collecting your personal information allows us to provide you with the products and services you've asked for. This means we can use your information to:

give you credit assistance;
give you information about loan products or related services, considering whether you are eligible for a loan or any related service you requested;
assisting you to prepare an application for a loan;
administering services we provide, for example, to answer requests or deal with complaints;
identifying you;

Can we use your information for marketing our products and services?

We may use or disclose your personal information to let you know about other products or services we or a third party make available and that may be of interest to you.

We will always let you know that you can opt out from receiving marketing offers.

With your consent, we may disclose your personal information to third parties for the purpose of connecting you with other businesses or customers. You can ask us not to do this at any time. We won’t sell your personal information to any organisation.

Yes, You Can Opt-Out

You can let us know at any time if you no longer wish to receive direct marketing offers from us. We will process your request as soon as practicable.

What are the other ways we use your information?

We've just told you some of the main reasons we collect your information. Here are some more insights into the ways we use your personal information including:

telling you about other products or services we make available and that may be of interest to you, unless you tell us not to;
telling you about other suppliers, with whom we have arrangements, that supply goods or services that may be of interest to you;
allowing us to run our business efficiently and perform general administrative tasks;
preventing or investigating any fraud or crime or any suspected fraud or crime;
as required by law, regulation or codes binding us; and
any purpose to which you have consented.

Who do we share your personal information with?

To make sure we can meet your specific needs and for the purposes described in 'How we use your personal information', we sometimes need to share your personal information with others. We may use and share your information with other organisations for any purpose described above.

We may share your information with:

your representative or any person acting on your behalf (for example, lawyers, settlement agents, accountants or real estate agents); and
your referees, like your employer, to confirm details about you.

We may share your information with third parties in relation to services we provide to you or goods or services in which we reasonably consider you may be interested. Those third parties may include:

the mortgage aggregator through whom we may submit loan or lease applications to lenders or lessors on the mortgage aggregator’s panel;
the Australian Credit Licence, holder BLSSA Pty Ltd that authorises us to engage in credit activities;
referrers that referred your business to us;
financial services suppliers with whom we have arrangements;
valuers;
lenders, lessors, lender’s mortgage insurers and other loan or lease intermediaries;
organisations, like fraud reporting agencies, that may identify, investigate and/or prevent fraud, suspected fraud, crimes, suspected crimes, or other misconduct;
government or regulatory bodies as required or authorised by law. In some instances, these bodies may share the information with relevant foreign authorities;
guarantors and prospective guarantors of your loan or lease;
service providers, agents, contractors and advisers that assist us to conduct our business;
any organisation that wishes to take an interest in our business or assets; and
any third party to which you consent to us sharing your information.

Sharing outside of Australia

We may use overseas organisations to help conduct our business. As a result, we may need to share some of your information (including credit information) with such organisations outside Australia. The countries in which those organisations are located are:

We may store your information in cloud or other types of networked or electronic storage. As electronic or networked storage can be accessed from various countries via an internet connection, it’s not always practicable to know in which country your information may be held. If your information is stored in this way, disclosures may occur in countries other than those listed.

Overseas organisations may be required to disclose information we share with them under a foreign law. In those instances, we will not be responsible for that disclosure.

How you can generally access your information

We‘ll always give you access to your personal information unless there are certain legal reasons why we can’t. You can ask us in writing to access your personal information that we hold. In some cases we may be able to deal with your request over the phone.

We will give you access to your information in the form you want it where it’s reasonable and practical. We may charge you a small fee to cover our costs when giving you access, but we’ll always check with you first.

We’re not always required to give you access to your personal information. Some of the situations where we don’t have to give you access include when:

we believe there is a threat to life or public safety;
there is an unreasonable impact on other individuals;
the request is frivolous;
the information wouldn’t be ordinarily accessible because of legal proceedings;
it would prejudice negotiations with you;
it would be unlawful;
it would jeopardise taking action against serious misconduct by you;
it would be likely to harm the activities of an enforcement body (e.g. the police); or
it would harm the confidentiality of our commercial information.

If we can’t provide your information in the way you’ve requested, we will tell you why in writing. If you have concerns, you can complain. See ‘Contact Us’.

How do you correct your personal information?

Contact us if you think there is something wrong with the information we hold about you and we’ll try to correct it if it’s:

inaccurate;
out‑of‑date;
incomplete;
irrelevant; or
misleading.

If you are worried that we have given incorrect information to others, you can ask us to tell them about the correction. We’ll try and help where we can – if we can’t, then we’ll let you know in writing.

What additional things do we have to do to correct your credit information?

If you ask us to correct credit information, we will help you with this in the following way.

Whether we made the mistake or someone else made it, we are required to help you ask for the information to be corrected. So we can do this, we might need to talk to others. However, the most efficient way for you to make a correction request is to send it to the organisation which made the mistake.

Where we correct information

If we’re able to correct the information, we’ll let you know within five business days of deciding to do this. We’ll also let the relevant third parties know as well as any others you tell us about. If there are any instances where we can’t do this, then we’ll let you know in writing.

Where we can’t correct information

If we’re unable to correct your information, we’ll explain why in writing within five business days of making this decision. If you have any concerns, you can access our external dispute resolution scheme or make a complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Time frame for correcting information

If we agree to correct your information, we’ll do so within 30 days from when you asked us, or a longer period that’s been agreed by you.

If we can’t make corrections within a 30 day time frame or the agreed time frame, we must:

let you know about the delay, the reasons for it and when we expect to resolve the matter;
ask you to agree in writing to give us more time; and
let you know you can complain to our external dispute resolution scheme or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

How do you make a complaint?

How do you generally make a complaint?

If you have a complaint about how we handle your personal information, we want to hear from you. You are always welcome to contact us.

You can contact us by using the details below:

Mail:

The Edge Mortgage Consultants
PO Box 4081

Patterson VIC 3204

Email:
bleahy@theedgemortgages.com.au

We are committed to resolving your complaint and doing the right thing by our customers. Most complaints are resolved quickly, and you should hear from our Complaints Area within five business days. If unable to resolve the complaint/dispute to your satisfaction within five business days, they will write to you advising the procedures we will follow in investigating and handling your complaint.

Within 45 calendar days from the date you lodged the complaint with us, we will write to you advising you the outcome of the investigation and the reason/s for our decision, or if required, we will inform you if more time is needed to complete the investigation.

Need more help?

If you do not think we have resolved your complaint to your satisfaction, you may take the matter – free of charge – to the relevant External Disputes Resolution Scheme (provided it is within the scheme’s terms of reference) as detailed below. You may also refer the matter to the relevant External Disputes Resolution Scheme at any time, but if our internal process is still in progress, they may request that our internal processes be complete before considering the matter further.

Our external dispute resolution service provider is the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which can be contacted via:

Online: www.acfa.org.au
Email: http://www.cio.org.au/
Phone: 1800 931 678
Mail: GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

Our licensee's external dispute resolution service provider is the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), which can be contacted via:

Online: www.afca.org.au
Email: info@afca.org.au
Phone: 1800 931 678
Mail: GPO Box 3 Melbourne VIC 3001

What additional things do we have to do to manage your complaints about credit information?

If your complaint relates to how we handled your access and correction requests

You may take your complaint directly to our external dispute resolution scheme or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. You are not required to let us try to fix it first.

For all other complaints relating to credit information

If you make a complaint about things (other than an access request or correction request) in relation to your credit information, we will let you know how we will deal with it within seven days.
Ask for more time if we can’t fix things in 30 days
If we can’t fix things within 30 days, we’ll let you know why and how long we think it will take. We will also ask you for an extension of time to fix the matter. If you have any concerns, you may complain to our external dispute resolution scheme or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Letting you know about our decision

We’ll let you know about our decision within 30 days or any longer agreed time frame. If you have any concerns, you may complain to our external dispute resolution scheme or the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner.

Contact us

We care about your privacy. Please contact us if you have any questions or comments about our privacy policies and procedures. We welcome your feedback.

You can contact us by using the details below:

Mail:

The Edge Mortgage Consultants
PO Box 4081

Patterson VIc 3204

Email:
bleahy@theedgemortgages.com.au

What if you want to interact with us anonymously or use a pseudonym?

If you have general enquiry type questions, you can choose to do this anonymously or use a pseudonym. We might not always be able to interact with you this way, however, as we are often governed by regulations that require us to know who we’re dealing with. In general, we won’t be able to deal with you anonymously or where you are using a pseudonym when:

it is impracticable; or
we are required or authorised by law or a court/tribunal order to deal with you personally.

What do we do with government-related identifiers?

In certain circumstances we may be required to collect government-related identifiers such as your tax file number. We will not use or disclose this information unless we are authorised by law.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

This Policy may change. We will let you know of any changes to this Policy by posting a notification on our website, correspondence via post or e-mail or you may contact us for a copy of the most up to date policy at any time