Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Compare Commercial collects, uses, stores, shares and protects personal data.

This website is operated under the trading name Compare Commercial. The legal entity behind the website is identified at the bottom of this policy.

By using this website, submitting an enquiry, subscribing to updates, clicking an affiliate link, or otherwise interacting with us, you acknowledge this Privacy Policy.

1. Who we are

Compare Commercial is a UK business comparison, lead generation and content platform.

For the purposes of UK data protection law, the data controller responsible for your personal data is the legal entity set out at the end of this Privacy Policy.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle personal data, you can contact us at:

Email: info@comparecommercial.co.uk

The ICO says privacy information should tell people the identity and contact details of the controller and explain what personal data is used for.

2. What this policy covers

This Privacy Policy applies to personal data we collect through:

• this website;
• forms, quote requests and lead generation pages;
• contact forms and partner forms;
• newsletter sign-ups and marketing preferences;
• cookies and analytics tools;
• affiliate tracking and referral activity;
• communications between you and us.

It does not apply to third-party websites, providers or services that may be linked from this website or that contact you separately after receiving your enquiry.

3. The personal data we collect

Depending on how you use the website, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

Information you provide directly

This may include:

• your name;
• business name;
• job title;
• phone number;
• email address;
• postcode or business location;
• the product or service you are interested in;
• details about your business requirements;
• budget, contract timing or renewal information;
• any message or other information you submit in a form.

Enquiry and lead data

If you request quotes, comparisons, pricing, information or contact from providers, we may collect and store:

• the category or service requested;
• details relevant to matching your enquiry with suitable providers;
• records of the date, time and source of the enquiry;
• internal notes, status labels, routing information or quality checks.

Marketing and newsletter data

If you subscribe to our newsletter or opt in to marketing, we may collect:

• your email address;
• your preferences and subscription choices;
• records of opt-ins, unsubscribes and consent history;
• interactions with our emails, such as opens and clicks, where tracking is used.

Technical and usage data

When you use the website, we may automatically collect technical information such as:

• IP address;
• browser type and version;
• device type;
• operating system;
• pages viewed;
• time spent on pages;
• referring website or campaign data;
• clicks, scrolls and other website interactions.

Cookies and similar technologies

We and our service providers may use cookies, pixels, tags and similar technologies to collect information about how visitors use the website and to support analytics, advertising, attribution and performance measurement.

The ICO says privacy information should explain the categories of personal data processed and the purposes for which it is used.

4. How we collect personal data

We may collect personal data:

• directly from you when you complete a form, submit an enquiry, contact us or subscribe;
• automatically through cookies, analytics and similar technologies;
• from advertising platforms and partners where attribution or campaign tracking is involved;
• from other sources where lawful and appropriate, such as lead validation, fraud prevention or business information checks.

If we collect or enrich personal data from other sources for direct marketing or lead generation purposes, we aim to do so fairly and transparently. The ICO says organisations should tell people if they obtain new information from other sources or use profiling for direct marketing.

5. How we use personal data

We may use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide the service you requested

Including to:

• process quote requests, enquiries and comparisons;
• route your enquiry to relevant third-party providers or partners;
• contact you about your enquiry;
• respond to your messages or requests.

To run our comparison and lead generation platform

Including to:

• assess and categorise enquiries;
• match users with suitable providers;
• manage provider relationships and lead distribution;
• detect duplicate, invalid or fraudulent submissions;
• improve lead quality and platform performance.

To send marketing communications

Where permitted by law, we may use your personal data to send:

• newsletters;
• promotional emails;
• category updates;
• affiliate or sponsored offers;
• reminders, comparisons or other marketing content.

To improve the website and our services

Including to:

• analyse how visitors use the website;
• measure campaign and traffic performance;
• improve content, forms, conversion rates and user experience;
• test site layouts, landing pages and ad journeys.

To operate affiliate and advertising relationships

Including to:

• track clicks and referrals;
• measure conversions;
• attribute commissions or partner performance;
• manage sponsored placements and commercial reporting.

To comply with legal obligations and protect the business

Including to:

• maintain business records;
• investigate misuse, complaints or disputes;
• prevent fraud and unlawful activity;
• enforce our legal rights and terms.

The ICO says privacy information should explain the purposes for processing and the lawful basis relied on.

6. Our lawful bases for processing

We process personal data only where we have an appropriate lawful basis under UK GDPR. The basis depends on the purpose of the processing.

Legitimate interests

We rely on legitimate interests where processing is necessary for the following purposes and those interests are not overridden by your rights and interests:

• responding to enquiries made on behalf of businesses and connecting their representatives with relevant providers;
• managing provider relationships, enquiry routing and lead quality;
• identifying duplicate, invalid or fraudulent enquiries;
• operating and securing our website and business systems;
• producing internal reports about enquiries and provider performance;
• establishing, exercising or defending legal claims;
• sending relevant business-to-business marketing where electronic marketing rules permit this without consent.

Our interests are to provide an effective business comparison and introduction service, maintain accurate records, prevent misuse and manage our business relationships.

Legitimate interests do not replace consent where consent is required for cookies, advertising pixels, electronic marketing or the associated processing of personal data.

Contract

Where you personally enter into a contract with us, or ask us to take steps before entering into one, we may process personal data where this is necessary for that purpose.

A contract with a limited company does not, by itself, provide this lawful basis for processing the personal data of its employees or representatives.

Consent

We rely on consent for:

• optional cookies and tracking technologies used for analytics, advertising and attribution, as described in section 17;
• the associated processing and sharing of personal data for the purposes explained when consent is requested;
• newsletter subscriptions and electronic marketing where consent is required;
• sharing information for additional partner marketing where consent is required.

You can withdraw consent at any time through our cookie controls, an unsubscribe link or by contacting info@comparecommercial.co.uk, depending on the activity concerned. Withdrawal does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Legal obligation

We process personal data where necessary to meet our legal obligations, including applicable tax and accounting requirements, responding to data protection requests, and maintaining records needed to demonstrate compliance with data protection and consent requirements.

7. Direct marketing

We may send direct marketing communications about our services, categories, guides, sponsored opportunities or relevant partner offers where permitted by law.

Direct marketing may include:

• newsletters;
• promotional emails;
• comparison updates;
• partner or sponsor messages;
• audience targeting and profiling that supports marketing activity.

The ICO says direct marketing is broader than just sending messages and can include activities that support or enable marketing, such as targeting and profiling.

Where required, we will ask for your consent before sending electronic marketing. You can unsubscribe or object to direct marketing at any time.

8. Lead generation and partner sharing

A core part of our website involves lead generation and introducing users to third-party providers.

If you submit an enquiry, we may share your personal data with selected third-party providers, brokers, suppliers, networks or partners where this is necessary to handle your request or where you have agreed to this.

This may include sharing details such as:

• your name;
• business name;
• contact details;
• location;
• enquiry type;
• service requirements;
• information relevant to your request.

Where clearly explained at the point of collection and legally permitted, we may also retain and reuse enquiry data for lead routing, re-matching, performance optimisation, fraud checks, analytics, and future follow-up by us or relevant partners.

The ICO says if you intend to share information with other organisations for direct marketing purposes, that must be made clear when the information is collected, and people must be informed of their rights, including the right to object to direct marketing.

9. Newsletter and email subscriptions

If you sign up to receive updates from Compare Commercial, we may send you:

• newsletters;
• category insights;
• offers and promotions;
• sponsored content;
• relevant business comparison content.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in any email or contacting us using the details above.

We keep records of subscription status and opt-out activity so we can respect your preferences and demonstrate compliance where needed.

10. Affiliate links and sponsored content

Some content, links, buttons, pages and listings on this website may be affiliate or sponsored in nature. If you click on certain links or take action with a partner, we may receive a commission, referral fee, lead fee or other payment.

To support this, we may use cookies, tracking links, referral identifiers and reporting tools. This may allow us and our partners to measure clicks, leads, sign-ups or sales that result from your interaction with the website.

UK guidance says advertising and commercial relationships should be clearly identifiable to users.

11. Automated decision-making and profiling

We may use limited profiling, categorisation or rules-based processing to:

• assess which providers may be relevant to an enquiry;
• prioritise, route or segment leads;
• personalise content or marketing;
• identify potential fraud or invalid submissions;
• improve advertising and website performance.

We do not currently intend to make solely automated decisions that have legal or similarly significant effects on individuals without appropriate safeguards.

12. Who we share personal data with

We share personal data where necessary for the purposes explained in this policy, using an appropriate lawful basis and limiting the information shared to what is relevant.

Recipients may include:

• Providers relevant to your enquiry: suppliers, brokers, comparison networks and other service providers who can assess your requirements, contact you about your request or provide the products or services you have asked about.
• CRM, communications and lead-management providers: organisations that help us store enquiries, manage customer and provider relationships, send communications and deliver enquiries to relevant providers.
• Website hosting and technology providers: organisations that host, maintain, secure and support our website, forms and business systems.
• Cookiebot by Usercentrics A/S: our consent-management provider, which helps us collect, record and apply your cookie choices.
• Advertising and measurement providers: including Meta, Microsoft Advertising and OpenAI, which help measure advertising performance and attribute website activity to campaigns, subject to the consent requirements described in sections 6 and 17.
• Affiliate and referral partners: organisations involved in recording referrals, calculating commissions and providing relevant commercial reports.
• Fraud-prevention and validation providers: organisations that help us identify inaccurate information, duplicate submissions and misuse.
• Professional advisers: including accountants, legal advisers, insurers and auditors where their involvement is necessary.
• Public authorities: regulators, courts, law enforcement bodies or other authorities where disclosure is legally required or otherwise lawful and necessary.

We may receive a lead fee, referral fee or commission when we pass your enquiry to a commercial partner or when you take up a product or service. The information shared may include your contact details and the business requirements you submit.

Sharing your enquiry to fulfil your request is distinct from sharing it for additional marketing. We explain additional marketing uses when collecting your information and obtain consent where required.

Where an organisation processes personal data on our behalf, we put appropriate data-processing arrangements in place. Providers and advertising platforms may also process information for their own purposes under their respective privacy notices. We remain responsible for ensuring that our disclosure of your information is lawful.

13. International transfers

Some of our service providers or partners may process personal data outside the UK.

Where personal data is transferred internationally, we will seek to ensure that appropriate safeguards are used as required by UK data protection law, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual measures.

The ICO says privacy information should explain transfers outside the UK where relevant and the safeguards relied on.

14. Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it is held. We determine retention periods by considering the type of information, the status of the enquiry or relationship, applicable legal requirements and whether the information is needed to resolve a complaint or establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We apply the following criteria:

• Enquiry and lead records: we consider whether your request is still active, when we last had relevant contact, whether provider follow-up or a payment reconciliation remains outstanding, and whether particular records are needed for a complaint, dispute or legal claim.
• Business and financial records: we retain the information needed to meet applicable accounting, tax and other legal record-keeping requirements. This does not mean that every detail of an enquiry must be kept for the same period.
• Marketing records: we retain information used for marketing while we have an appropriate lawful basis and it remains relevant. We stop using it for marketing when you unsubscribe, withdraw the relevant consent or object.
• Suppression records: after an opt-out or objection, we may retain a limited record, such as your email address or telephone number and your preference, for as long as necessary to prevent further unwanted marketing.
• Consent records: we retain evidence of consent and changes to preferences where needed to demonstrate compliance. Cookiebot states that end-user consent records held within its service are deleted on an ongoing basis after 12 months from registration, or earlier if our Cookiebot account is cancelled. Any consent evidence we separately retain is assessed according to our compliance needs and relevant complaint or claim periods.
• Cookies and tracking information: individual cookie durations are shown in our Cookie Declaration. The expiry of a cookie does not necessarily delete information previously collected through it. We assess the retention of that information separately according to its purpose, our platform settings and applicable data protection requirements.

We review the information we hold and delete or irreversibly anonymise personal data when it is no longer needed. Where a specific legal obligation or ongoing dispute requires longer retention, we retain only the information necessary for that purpose.

15. Your rights

Under UK data protection law, you may have the right to:

• be informed about how your personal data is used;
• request access to the personal data we hold about you;
• request correction of inaccurate personal data;
• request erasure of personal data in certain circumstances;
• request restriction of processing in certain circumstances;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• object at any time to direct marketing;
• request data portability in certain circumstances;
• withdraw consent where we rely on consent.

These rights are not absolute and may only apply in certain situations.

The ICO says privacy information should explain individuals’ rights, including the right to object to direct marketing.

16. How to exercise your rights

To exercise your rights or ask a privacy question, contact us at:

Email: info@comparecommercial.co.uk

We may need to verify your identity before acting on certain requests.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your personal data has been handled unlawfully or unfairly.

ICO website: ico.org.uk

17. Cookies and similar technologies

We use cookies, pixels and similar technologies to operate our website, remember preferences, understand website usage and measure advertising performance.

We use Cookiebot, provided by Usercentrics A/S, to manage cookie preferences. Cookiebot records your choices so that we can remember your preferences and demonstrate consent.

Strictly necessary cookies support essential website functions, including remembering your cookie choices. Optional cookies and tracking technologies used for preferences, analytics and advertising are enabled according to the consent choices you make through our cookie banner.

Our advertising tools include Meta Pixel, Microsoft Advertising Universal Event Tracking (UET) and the OpenAI advertising pixel. These tools help measure advertising effectiveness and attribute website activity to advertising campaigns. Depending on the tool and its configuration, information shared may include device and browser information, IP addresses, cookie or advertising identifiers, pages visited and conversion events.

You can accept or reject optional cookies through our banner and change or withdraw your consent at any time using the cookie-settings control on our website. Withdrawing consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Cookie consent is separate from requesting a quote or subscribing to marketing communications.

Our Cookie Declaration below provides details of the cookies and similar technologies identified on our website, including their providers, purposes and durations.

18. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, disclosure or alteration.

However, no website, platform or transmission method is completely secure, and we cannot guarantee absolute security.

19. Children

This website is intended for business and professional users and is not aimed at children. We do not knowingly seek to collect personal data from children.

20. Third-party websites

This website may contain links to third-party websites and services.

We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or terms of those third parties. You should read their privacy information before providing personal data to them.

21. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time.

The latest version published on this website will apply. We encourage you to review it periodically.

22. Contact details

For privacy questions, requests or concerns, contact:

Email: info@comparecommercial.co.uk

23. Legal information

Compare Commercial is a trading name of HENDEN GROUP LTD, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 15699884.

Registered office: 11 Ruskin Road, New Costessey, Norwich, England, NR5 0LL