1. Who is responsible for your data
The data controller is The FMF Group Ltd, trading as Loan Options, company number 12111065, registered office Unit 19b Fyfield Business Centre, Fyfield Business & Research Park, Fyfield Road, Ongar, Essex, CM5 0GN. We are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
We are an Appointed Representative of AFS Compliance Limited (FCA firm reference 625035), which supervises how we conduct our business, and a franchisee of Asset Finance Solutions (UK) Ltd. Where they receive your data in that role, they act as separate controllers under their own privacy notices.
Questions about this statement or about your data go to hello@loan-options.finance or 01245 373 172.
2. The short version
- The cost calculator runs in your browser. We receive nothing from it unless you submit the form.
- When you do submit it, we use what you tell us to contact you and to find lenders likely to help.
- We share your details with lenders only when you ask us to obtain terms, and we tell you which ones.
- No credit search happens until a lender runs one, and a hard search only when you instruct an application.
- We never sell your data, and we do not use it for marketing unless you have agreed.
- You can ask for a copy of your data, correct it, or ask us to delete it at any time.
3. What we collect, and where it comes from
| Category | What it includes | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Contact details | Business name, your name if you give it, mobile number, email address, whether you prefer WhatsApp. | You, through the enquiry form or by phone and email. |
| Your enquiry | Amount, term, how long the business has traded, a credit-history band, a turnover band, the sector, the region, and whether any director is a homeowner. | You, through the enquiry form. |
| Consent record | The exact consent wording you agreed to, its version, and the time you agreed. | Recorded automatically when you submit the form. |
| Callback preference | The time slot you choose, if you choose one. | You, after submitting the form. |
| Business and financial information | Bank statements, accounts, director details, asset details, and other documents a lender needs. | You, once you ask us to obtain terms or submit an application. Some is public, from Companies House. |
| Lender responses | Indicative terms, decisions, and the reasons for them. | Lenders on our panel. |
| Technical data | IP address, browser type, the page you arrived from and any campaign tags in the address. | Collected automatically by our hosting provider's logs and recorded with your enquiry. |
The turnover and homeowner questions are asked because lenders price on them. Answering "prefer not to say" to the homeowner question is fine; it narrows the panel on unsecured lending but does not stop us helping.
4. The calculator: nothing leaves your browser
The figures you see when you move the sliders are calculated on your own device. The amount, term, trading history and credit band you choose are kept in your browser's session storage so that they are still there if you scroll away and come back. Session storage is cleared when you close the tab. None of it is sent to us, and no cookie is set, until you press the button to submit your details.
5. Why we use your data, and our lawful basis
| Purpose | Lawful basis |
|---|---|
| Contacting you about your enquiry and the finance you have asked about. | Your consent, given by ticking the box on the form. You can withdraw it at any time. |
| Assessing which lenders are likely to help, obtaining terms, and arranging a facility. | Taking steps at your request before a contract, and performing our contract with you. |
| Meeting our obligations as an FCA Appointed Representative: record keeping, complaint handling, anti-money-laundering and fraud checks. | Legal obligation. |
| Running, securing and improving this website and our service, and preventing misuse. | Our legitimate interests, balanced against yours. |
| Sending you marketing about business finance. | Your consent only. We do not market to you without it. |
Where we rely on legitimate interests, we have considered whether the processing would surprise or disadvantage you, and we do not use it for anything intrusive.
6. Credit searches
This website carries out no credit searches of any kind. When you ask us to obtain terms, lenders on our panel may run soft searches with credit reference agencies. Soft searches are visible to you on your credit file but not to other lenders, and they do not affect your score. A hard search, which does leave a footprint other lenders can see, is only carried out when you ask us to submit a full application to a named lender, and we will confirm that with you first. Each lender is a separate controller for the searches it runs, under its own privacy notice.
7. Who we share it with
| Recipient | Why | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Lenders on our panel | To obtain terms and, on your instruction, to apply for finance. We tell you which lenders before we approach them. | Separate controllers |
| AFS Compliance Limited and Asset Finance Solutions (UK) Ltd | Regulatory supervision, compliance monitoring and complaint handling. | Separate controllers |
| Our customer relationship system (Zoho) | Storing and managing your enquiry. | Processor |
| Our internal messaging (Slack) | Alerting the account director that an enquiry has arrived, so we respond quickly. | Processor |
| Our website host (Netlify) | Serving the website and receiving the form you submit. | Processor |
| Our messaging providers | Sending you the acknowledgement and, if you asked for it, WhatsApp or SMS messages. | Processors |
| Generate Leads Online Ltd | Our marketing agency, which builds and maintains this website and runs our advertising. It does not use your details for its own purposes. | Processor |
| Professional advisers, regulators, courts and law enforcement | Where the law requires it or to protect our legal rights. | Separate controllers |
Every processor acts on our written instructions and under a contract that requires appropriate security. If our business is sold or restructured, your data may pass to the new owner under the same protections. We do not sell personal data to anyone.
8. Where your data is stored
Our own records are held in the United Kingdom. Some of our processors store data in the United States or elsewhere outside the UK. Where they do, we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Agreement or the UK Addendum to the EU standard contractual clauses, so your data keeps the protection UK law gives it.
9. How long we keep it
| Data | Kept for | Why that long |
|---|---|---|
| An enquiry that does not lead to a facility | 12 months from our last contact with you, then deleted or anonymised. | So we can pick the conversation up if your plans change, and answer any complaint. |
| Records of a facility we arranged | 6 years after the facility ends. | FCA record-keeping rules and the limitation period for legal claims. |
| Your consent record | As long as the enquiry or facility record it relates to. | To show what you agreed to and when. |
| Hosting logs | 30 days. | Security and fault finding. |
10. Marketing and how we contact you
Ticking the consent box lets us contact you about the finance you have enquired about, by phone, email, SMS or WhatsApp if you chose that. It does not sign you up to a newsletter. If we would like to tell you about other things later, we will ask first, and every marketing message will include a way to stop. You can withdraw consent at any time by replying to a message, or by emailing hello@loan-options.finance.
The consent wording currently in use is version 2026-08-29.1: "I agree to Loan Options contacting me about business finance and to the Privacy statement."
11. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Access the personal data we hold about you and receive a copy.
- Correct anything that is inaccurate or incomplete.
- Erase your data, where we no longer need it or you withdraw consent, unless we must keep it by law.
- Restrict how we use it while a query is resolved.
- Object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to any direct marketing.
- Port data you gave us to another provider in a machine-readable form.
- Withdraw consent at any time, without affecting what was done before you withdrew it.
To use any of these, contact us at the details below. We will respond within one month. We may need to confirm who you are first, so that we do not release or change someone else's data.
12. Security
The website is served over an encrypted connection and sets a strict content security policy. Your enquiry is sent to us over an encrypted connection and stored in systems protected by access controls, so only the people who need to see it can. We review those measures regularly. No system is perfectly secure, and if a breach were ever to affect you we would tell you and the ICO as the law requires.
13. Children
This website and our service are for businesses and for adults acting for them. We do not knowingly collect data from anyone under 18, and we ask that nobody under 18 submits the form.
14. Changes to this statement
We will update this statement when our practices change, and the date at the top will change with it. If a change materially affects how we use data you have already given us, we will tell you directly where we can.
15. Complaints
If you are unhappy with how we have handled your data, please tell us first at hello@loan-options.finance so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time: Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF, telephone 0303 123 1113, or online at ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.
16. Contact
- Controller
- THE FMF GROUP LTD, trading as Loan Options
- Registered office
- Unit 19b Fyfield Business Centre, Fyfield Business & Research Park, Fyfield Road, Ongar, Essex, CM5 0GN
- hello@loan-options.finance
- Phone
- 01245 373 172, Mon–Fri, 9am–5pm