Privacy Policy.

About us

“We,” “Us,” and “Our” refer to Evanshaw Ltd, located at Suite 105, Highfield House, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle, England, SK8 3GY.
Company Number: 14799332 | HMRC Agent Services Ref: FARN0054948 | PAYE Agent Ref: IA6537 | Self-Assessment Agent Ref: 3004NQ

For the purpose of the Data Protection Legislation and this notice, we are the “data controller”; we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal data about you. We are required under the Data Protection Legislation to notify you of the information contained in this privacy notice.

Our Data Protection Officer is our point of contact and will be responsible for enquiries in relation to this privacy notice or our treatment of your personal data. Should you require any information regarding how we collect and process your data or have any privacy-related query, you can do so using the contact details listed at Contact us below.

THE PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THIS NOTICE

This notice describes how we collect and use personal data about you, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018 and any other national implementing laws, regulations and secondary legislation, as amended or updated from time to time, in the UK (“Data Protection Legislation”).

This includes our services in relation to Home Responsibilities Protection (HRP) claims and related State Pension correction / underpayment reviews, National Insurance record or qualifying-year corrections, State Pension award / forecast requests, and linked Pension Credit effects where relevant to your case.

This notice applies to the information that we obtain or when you otherwise interact with our services.

Please read the following carefully to understand our practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

HOW WE GET THE PERSONAL INFORMATION AND WHY WE HAVE IT

We obtain personal data about you, for example, when:

1. You register a claim with us. This includes providing information to assess your eligibility and to prepare the relevant claim/authority documents where needed (for example, our Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), HMRC Form 64-8, any National Insurance Statement of Account Request & Consent, and any DWP authority/requests where used).
   Where we ask you to sign documents electronically, you will be shown the final completed version(s) before signing and we retain an audit trail of your consent/signature.
2. You engage us to provide our services and during the provision of those services.
3. You contact us by email, telephone, post or social media (for example when you have a query about our services).
4. From third parties and/or publicly available resources (for example, from your employer, HMRC or DWP).

THE TYPE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION WE COLLECT AND PROCESS

The information we collect and process about you may include the following:

• Your personal details (such as your name, address, contact details, national insurance number, date of birth, employment-related information and State Pension information), whether you were working during the years you had caring responsibilities, and information relevant to the Claim, including HRP, NI credits or qualifying years, marital/civil partnership status, widow/widower/surviving spouse status, deferred or delayed State Pension, and linked Pension Credit effects where relevant to your case.
• Details of contact we have had with you in relation to the provision, or the proposed provision, of our services.
• Details of any services you have received from us.
• Information about any complaints and enquiries you make to us.
• Information from research, surveys, and marketing activities.
• Information we receive from other sources, such as publicly available information, your employer, HMRC or DWP.
• This may also include any documentation submitted in support of your Claim, such as CF411 forms, HMRC Form 64-8, NI statements or SARs, National Insurance Statement of Account requests, DWP Letters of Authority, DWP pension information requests, State Pension award letters, pension forecasts/statements, calculation breakdowns, formal decision notices, outcome notices, arrears breakdowns, payment information and revised pension-rate information.
• If your Claim is successful, we may ask you for details of any arrears, underpayment, uplift, deferred lump-sum, one-off payment, back payment or linked Pension Credit arrears you receive (and, where you can, a copy of the DWP arrears breakdown letter, award notice, outcome notice or other reasonable evidence) so we can calculate our Success Fee accurately and issue an invoice.
• If HMRC later issues PAYE correspondence relating to the arrears (for example, a P800), you may also provide a copy so we can reconcile any tax adjustments.
• We may request proof of ID and proof of address to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations and prevent fraud.

HOW WE USE THE PERSONAL DATA WE HOLD ABOUT YOU

We may process your personal data for purposes necessary for the performance of our contract with you (for example to assess, prepare, submit and progress your Claim) and to comply with our legal obligations.

This includes acting as your authorised agent or representative with HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in relation to the Claim. Any State Pension arrears, underpayments, uplifts, deferred lump-sums, one-off payments, back payments and/or linked Pension Credit arrears arising from the Claim are paid by DWP directly to you (not to Evanshaw). Under no circumstances will HMRC make a payment to any agent in relation to an HRP claim.

We may contact you by phone, SMS, or email for purposes related to the administration and verification of your Claim.

We may process your personal data for the purposes of our own legitimate interests provided that those interests do not override any of your own interests, rights and freedoms which require the protection of personal data. This includes processing for business development, statistical and management purposes.

We may process your personal data for certain additional purposes with your consent. For example, we will only send electronic marketing where permitted (e.g., valid consent or soft opt-in), and every message will include a clear opt-out. We do not sell your personal data.

Please note that we may process your personal data for more than one lawful basis depending on the specific purpose for which we are using your data.

SITUATIONS IN WHICH WE WILL USE YOUR PERSONAL DATA

We may use your personal data in order to:

• Carry out our obligations arising from any agreements entered into between you and us (which will most usually be for the provision of our services).
• Provide you with information related to our services and our events and activities that you request from us.
• Provide you with marketing information where permitted and where you have asked us to do so or where you have provided consent (and any electronic marketing will comply with PECR).
• Seek your thoughts and opinions on the services we provide.
• Notify you about any changes to our services.

This includes processing personal data related to the assessment, submission and management of Claims, requesting and reviewing information from HMRC and DWP, reviewing State Pension award/forecast information and DWP outcome or payment information where relevant, calculating success fees using arrears information you provide to us or DWP provides under your authority, issuing invoices, collecting our Success Fee, and keeping appropriate records to support fee calculation, compliance and customer support.

In some circumstances we may anonymise or pseudonymise the personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you, in which case we may use it without further notice to you.

If you refuse to provide us with certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you. Alternatively, we may be unable to comply with our legal or regulatory obligations.

We may also process your personal data without your knowledge or consent, in accordance with this notice, where we are legally required or permitted to do so.

DATA RETENTION

We will only retain your personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it is collected.

For Claims, this may be until the Claim is fully resolved and any arrears paid, or until your agreement with us is terminated. We retain Advanced Electronic Signature (AES) evidence and audit trails for 6 years from the later of (a) closure of your case, or (b) when any arrears are paid.

When assessing what retention period is appropriate for your personal data, we take into consideration:

• The requirements of our business and the services provided.
• Any statutory or legal obligations.
• The purposes for which we originally collected the personal data.
• The lawful grounds on which we based our processing.
• The types of personal data we have collected.
• The amount and categories of your personal data.
• And whether the purpose of the processing could reasonably be fulfilled by other means.

CHANGE OF PURPOSE

Where we need to use your personal data for similar or new purposes, other than for the purpose for which we collected it, we will notify you and communicate the legal basis which allows us to do so before starting any new processing.

DATA SHARING

Why might you share my personal data with third parties?

We will share your personal data with third parties where we are required by law, where it is necessary to administer the relationship between us or where we have another legitimate interest in doing so.

Which third-party service providers process my personal data?

“Third parties” includes third-party service providers.

The following activities are carried out by third-party service providers: IT and cloud services, professional advisory services, administration services, marketing services, postal services and banking services.

All of our third-party service providers are required to take commercially reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect your personal data.

We only permit our third-party service providers to process your personal data for specified purposes and in accordance with our instructions.

What about other third parties?

We may share your personal data with other third parties, for example in the context of the possible sale or restructuring of the business.

We may also need to share your personal data with a regulator or to otherwise comply with the law.

We will share your personal data with HMRC and with the DWP for the purpose of submitting and managing your Claim and any associated corrections, adjustments, uplifts or underpayment reviews relating to your National Insurance record, State Pension, HRP, NI credits or qualifying years, State Pension award/forecast information and any linked Pension Credit effect where relevant to your case. Any State Pension arrears, underpayments, uplifts, deferred lump-sums, one-off payments, back payments and/or linked Pension Credit arrears arising from the Claim are paid by DWP directly to you (not to Evanshaw). Under no circumstances will HMRC make a payment to any agent in relation to an HRP claim.

We may ask you for information about any arrears, underpayment, uplift, deferred lump-sum, one-off payment, back payment or linked Pension Credit arrears you receive so we can calculate our Success Fee accurately and issue an invoice.

We may also share identity documents or AML verification data with HMRC or other relevant authorities where legally required to comply with fraud prevention or money laundering regulations.

Alternative Agent

In limited circumstances, where HMRC or DWP withdraws, removes or refuses to recognise our authority to act on your behalf for the Claim, Evanshaw Ltd may help you instruct an alternative agent so that your Claim can continue without additional cost to you.

Our designated alternative agent is:

• Arkay Accountancy Services Ltd
• Company number: 16706088
• Registered office: 71-75 Shelton Street, Covent Garden, London, United Kingdom, WC2H 9JQ

Where relevant, the alternative agent may be Arkay Accountancy Services Ltd or another agent authorised to act with HMRC and/or DWP that we agree with you at the time. If such a transfer is proposed, we will always explain who the alternative agent is, how they will be paid, how they will use your personal data, and provide you with their Terms and Conditions and privacy information. You are not obliged to accept any alternative agent and may choose instead to stop your Claim.

If you choose to proceed with an alternative agent, you will be asked to sign a new Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), DWP Letter of Authority (where required), and HMRC Form 64-8 (where required) with that agent before they can act for you. Any new CFA with the alternative agent will come with its own 14-day cooling-off period, which will be explained to you at the time.

We will not transfer your Claim or share your personal data with the alternative agent for them to act on your behalf without your explicit consent.

TRANSFERRING PERSONAL DATA OUTSIDE THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AREA (EEA)

International transfers

If we transfer personal data outside the UK, we will use a valid transfer mechanism under the UK GDPR, such as UK adequacy regulations, the ICO International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, and we will complete a transfer risk assessment where required.

DATA SECURITY

We have put in place commercially reasonable and 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 those who need it for business purposes.

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 data security breach and will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected breach where we are legally required to do so.

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS

We may be required to use your data due to a legal requirement which is placed upon us; this includes our regulatory requirements such as financial record keeping, staff training and monitoring, in addition to complaint handling. We will always inform you if this is the case.

WHAT IS OUR LEGAL BASIS FOR PROCESSING?

We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases under Article 6 UK GDPR:

• Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)) - to assess, submit and manage your Claim and to administer our contractual relationship with you (including corresponding with HMRC/DWP, issuing invoices and collecting our Success Fee where due).
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)) - e.g., anti-fraud checks, tax/accounting requirements.
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)) - e.g., agent communications with HMRC/DWP, case management, internal reporting; we balance these interests against your rights (LIAs available on request).
• Consent (Art. 6(1)(a)) - where required, e.g., for certain electronic marketing.

We do not normally seek special category data. If limited special category data is provided and is strictly necessary for a Claim, for example health or disability-related information relevant to a caring-responsibility / HRP issue, we will process it only where a valid UK GDPR condition applies.

RIGHTS OF ACCESS, CORRECTION, ERASURE, AND RESTRICTION

Your duty to inform us of changes

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Should your personal information change, please notify us of any changes of which we need to be made aware by contacting us, using the contact details below.

Your rights in connection with personal data

Under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

• Request access to your personal data.
• Request correction or erasure of the personal data we hold about you.
• Object to processing or request restriction of your personal data.
• Request the transfer of your personal data to you or another data controller.

To exercise these rights, contact dpo@evanshaw.co.uk.

RIGHT TO WITHDRAW CONSENT

Where we rely on your consent to process your data (e.g., for direct marketing), you may withdraw that consent at any time by emailing dpo@evanshaw.co.uk. Once we receive your withdrawal, we will stop processing your data for that purpose, unless we have another lawful basis to do so.

COOKIES

Evanshaw uses cookies to improve your online experience. These may include:

• Functionality cookies
• Analytics cookies
• Third-party marketing cookies

You can manage cookie preferences in your browser. See All About Cookies or our Cookie Policy for more info. Please note that we do not control tracking technologies used by third parties such as Facebook, Google, or Microsoft. These third parties may collect and process personal data according to their own privacy policies. We recommend reviewing their respective privacy notices for more information.

COMPLAINTS

To make a complaint, contact:

Data Protection Officer
Evanshaw Ltd
Suite 105, Highfield House, Cheadle Royal Business Park, Cheadle, England, SK8 3GY
Email: dpo@evanshaw.co.uk

If you remain dissatisfied, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or call 0303 123 1113.

CHANGES TO THIS NOTICE

Any changes we may make to our privacy notice in the future will be located at: https://www.evanshaw.co.uk/privacypolicy

CONTACT US

If you have any questions regarding this notice or how we handle your data, please contact us at: dpo@evanshaw.co.uk