Privacy Policy

In this Privacy policy the terms, ‘we’ or ‘us’ is Guy Williams Layton LLP.

Your privacy is important to us and we are committed to keeping your information secure and managing it in accordance with our legal responsibilities under applicable data protection laws. We are registered with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a data controller under registration number ZA226917.

Please read this Privacy Statement carefully as it contains information to help you understand how and why we process any personal information that you give us.

What Information We Collect

We process personal information which you give us:

As a client to provide you with legal services.
Whilst servicing your account through our website, in writing, in person or over the phone.
If you request information or assistance from us.

What personal information we process

This includes (but is not exhaustive):

Personal details such as your date of birth, address, National Insurance Number, telephone number and email address.
Identity information such as your passport, driving license, utility bills or national identity card.
Credit history and records relating to you, your partner or anyone else you are financially linked with (we obtain this information from credit reference and fraud prevention agencies.
Family, lifestyle, financial and social circumstances.
Financial details such as your income and information about your bank accounts and the bank accounts of anyone linked financially to your transaction.
Employment/self-employment details

Special Categories of Personal Data

Special categories of personal data include information about an individual’s health and other categories of personal information which are closely monitored.

We do not generally process such information unless you have voluntarily provided this to us, or it is relevant to the legal service you have asked us to provide you with. For example, in Family and Matrimonial matters, or whether you have advised us of an issue, such as your health, which could mean that you may be classed as a “vulnerable client” i.e. due to your personal circumstances or personal characteristics you are particularly vulnerable to financial detriment. We will process sensitive information where you have provided this information to us and have agreed that we can use this information to deliver products and services to you. Where possible we will seek to minimise the collection and use of such special categories of personal data.

How we use your Information

We use your information to:

Provide legal services to you.
Provide and service your relationship with us.
Comply with legal and regulatory obligations for the prevention of financial crime and money laundering.

We will process your information in order to meet our contractual obligations to you, where we have a legitimate interest to do so, where we are permitted by law or to comply with applicable laws and regulation.

PURPOSE	LEGAL BASIS
Providing a service and internal processing
To assess your needs and provide you with suitable products and services	Contractual obligation to provide you with or a proposal including a costs estimate. Where special categories of personal data are processed, these are necessary to assess your needs.
To service and administer your matter including billing	Legitimate interests to provide and manage the service
To verify the identity of our clients	To comply with legal obligations to prevent money laundering
To confirm, update and improve our client records	To company with legal obligations in the Data Protection legislation
To provide you with any information on the services that you have requested	To meet our contractual obligation to provide information on the services you have requested.
Relationship Management
To manage and develop our relationship with you	Legitimate interest to service your matter and improve our service to you
To inform you of products and services that may be of interest to you, where you have chosen to be made aware of this.	With your consent
Training and Development
For training purposes and to improve our service to you.	Legitimate interests to improve our service and develop our employees
To inform you of products and services that may be of interest to you, where you may have chosen to be made aware of this.	With your consent
Complying with legal obligations
To prevent, investigate and prosecute crime, fraud and money laundering	To comply with legal obligations for the prevention of financial crime and money laundering
For auditing purposes	To comply with our legitimate interest to conduct audits
If we are obliged to disclose information by reason of any law, regulation or court order	To comply with legal obligations
Other
To transfer information to any entity which may acquire rights in us	Legitimate interests for commercial interests
For any other purpose to which you agree	With your consent

How we retain your personal information

We will retain your personal information in accordance with applicable laws. We will take reasonable steps to destroy or anonymise personal information we no longer need for the purposes we have set out above. Our retention periods are:

Type of Personal Information	Retention Period
General personal data which includes your normal personal data, personal identity and personal financial data	6 years after conclusion of the matter, with the exception of: Purchase – 12 years Actual Deeds, Wills & Grants of Probate – indefinitely
Client due diligence material which includes copies of your passport, drivers license, bank statements and any association documents and explanations you have given to us to prevent fraud, financial crime and money laundering.	6 years after conclusion of the matter with the exception of- Purchase – 12 years
Special categories of personal data	6 years after conclusion of the matter with the exception of- Actual Deeds, Wills & Grants of Probate – 12 years

How we share your information

Where necessary or required we share information with (the list is not exhaustive):

Regulatory authorities to comply with our legal obligations
Credit reference agencies to check your identity in accordance with our legal and regulatory obligations
Property Search Companies to identity any issues that might influence your decision to buy or sell a property.
Outsourced suppliers
Insurers for the purposes of providing you with appropriate financial cover for an identified insurance risk, or in connection with any claim made by you against us.
Property agents, Brokers, Lenders, other Solicitors involved in your transaction representation other party(ies) in your matter to enable them and us to fulfil our obligations to you.
Other Government departments such as HMRC, Companies House, Probate Registry, Court of Protection or HM Land Registry to fulfill your and our legal obligations.
Expert and Barristers required to work on your matter.
Our Auditors and external assessment bodies to achieve and maintain ay Regulatory or Quality Assurance Standards and accreditations which meet our legal obligations and enable us to provide quality legal services to you.
Other third party agents such as Enforcement Office, Advocacy Agents.

Information Security

We invest appropriate resources to protect your personal information from loss, misuse, unauthorized access, modification or disclosure. However, no internet-based site can be 100% secure and we cannot be held responsible for unauthorized or unintended access that is beyond our control.

Updates

We will keep this Privacy Policy under review and make updates from time to time. Any minor changes to this Privacy policy will be posted on the policy via our website and we will communication any significant changes to you.

Cookies

Our website uses cookies (including Google Analytics cookies to obtain an overall view of visitor habits and visitor volumes to our website).

Your Rights

You have the right to request copies of your personal information. If you think any of the personal information we hold about you is inaccurate, you may also request it is corrected or erased. You also have a right, in certain circumstances, to object to our processing of your personal information, to require us to stop processing your personal information and/or to withdraw your agreement o processing based on ‘consent’, but this does not apply where we have other legal justifications to continue processing your data or an overriding legitimate interest.

In relation to all these rights, please write to us at the address below noted under the Contact us paragraph.

Complaints Process (GDPR)

Whilst the timeframes for handling Data Protection complaints means a 30-day acknowledgement requirement and a timely resolution, any Data Protection complaints will be handled within the timescale set for any complaint received into the practice.

For clarity this means an acknowledgement of the complaint will be sent within 3 working days of receipt and a substantive response within 21 days, wherever possible. As with all complaints, whenever any timeframe cannot be adhered to, the complainant would be informed before the deadline expires.

How to make a Data Protection Complaint

All complaints should be made in writing by either email or post to the firm’s Complaints and Data Protection Manager, Nicola Rowe.

Email – nlr@gwl.co.uk;

Letter – 4^th Floor, Castle Chambers, 43 Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 9SH

If you wish to verbally complain, please telephone Nicola Rowe on 0151 236 7171. She may ask you to provide information in writing or may take notes of the call and ask you to confirm their accuracy before dealing with the substantive response.

The firm does not have any social media platforms but a complaint may also be made by using our website contact facility. This can be found by going onto www.gwl.co.uk. This may delay the receipt of any complaint by the Practice Manager by a day or so.

If, after resolution has been provided to the complainant they remain unhappy, they are able to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the below contact methods. We will always do whatever we can to resolve any complaints directly.

Telephone: 0303 123 11113

Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns

Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF

Contact us

You can contact us by writing to our Data Protection Manager at Guy Williams Layton LLP, 4^th Floor, Castle Chambers, 43 Castle Street, Liverpool, L2 9SH. Telephone queries should be made to Nicola Rowe, Data Protection Manager on 0151 236 7171 and email enquiries should be sent to Nicola Rowe at nlr@gwl.co.uk.

Person Responsible

The person responsible is Nicola Rowe, Practice Manager. This policy is accurate as at 29.06.2026.