Using our Debt Relief Order (DRO) service - our privacy policy

When you contact us, we collect personal information about you so we can find out if you're eligible for a Debt Relief Order (DRO), and apply for one on your behalf. We’re able to do this under a legal basis called 'public task'. This means it lets us carry out a task which is in the public interest or part of our official functions, and which has a clear basis in law. We’re authorised by the Insolvency Service to draft and send DRO applications for our clients.

We get your information:

by talking with you by phone, email or letter
from records on our case management system - if you've got advice from us before
from credit reference agencies - with your permission

We have a ‘legitimate interest’ to do this under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation. We’ll always ask your permission before representing you or sharing your information.

We’ll always ask for your consent to store information about your:

health conditions
ethnic origin
religion
trade union membership
sexual orientation

You don’t have to tell us this information if you don’t want to.

If you need to contact us about your information

You can get in touch with our information governance team at individualrights@citizensadvice.org.uk. Please only send questions about your data – we can’t reply if you ask for advice.

What information we ask for

We only record information that will help us assess your eligibility for a DRO and complete your DRO application. This includes your name, contact details and information about your financial situation such as debts, income and expenditure.

With your permission we'll contact credit reference agencies on your behalf. They'll give us your credit report which tells us what debts and credit you have.

We might ask for demographic information like your gender or ethnicity.

How we use your information

The main reason we need your information is to complete your DRO application. We'll only access your information for other reasons if we really need to and we have a legitimate interest to do this under data protection law. This means it lets us carry out our aims and goals as an organisation. For example, we might access your information:

for training and quality purposes
to investigate complaints
to get feedback from you about our services
to help us improve our services

We use some information to create statistics about who we're helping and what problems are the most common. This information is always anonymised - you can't be identified. We share these with the Money and Pensions Service, our funder.

Sometimes we share your personal information with other organisations - we only do this to help you with your application, or to monitor the quality of our services. We'll get your permission before doing this.

Organisations we share your data with must store and use it in line with data protection law - they can't pass it on or sell it without your permission. You can check the privacy notices on their websites for more information about how they’ll use your personal data.

We share your DRO application with an official receiver at the Insolvency Service so they can process your application.

With your permission, we might need to share your details with:

Creditors - to get more information about your debts.
Credit reference agencies - to get a copy of your credit report.
Employers or benefits offices - to get details about your income.
Our trusted research partners to get your feedback on our service. To find out which research companies we're currently working with, email researchteam@citizensadvice.org.uk.
The Money and Pensions Service (MaPS), our funders - so they can check the quality of our advice. You can check the Money and Pensions Service’s privacy notice on their website.

Storing your information

Your information is stored securely on our internal systems. All volunteers and staff who access your data have had data protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

Your DRO adviser will log all your DRO details into our secure case management system.

We keep your information for 6 years. If your case has been subject to a serious complaint, insurance claim or other dispute we keep the data for 16 years.

Our case management systems are hosted within the European Economic Area (EEA) and wherever possible, the UK.

If you want to make a complaint

If you're not happy with how we've handled your data, you can make a complaint.