Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, who we may share it with, and your rights under data protection law. Our Cookie Policy forms part of this Privacy Policy.
Contact Details
If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, please contact us at:
Alva Wealth Limited
93 George Street, Edinburgh, EH2 3ES
Email: info@alvawealth.co.uk
Telephone: 0131 604 0058
Alva Wealth Limited is the Data Controller of the personal data we collect and process.
Who We Are
Alva Wealth Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We are committed to protecting your personal data and complying with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, and all relevant guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
What Personal Data We Collect
Depending on the services we provide to you, we may collect the following types of personal data:
– Identity Data – full name, date of birth, gender, marital status, National Insurance number, and identification documents (e.g. passport, driving licence).
– Contact Data – home address, email address, and telephone numbers.
– Employment Data – job title, employer details, employment history, and related information relevant to your financial planning.
– Financial Data – income, expenditure, assets, liabilities, bank account information, investment holdings, pensions, and tax status.
– Family Data – names and dates of birth of family members where relevant to your financial planning.
– Health Information (basic) – general health details required for retirement, inheritance tax, and wider financial planning purposes.
– Health & Lifestyle Information (detailed) – information required for insurance applications, including medical history, family medical history, height, weight, smoking status, and alcohol consumption. This is classed as Special Category Data under UK GDPR and is subject to additional protections.
– Marketing preferences – your choices regarding how we communicate with you.
Why We Collect Your Data
We will only ever collect and use information personal to you where it is necessary, fair, and lawful to do so. We may process your data for the following purposes:
– Providing financial advice and services – to assess your needs, recommend suitable products, and arrange financial solutions.
– Regulatory compliance – to meet our obligations under FCA rules, anti-money laundering laws, and HMRC reporting.
– Client servicing – to maintain records, provide ongoing advice, and manage our relationship with you.
– Communications – to contact you about your financial arrangements, annual reviews, or regulatory updates.
– Legal obligations – to respond to lawful requests from regulators, law enforcement, or tax authorities.
How We Collect Your Data
We collect personal data from the following sources:
– Directly from you – during meetings, telephone conversations, by email, or through documents and forms you complete, such as fact-finds.
– From third parties – including product providers, credit reference agencies, and other organisations where we have your consent or a legal basis to obtain information.
– From professional introducers or advisers – such as solicitors and accountants who refer you to us or provide information relevant to your financial planning.
– Through our website – for example, via our contact form, or through cookies that help us understand how our website is used.
Lawful Basis for Processing Your Personal Data
Under UK data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for collecting and using your personal information. We primarily rely on the following:
– Consent – where you have given clear consent to process your data for a specific purpose.
– Contractual necessity – to deliver our services under our client agreement.
– Legal obligation – to comply with FCA rules, AML requirements, HMRC reporting, and record-keeping requirements.
– Legitimate interests – where we have a legitimate business interest in processing your data that is not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include sharing relevant information with your professional advisers in your best interests and general client relationship management. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we carry out a balancing assessment to ensure your rights are protected.
For further information on lawful bases, visit the ICO’s website at ico.org.uk.
Who We Share Your Data With
To provide our professional services, we may share your personal data with third parties where necessary. These include:
– Product providers and platforms – pension, investment, and insurance providers.
– Regulators and authorities – including the FCA, HMRC, and other regulatory bodies where required by law.
– Our professional advisers – such as compliance consultants, accountants, IT support providers, and lawyers.
– Service providers – including ID verification services, insurance quotation platforms, and CRM systems.
– Medical professionals – where an insurer requires a medical report. Additional consent will be requested in such cases.
– Your professional advisers – such as your accountant or solicitor, where necessary to deliver our services effectively and in your best interests. We will only do so with your prior consent or where we have a legitimate interest. We ensure that any third party receiving your data is subject to appropriate confidentiality and data protection obligations.
We do not sell your data to third parties or share it for unrelated marketing purposes.
How Long We Keep Your Data
We retain your personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services and maintain accurate records. After our relationship ends, we will retain your data for a minimum of six years to comply with our regulatory and legal obligations. We may retain data for longer where we have a legitimate interest to do so — for example, to defend or exercise legal rights or to meet other regulatory requirements.
International Transfers
Some of the providers we use to run our website and deliver our services may process your personal data outside the UK. Where this happens, we ensure your data is protected by appropriate safeguards recognised under UK data protection law, such as a UK adequacy decision, the UK Extension to the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses. You can ask us for more detail about the safeguards that apply.
Data Security
We take the security of your personal data seriously and apply appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect it. These include:
– Encryption of digital data where appropriate.
– Secure storage of physical and electronic records.
– Restricted access to personal data on a need-to-know basis.
– Staff training on data protection and confidentiality.
If you become aware of any unauthorised disclosure of your data, please contact us immediately.
AI-Assisted Processing
We use AI-powered tools to assist with tasks such as document drafting, meeting summaries, and administrative workflows. These tools support our team, they do not replace human judgement. AI-assisted outputs are always reviewed by a qualified member of our team before use. We do not use AI to make automated decisions about you without human involvement.
Any AI tools used with personal data are governed by a Data Processing Agreement, are not permitted to use your data to train AI models, and apply appropriate security measures. Where providers are based outside the UK, appropriate safeguards are in place in accordance with UK GDPR.
You may opt out of AI-assisted processing at any time by notifying us in writing.
Cookies & Website Analytics
Our website uses cookies — small files that download to your device when you visit a website. Some are essential for the site to function securely and correctly; others, such as analytics and functional cookies, are optional and are only used with your consent, which you can give or withdraw at any time via our cookie banner. Our Cookie Policy, which forms part of this Privacy Policy, explains this in full.
Marketing
We require your consent before sending communications that may be considered direct marketing under FCA rules. Most of our contact with you will be personal and form part of our ongoing client relationship. Occasionally, we may contact clients collectively about matters such as Budget announcements or tax year updates — these communications may be considered marketing, so we seek your consent.
You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us. We will never sell or share your data with third parties for their own marketing purposes.
Your Rights
Under UK data protection law, you have the following rights, which may be exercised in certain circumstances:
– Right to be informed – to know how your data is collected, used, stored, and shared.
– Right of access – to request copies of the personal data we hold about you (Subject Access Request).
– Right to rectification – to request that inaccurate or incomplete data be corrected.
– Right to data portability – to ask us to transfer an electronic copy of your data to another organisation.
– Right to restriction – to request that we limit how we use your personal data.
– Right to erasure – to ask us to delete your data where there is no legitimate reason for us to retain it, or where you withdraw consent.
– Right to complain – to lodge a complaint with the ICO if you believe your data has been mishandled.
We will respond to all requests in line with UK GDPR and within statutory timeframes. If we believe we have a legal reason not to comply with a request, we will inform you at the time.
Complaints & Contact
You have the right to complain to us directly about how we handle your personal data. To do this, or to exercise any of your data protection rights, contact us at:
Email: info@alvawealth.co.uk
Telephone: 0131 604 0058
We will acknowledge your complaint within 30 days, investigate it without undue delay, keep you informed, and tell you the outcome. If you are still dissatisfied, you can refer the matter to the ICO:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Website: https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/
Helpline: 0303 123 1113 Email: info@alvawealth.co.uk
Telephone: 0131 604 0058
Changes to This Privacy Policy
We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or services. We will notify you of any significant changes by email, through our website, or by other appropriate means. We encourage you to review this policy periodically.
Last Updated: June 2026