1. The position today
Nothing that is not strictly necessary is set unless you agree to it. When you first arrive you are asked whether you are happy with analytics and advertising cookies. Until you choose, and if you choose no, none of them load: not the tags, not the scripts that would set them. Rejecting is one click, in the same place and the same size as accepting, and the site behaves exactly the same either way.
2. What cookies and similar technologies are
A cookie is a small text file that a website asks your browser to store, and to send back on later visits. Cookies can be essential (keeping you logged in, remembering a consent choice), analytical (counting visits), or used for advertising (recognising you across sites). Similar technologies include local and session storage, which store information in your browser without sending it anywhere, and tracking pixels, which are tiny images that report a page view to a third party. UK law requires your consent for anything that is not strictly necessary to provide the service you asked for.
3. What the site uses without asking
These are strictly necessary, so the law does not require consent for them. None of them is a cookie, none is sent to anyone, and all of them stay on your device.
| What | Type | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
lo-calc | Session storage | Remembers the amount, term, trading history and credit band you picked, so the calculator is as you left it if you scroll away. | Until you close the tab |
lo:lead | Session storage | Carries your name and reference from the enquiry form to the thank-you page. Deleted the moment that page reads it. | Seconds |
lo:consent | Local storage | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected the cookies below, so you are not asked on every page. | Until you clear your browser data |
4. The cookies we ask about
If you accept, we load Google Tag Manager, which in turn loads Google Analytics and the Meta pixel. They tell us how many people use the site, which parts they use, and whether an advert on Facebook or Instagram led to an enquiry. They are set by Google and Meta, not by us, and the lifetimes below are theirs and can change. If you do not accept, none of them is loaded and none of them is set.
| Cookie | Set by | Purpose | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
_ga | Google Analytics | Tells returning visits apart from new ones by storing a random identifier. | 2 years |
_ga_<container> | Google Analytics | Keeps the state of your visit, so a single visit is not counted several times. | 2 years |
_fbp | Meta | Identifies the browser so an enquiry can be matched to the advert that led to it. | 3 months |
_fbc | Meta | Stores the advert click that brought you here, when you arrive from Facebook or Instagram. | 3 months |
Google and Meta act as separate controllers for what they do with this information. Their own notices explain it: Google and Meta. What we do with your data is in our privacy statement.
5. Changing or withdrawing your choice
Select Cookie settings at the bottom of any page to bring the banner back and change your answer. Withdrawing is as easy as giving it, and takes effect immediately: nothing further is loaded. Cookies already set by Google or Meta are theirs to hold, so clear them in your browser using the instructions below if you want them gone straight away.
6. Sites we link to
This page links to the FCA register, Companies House, Trustpilot, the British Business Bank and the AFS complaints page so you can check what we say. Those sites set their own cookies under their own policies once you arrive there. Following a link is your choice, and nothing on those sites is loaded into this one.
7. Hosting logs
Like every website, ours is served by a hosting provider (Netlify) that keeps short-lived server logs of requests, including the IP address they came from. These are not cookies and store nothing on your device. They are kept for security and fault finding and are covered in our privacy statement.
8. How to control cookies in your browser
Whatever you choose here, every major browser also lets you view, block and delete cookies for yourself:
Clearing site data will also clear the storage described in section 3, which resets the calculator to its defaults and means you will be asked about cookies again.
9. Changes and contact
The date at the top of this page tells you when it last changed. Questions about cookies or about your data go to hello@loan-options.finance or 01245 373 172. This policy is issued by The FMF Group Ltd T/A Loan Options, company number 12111065, registered office Unit 19b Fyfield Business Centre, Fyfield Business & Research Park, Fyfield Road, Ongar, Essex, CM5 0GN.