Privacy policy

Who we are

Critical Illness Cover (illnesscover.uk) is a trading style of PJG Financial Limited. PJG Financial Limited is the controller of personal data collected through Critical Illness Cover.

PJG Financial Limited, registered in Scotland, company number SC535782. Registered office 5 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh EH2 4AN.

PJG Financial Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority, Firm Reference Number 919697. For insurance, its permission is introductions only. It does not give advice, arrange or sell insurance, and never holds client money.

PJG Financial Limited is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), registration ZB537016. You can contact us at hello@illnesscover.uk or write to our registered office.

Information you give through the form

Our service is for people aged 18 or over who are in the UK. The enquiry form has five short steps. It collects the following information:

• Who needs cover: you alone, or you with your partner, your children or both.
• What you would want the money for.
• Roughly how much cover you have in mind.
• Your date of birth.
• Your first and last name.
• Your email address.
• Your phone number.

The form never asks about health conditions, medical history or smoking. If you do not provide the information needed to handle your enquiry, we may be unable to pass it to a specialist.

Emails and technical information

If you email us, we collect your email address, your message and any other information you include. We also keep our replies.

Our website host records technical information in server logs when you use the site. This can include your IP address, browser and device details, pages requested, request times and information about errors.

Why we use your information

We use your form answers to handle your enquiry and pass it to a protection specialist as a critical illness cover enquiry. Our lawful basis is taking steps at your request before entering into a contract, under Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR.

We use personal data to run and secure the website, investigate faults, prevent misuse and handle messages. Our lawful basis is legitimate interests under Article 6(1)(f) of the UK GDPR. Those interests are providing a working and secure service and responding to people who contact us.

Where we must process information to meet a legal obligation, including applicable complaint handling duties, our lawful basis is Article 6(1)(c) of the UK GDPR.

The specialist who receives your enquiry

We pass your enquiry to one protection specialist. This is an adviser or broker firm authorised by the FCA, or one of its appointed representatives. The specialist buys critical illness enquiries through Protection Connect, another trading style of PJG Financial Limited.

The specialist contacts you by phone or email about your enquiry, explains options and gives quotes. If no specialist takes your enquiry, we do not pass it on.

The specialist becomes a separate controller of the data it receives. Its own privacy notice explains how it uses and keeps that data. You can exercise your rights directly with the specialist for its use of your information.

If you go on to apply for cover, the specialist and the insurer will ask their own questions, including about your health. That information is collected by them under their own privacy notices, not through this website.

The specialist pays PJG Financial Limited a fee for each enquiry passed on. You pay Critical Illness Cover nothing. The specialist may earn commission from the insurer if you take out a policy and must tell you about it.

Service providers and overseas transfers

Companies that host our website, store data and send email act for PJG Financial Limited under contract as processors. Our website host is Netlify. These providers process personal data on our instructions.

Some providers may store data outside the UK. Where this happens, we use the safeguards required by UK data protection law. Contact hello@illnesscover.uk for details of the safeguards that apply and how to obtain a copy.

We may also disclose personal data where the law requires it, including to a regulator or court.

Cookies and browser storage

The website sets no cookies. Your cookie bar choice is kept in your browser's local storage under the name illnesscover-consent. This storage is strictly necessary. We ask for your choice again after six months.

While you fill in the form, your answers are kept only in that browser tab's session storage under the name illnesscover-enquiry. This browser copy is cleared at the end of the form. Submitted enquiries are kept as explained below.

We use no Google Analytics or advertising tags. Nothing optional runs unless you accept it on the cookie bar. At present there are no optional tools. Our cookie policy has the details.

How long we keep information

We keep enquiries for 2 years and then delete them, or sooner if you ask.

We keep emails to us for 2 years after the last message.

We keep technical logs only for as long as needed to run and secure the website and investigate faults. The period depends on the purpose of the log and whether an issue still needs investigation.

A specialist that receives your enquiry sets its own retention periods as a separate controller. These should be explained in its privacy notice.

Your data protection rights

Depending on the circumstances, you have the following rights:

• Access your personal data and obtain a copy.
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.
• Ask us to delete your personal data.
• Ask us to restrict how we use your personal data.
• Object to certain uses of your personal data.
• Receive eligible data in a commonly used electronic format and ask for it to be moved to another controller.

You can object to processing based on legitimate interests for reasons relating to your situation. We must stop unless we can show compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests and rights, or we need the data for legal claims.

The right to move data applies to information you provide that we process by automated means on the basis of consent or a contract. Other rights may also have legal limits.

To exercise a right, email hello@illnesscover.uk or write to PJG Financial Limited, 5 South Charlotte Street, Edinburgh EH2 4AN. We may need information to confirm your identity.

Requests are normally free. We normally respond within one month. The law allows extra time for complex or multiple requests. If we need that extra time, we will tell you within the first month and explain why.

Complaints about your personal data

If you have a concern about how we use your personal data, contact hello@illnesscover.uk or write to our registered office.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office. Visit ico.org.uk or call 0303 123 1113.

Complaints about our service

Send complaints about Critical Illness Cover's introduction service to hello@illnesscover.uk or our registered office. We follow the FCA complaint rules, known as DISP. Our complaints procedure explains each step.

If we resolve your complaint by the end of the third business day after receiving it, we will send a summary resolution letter. Otherwise, we will acknowledge it promptly and send a final response within eight weeks. If we cannot give a final response within that time, we will explain why and tell you about your right to refer the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

If you are unhappy with our final response, you can refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months of that response. You can also refer it if eight weeks have passed without a final response. The service is free.

Contact the Financial Ombudsman Service at Exchange Tower, London E14 9SR, call 0800 023 4567 or visit financial-ombudsman.org.uk.

Complaints about advice or a policy should go to the specialist or the insurer.