1. Who we are

Insurance Dispute Service is a trading style of Meridian Legal Services Limited, the controller responsible for the personal information described in this policy.

• Company number: 09311368
• Registered office: Suite 106 Denning House, C/O Know Tax, George Street, Wolverhampton, England, WV2 4DP
• Correspondence address: 34–35 Butcher Row, Shrewsbury, SY1 1UW
• Email: info@insurancedisputeservice.co.uk
• Information Commissioner’s Office registration: ZA108810

Meridian Legal Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in respect of regulated claims management activities. Firm Reference Number: 837833.

2. Scope of this policy

This policy applies when you visit this website, contact us, request a free claim review, provide documents, communicate with our team or use a service supplied under the Insurance Dispute Service name. A client care letter or other service agreement may provide additional information about how data is used for a particular service.

Our website may link to other organisations’ websites. Those organisations are responsible for their own privacy practices, and you should read their privacy information before giving them personal information.

3. Information we may collect

The information we collect depends on how you interact with us and the nature of the insurance dispute. It may include:

• Identity and contact information, including your name, address, email address, telephone number and date of birth.
• Insurance and dispute information, including policy details, claim references, insurer and broker details, correspondence, decisions, reports, photographs, recordings, valuations and loss calculations.
• Financial information, including details of loss, payments, settlement offers, funding, invoices and transaction records.
• Identification and compliance information, where identity, fraud-prevention, conflict or regulatory checks are required.
• Communications, including emails, letters, notes of telephone calls, submitted forms and, where notified, call recordings.
• Technical and website information, such as IP address, browser, device, pages visited and cookie preferences.
• Marketing preferences and records of consent, objection or unsubscribe requests.

Please do not send original documents unless we specifically ask for them. If you provide information about another person, you should have a lawful reason to do so and, where appropriate, make them aware of this policy.

4. How we obtain personal information

We normally obtain information directly from you through website forms, telephone calls, emails, uploaded documents and correspondence. With authority or where otherwise lawful, we may also receive information from:

• insurers, brokers, loss adjusters, claims handlers and complaint respondents;
• the Financial Ombudsman Service, courts, tribunals and regulators;
• barristers, solicitors, experts, witnesses and other professional advisers;
• joint policyholders, representatives or another person involved in the claim;
• identity-verification, fraud-prevention and publicly accessible sources.

5. How and why we use personal information

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether the use is necessary and balance our interests against your rights and reasonable expectations. You can ask for more information about that assessment.

6. Health, sensitive and criminal-offence information

An insurance dispute can involve health information, medical records or other special-category information. We only use this information when a lawful condition applies—for example, where it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, where employment or social-protection law applies, or where you have given valid explicit consent.

If criminal-offence information is relevant, we process it only where permitted by law and with appropriate safeguards. We seek to collect no more sensitive information than the matter genuinely requires.

7. Who we may share information with

We do not sell personal information. Where necessary and lawful, we may share relevant information with:

• the insurer, broker, loss adjuster, claims administrator or other party to the dispute;
• the Financial Ombudsman Service, the FCA, the ICO, courts, tribunals, law-enforcement bodies or other public authorities;
• barristers, solicitors, mediators, surveyors, engineers, medical professionals, forensic accountants and other experts or advisers;
• website hosting, Webfactory, secure document storage, email, telephone, CRM, IT support and cybersecurity providers acting for us;
• accountants, auditors, insurers, banks and payment-service providers;
• a purchaser, investor or professional adviser involved in a genuine business reorganisation, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards.

We require service providers to handle personal information only for authorised purposes and with appropriate protection. Sharing with an insurer, court, Ombudsman or opponent may be necessary to progress the matter, and information supplied in that context may be disclosed to other participants as part of a fair process.

8. International transfers and security

Some technology providers may store or access information outside the United Kingdom. Where personal information is transferred internationally, we use an applicable adequacy regulation or appropriate safeguards, such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or an approved UK Addendum, together with any supplementary measures considered necessary.

We use proportionate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information. These include access controls, secure systems, staff confidentiality, supplier checks and procedures for responding to suspected data breaches. No internet transmission or storage system can be guaranteed completely secure.

9. How long we keep information

We keep personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary for the purpose collected, including legal, FCA, complaint, accounting, insurance and limitation requirements. Retention depends on whether an enquiry becomes a client matter, the service supplied, whether a dispute or complaint remains possible and whether information must be preserved for legal claims.

As a general guide, information relating to a client matter may be kept for at least six years after the matter closes and longer where law, regulation, limitation, insurance or the nature of the matter requires it. Enquiries that do not proceed are retained for a shorter period under our retention schedule unless there is a reason to keep them, such as consent to future contact or a legal dispute.

When information is no longer required, we securely delete or anonymise it. You may ask us about the retention period applying to your information.

10. Your data-protection rights

Depending on the circumstances and lawful basis, you may have the right to:

• receive a copy of personal information we hold about you;
• ask us to correct incomplete or inaccurate information;
• ask us to erase information or restrict how it is used;
• object to processing based on legitimate interests;
• receive certain information in a portable format;
• withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent;
• object to direct marketing at any time.

These rights are not absolute. We may need to verify your identity and may retain or withhold information where the law permits or requires it. We normally respond within one month, subject to lawful extensions for complex requests.

11. Questions, complaints and policy changes

Please contact us first if you have a privacy question, want to exercise a right or are concerned about how we have handled your information. We will investigate and respond.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information is available at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint. Making a complaint to us does not affect your right to contact the ICO.

We may update this policy when our services, providers or legal obligations change. The current version and its update date will be published on this page. Our separate Cookie Policy explains how cookies and similar technologies are used.