Privacy & cookies

We do not process identifiable information about people who visit our website. Our analytics do provide us with general information such as number of visitors and page views, which we use to improve our services. Your IP address may be collected to allow for website functionality. More detail about the cookies which allow for these activities can be found in our Cookie Notice below.

When you raise a complaint with TPO, we require certain information in order to ensure we can give your complaint due consideration and act in accordance with our Terms of Reference. We retain all complaint information for 4 years after the complaint is closed.

Such information will include:

• your name and contact details
• details of your complaint
• if you are not the agent, details of the agent who is a member of our scheme
• a copy of the complaint raised with one of our members and their final response, as well as the dates when these were sent and received
• any other relevant supporting information
• whether your dispute has already been referred to the tenancy deposit scheme, mediation, a trade body, tribunal, the firm’s insurers, or anyone else
• whether you, or another party in relation to the complaint, owe any outstanding fees or other monies
• whether court or legal proceedings have been issued
• whether any goodwill offer has already been made and accepted or declined
• any requirements you may have for reasonable adjustments or additional support

We may collect further information as relevant to your dispute from the other party. We do not collect information about complainants from other sources, such as public records.

Please be aware that, in order to support resolution of your dispute, we may be required to share information you provide with the party about whom you are complaining. We will never share contact details where the other party are not already in possession of this information or information that we believe to be sensitive. However, if you object to information being shared with the party about whom you are complaining, please notify your case handler and we will endeavour to ensure such information is treated confidentially. If this will impact our ability to handle your complaint, we will work with you to find a reasonable solution where possible. We may also be compelled to disclose such information in response to legal requirements, such as in criminal matters or where an individual makes a subject access request. We will never share your information with unrelated third parties.

All calls are recorded. Call recordings are only retained for one year. Please note, transcripts of calls are made automatically by an AI tool. While reasonable efforts are made to ensure the accuracy of these transcripts, this cannot be guaranteed.

We process complaint data under the lawful base of performance of a contract.

We will only use your information for the purposes of administration of complaints and handling your dispute in line with our Terms of Reference as well as in anonymised form to assess and improve our services. Anonymised data analysis and associated service or system improvement works are conducted on the basis of legitimate interests.

TPO retains enquiry data for up to one year. This includes call recordings, emails, and live chat scripts. We use enquiry information for the purposes of administration of the service and handling complaints in line with our Terms of Reference, as well as in anonymised form to assess and improve our services.

We collect information about registered businesses for the purposes of the administration of our services. This will include business contact details, details of the services your business provides, and any relevant registrations. We also require bank details in order to process membership payments. We may share information about registered businesses with relevant regulatory agencies, as required by law, as well as with other membership organisations or professional bodies in line with the contractual agreement between ourselves and our members. Where an agent is a member of a franchise, we may share membership application and renewal information with the franchisor upon their request, in line with the terms of the franchise agreement.

Registered businesses receive regular communication from us by email with details about our services and work, as well as other useful membership benefits. We send these communications under the lawful base of “legitimate interests”. You can click the link at the bottom of the email to opt-out at any time.

We will also send contractual communications, such as relating to registration payments or compliance with our Terms of Reference, information where we have a statutory obligation to provide it, and communicate with you regarding the resolution of any complaints. We do not provide an opt-out for these communications as they are conducted in line with contractual or statutory obligations.

We retain registration data for 6 years after registration lapses.

Please note, any information provided to us by a member in response to a complaint may also be provided to the complainant. Individuals have a statutory right to receive a copy of any information which relates to themselves, unless an exemption applies, and under the terms of our service we are required to demonstrate how we have reached a decision.

Where a business is expelled from our Scheme, we publish this information on our website in the public interest, for the function of our service for consumers, and in line with the contractual terms of membership of our Service. Members are informed of our intention to publicise expulsion prior to publication through the Compliance Committee process.

We may contact members, as well as other organisations or persons who have expressed an interest in our services or for whom such communications may be relevant, for promotional purposes by email. Such communications will include newsletters and invitations to webinars or other events. Contact information is provided by our members when they join our service; collected from publicly available sources relating to businesses, public figures, and organisations; and from contacts who have registered interest. This activity is undertaken under the lawful base of legitimate interests. An opt-out is provided on every contact.

You have the right to obtain from us confirmation as to whether or not we are processing your personal data. Where that is the case, you have the right to a copy of some or all of your personal data.

You have the right to ask us to confirm the purposes of processing, the categories or types of data concerned, with whom your data has been shared, how long your data will be held and, if we obtained your data from a third party, information as to the source. Where we may process your data by wholly automated means, you have the right to meaningful information as to the logic and the right not to be subject to automated decision-making.

There is a statutory deadline of one month for all access requests. Where this must be extended, we will notify you as soon as possible and, in any case, the deadline must not be extended to more than three months.

Please note, you are only entitled to a copy of your own information. We are legally obligated to remove data relating to other persons and to make certain other redactions. We will do our best to explain such redactions clearly in our response.

Where your information is inaccurate or out of date, you have the right to have it corrected.

In certain circumstances you have the right to have your data erased.

In certain circumstances you have the right to restrict the ways your data is used.

You have the right to have your data transferred to another party at your request.

You have the right to object to the processing of your data and to have that objection considered.

Cookies are simple text files that are stored on your computer or mobile device by a website’s server. Each cookie is unique to your web browser. It will contain some anonymous information such as a unique identifier, website’s domain name, and some digits and numbers.

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies allow us to offer you the best possible experience when accessing and navigating through our website and using its features. Stores for 24 hours.

Analytical cookies

These cookies enable us and third-party services to collect aggregated data for statistical purposes on how our visitors use the website. These cookies do not contain personal information such as names and email addresses and are used to help us improve your user experience of the website. Stores for up to 1 year.

Accessibility cookies

Our accessibility toolbar allows preferences to persist between requests. Stores for 1 year.

If you want to restrict or block the cookies that are set by our website, you can do so through your browser setting. Alternatively, you can visit www.internetcookies.com, which contains comprehensive information on how to do this on a wide variety of browsers and devices. You will find general information about cookies and details on how to delete cookies from your device.

If you have any questions about this policy or our use of cookies, please contact us.