Privacy Policy
Merseyside Housing and Debt Advice CIC (MHDA) is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly.
This privacy policy explains what information we collect, why we collect it, how we use it and the rights you have over your personal information.
Who we are
Merseyside Housing and Debt Advice CIC provides free, confidential and impartial housing, debt and benefits advice.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, Merseyside Housing and Debt Advice CIC is the data controller for the personal information we collect and use.
If you have any questions about this policy or how we use your information, please contact us:
Merseyside Housing and Debt Advice CIC
155 Rowan Drive
Liverpool
L32 0SG
Email: admin@mhda.co.uk
Information we may collect
The information we collect will depend on the support you require. It may include:
- Your name and contact details
- Your address and household circumstances
- Information about your housing situation
- Financial information, including income, expenditure and debts
- Information about benefits you receive or may be entitled to
- Employment information
- Information about your family or dependants where relevant to your case
- Details of organisations or professionals supporting you
- Information you provide when completing a form or contacting us
- Records of correspondence and advice provided to you
In some cases, the information required to help you may include more sensitive personal information, such as information about your health, disability or other circumstances affecting your support needs.
We will only collect information that is relevant to providing the service or meeting our legal and regulatory responsibilities.
How we collect your information
We may receive personal information:
- Directly from you
- Through a self-referral submitted on our website
- During telephone, email or face-to-face contact
- Through a professional making a referral on your behalf, where the appropriate consent has been obtained
- From another organisation where you have authorised information to be shared with us
- Through documents and evidence you provide in connection with your case
Why we use your information
We may use your personal information to:
- Respond to enquiries and referrals
- Assess your circumstances and support needs
- Provide housing, debt and benefits advice
- Maintain appropriate records of the advice and support we provide
- Contact you about your case
- Communicate with organisations on your behalf where appropriate
- Make referrals to other services where required and agreed
- Monitor and improve our services
- Meet contractual, funding, regulatory or legal requirements
- Protect the rights, safety and wellbeing of our clients, staff and others
Our lawful basis for using your information
We only process personal information where we have a lawful basis to do so under UK data protection law.
Depending on the circumstances, this may include:
- Consent, where you have given us permission to use your information for a particular purpose
- Contract, where processing is necessary to provide a service you have requested
- Legal obligation, where we are required to process information by law
- Legitimate interests, where it is necessary for the proper operation and administration of our services and those interests do not override your rights and freedoms
Where we need to process special category information, such as information concerning your health, we will ensure that an appropriate additional condition for processing that information applies.
Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect any processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.
Sharing your information
We do not sell your personal information.
We may share information where this is necessary to provide advice or support, where you have asked or authorised us to do so, or where we have another lawful reason.
Depending on your circumstances, this could include organisations such as:
- Local authorities
- Government departments and agencies
- Housing providers or landlords
- Benefits authorities
- Creditors and organisations involved in resolving debts
- Other advice, support or charitable organisations
- Professional advisers or service providers supporting MHDA
We will only share information that is necessary for the purpose concerned.
There may also be circumstances where we are required to disclose information by law or where disclosure is necessary to protect someone from serious harm.
Professional referrals
Professionals referring a client to MHDA must ensure that the client has been informed of the referral and that the appropriate consent has been obtained before personal information is sent to us.
Our website referral facility is intended for self-referrals. Professional referrals should be made using the appropriate referral and consent process.
How we protect your information
We take appropriate organisational and technical measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or disclosure.
Access to personal information is restricted to people who need it for their role or to provide the relevant service.
How long we keep your information
We only keep personal information for as long as it is reasonably necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and to meet any legal, regulatory, contractual or funding requirements that apply to us.
Different types of information may therefore be retained for different periods.
When information is no longer required, it will be securely deleted or disposed of in accordance with our data retention procedures.
Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
- Ask for a copy of the personal information we hold about you
- Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information
- Ask us to delete your personal information
- Ask us to restrict how your information is used
- Object to certain uses of your personal information
- Ask for certain information to be transferred to you or another organisation
- Withdraw consent where we rely on consent to process your information
Not all of these rights apply in every situation.
If you would like to exercise any of your rights, please contact us at admin@mhda.co.uk.
We may need to confirm your identity before responding to a request.
Complaints
If you have concerns about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us first so that we can try to resolve the matter.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's data protection regulator.
Further information about your rights and how to make a complaint is available from the ICO.
Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time to reflect changes to our services, legal requirements or the way we use personal information.
Last updated: August 2026
