Today's advice for property buyers. When buying a property we all know that you are keen to get the keys as soon as possible, however regardless of what your estate agent may tell you, we advise not instructing a solicitor until your mortgage broker has decided which lender they are using for your mortgage.

Why? Because the solicitors you select need to be on a lender’s panel, if they are not, you would need to change solicitors – this can be a costly error especially as you’ll be the one paying. Check before you instruct.

Your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on your mortgage

This firm usually charges a fee for mortgage advice. The amount of the fee will depend upon your circumstances and will be discussed and agreed with you at the earliest opportunity.

Richard took a genuine interest in us and aligned himself with our situaltion.  His knowledge and assitance in what is a very confusing process for first time buyers was increadibly helpful and a crutch for us throughout the entire process.  Upon finding our dream house Richard moved swiftly on our behalf to show the vendor the seriousness of our offer.  His endeavour, advice and support through the process was invaluable.  We ow a huge gratitude to Richard and Altogether Financial for helping us secure our forever home.

What a fantastic testimonal for us and specifically Richard Willan - Well done Rich!

Altogether financial was a fantastic service. Having Richard advise us was like working with an expert member of the family. I genuinely felt he was doing everything he could to get the best deal for us. In my words "my own Martin Lewis”. Not only did Richard and the team help with the mortgage first time but also helped us through a house move and a renewal of mortgage not to mention life insurance. I cannot recommend him highly enough and have already recommended to many friends who have also benefited from the service.

Clients in Bingley, West Yorkshire

According to a recent article in FT Adviser, "Homeowners in Britain are woefully under-prepared in the event of long-term sickness, accident or ill health."¹

Nobody plans to get hit by a bus but these things do happen! Should you be left unable to work do you have a plan in place to keep paying your bills and mortgage?

Royal London's recently commissioned State of the Protection Nation research highlights that only 19% of people with a mortgage have income protection in place, which leaves 81% unprotected!² Is this you?

While you’re probably aware of the benefits of protection, the expertise of an adviser can help steer you in the right direction to ensure you’re protected when you need it most. If you take a look at LV=’s Risk Reality Calculator it will show you the likelihood of needing to claim on income protection, critical illness cover and life cover based on their research.

But it’s not only mortgage holders that need protection in place, renters need income protection just as much as homeowners. After all, the chances of an accident or illness making you unable to work don’t go away just because you rent!

Contact us today to see how we can help you find the right income protection policy for your needs, our panel of providers can offer something for everyone, so there’s no excuse! 

Sources:

1. FT Adviser, 8 out of 10 mortgage holders have no income protection, May 2018
2. Royal London, State of the Protection Nation, May 2018
3. LV= Risk Reality Calculator http://riskreality.co.uk/gen

The weather is finally warming up and the sun has even been out in force recently, giving us a taste of a proper summer. Bring on BBQs, beer gardens, and days out enjoying the sunshine - while it lasts! And while the sun shining, take this opportunity to make sure you and your family are protected. Did you know skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK? Every year over 230,000 new cases of non-melanoma skin cancer – the most common type – are diagnosed in the UK. In addition to this, there are approximately 16,000 new cases of melanoma every year, resulting in around 2,285 UK deaths annually.¹

Even though we’re more clued up than ever and many know that UV exposure is the main preventable cause of skin cancer, we’re still not protecting ourselves. YouGov research, on the nation’s sun cream habits, reveals that almost a quarter (23%) do not apply sunscreen during the summer or when on holiday.² Melanoma is the deadliest form of skin cancer and we don’t often think about the risks of cancer when we are out enjoying nice weather. It doesn't take long when you’re in the sun to damage your skin and that damage, when it builds up over time, can lead to a scary diagnosis. Cancer is consistently the top claim reason for life insurance and critical illness products^3,4,5, yet we’re not doing enough to protect ourselves. So, if the sun is shining don't forget the sun cream! And don’t forget to talk to us about about ‘Cancer Cover’.

1. British Association of Dermatologists, published May 2018
2. YouGov, published April 2017
3. Royal London: 2017 claims paid report, published May 2018
4. Aviva: Individual protection claims report 2017, accessed June 2018
5. AIG: Protection Claims Paid in 2017, accessed June 2018

There are more than 100,000 strokes in the UK each year – that’s one stroke every five minutes¹ so the chances of you being affected by this condition are high. Not only is a stroke a traumatising occurrence as it happens but the aftereffects can last even longer. Almost two thirds of stroke survivors leave hospital with a disability¹.

So not only does a stroke incur significant recovery time but it can also require potential rehabilitation too. Time spent recovering could mean time away from work therefore having a safety net in place is essential.

It’s been researched that people of working age are two to three times more likely to be unemployed eight years after their stroke¹ . Without your regular income how do you plan on paying your bills? Protecting your salary is vital.

Every 13 minutes someone in the UK loses their life to a stroke² – if this was you how would those left behind be affected, beyond the emotional aspect? The threat of losing their home as well as dealing with the grief of losing a loved one can cause undue stress at the worst possible time.

Don’t leave it to chance, talk to us today about how we can help you protect your income, family and lifestyle. 

Sources:

1. State of the Nation: stroke statistics, February 2018 https://www.stroke.org.uk/system/files/sotn_2018.pdf
2. FAST information pack, January 2018 https://www.stroke.org.uk/system/files/fast_information_pack.pdf

On Friday 25th May, a new European Union (EU) legislation called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) comes into effect. The new regulation builds on the current Data Protection Act (DPA). In preparation for the new regulation we are updating our information

Altogether Financial Solutions Limited (our Firm, we, our, us) an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network a trading name of First Complete Limited (Our Network)

Why are we asking you to read and complete this E-Marketing Customer Consent?

As a valued customer we would like to provide you with reassurance that we take your right to privacy in an electronic context seriously.

During the course of providing you with our service, this Firm may be in contact with you through a variety of electronic means, including potentially by telephone, email, SMS and instant messaging services (such as WhatsApp). These means are referred to in this document as E-Marketing.

We would like to take particular care to ensure that any marketing or promotional information that we may send to you, or we may arrange for selected third parties to send to you, is sent with your prior, express permission. We would like to keep you informed about products or services that we, or selected third parties, may have access to that may be of interest to you.

In this document we explain how we would do this and ask for your consent to receiving such information from us (and, where specified, selected third parties) in the future.

How this E-Marketing Consent relates to our Customer Privacy Notice

During the course of dealing with us we will ask you to provide us with detailed personal information relating to your existing circumstances, your financial situation and, in some cases, your health and family health history (Your Information).

During the course of our initial discussions with you, you will have been provided with a copy of, or been provided with access to, our Customer Privacy Notice. We encourage you to read this document, as it sets out in detail the basis upon which this Firm will process and share Your Information. The Customer Privacy Notice also explains the role of our Network in relation to the processing of Your Information.

Our Customer Privacy Notice does not extend to explaining how we would like to use Your Information for marketing purposes, including to E-Market to you. We are of the view that this is better set out separately, to enable you to be clear and make informed decisions in relation to your right to privacy.

How we will use Your Information in the future

There are a range of reasons why we need to retain Your Information and, when necessary, use it to make contact with you. These include:

• asking your views on the quality of the service we have provided
• responding to your own questions on the product you have taken out
• informing you with regard to any changes to the terms and conditions of your products proposed or made by mortgage lenders and insurance providers

IMPORTANT NOTES: E-Marketing by our Firm

If you do not indicate your agreement for us to make contact with you, we may be unable to provide you with details of products and/or services that may suit your needs and circumstances.

We would like to maintain a record of your express consent for us to contact you by telephone, SMS, email and instant messaging for marketing our products or services that we think may be of interest to you. Please indicate your consent to us contacting you by any of the means specified below:

Email
Telephone
SMS
Instant messaging

Your right to Opt-Out

You have the right to ask us not to contact you for marketing purposes at any time - to Opt Out – we have included details of how to Opt Out at the end of this document so that you know what to do.

Opting Out means that we will either remove Your Information from our marketing database or limit our contact with you to the means you specify (for example, by email only), but we reserve the right to retain it for any other purpose explained in this document or as set out separately in our Customer Privacy Notice.

Please note if you have agreed to being contacted by our selected third party(ies) you will need to exercise your right to Opt Out directly with any such third party.

How to make contact with our Firm to Opt Out

If you have any questions or comments about this document, or wish to make contact in order to Opt Out please contact: Our contact details are below: Altogether Financial Solutions Limited Data Protection Officer: Richard Willan Telephone: 01274 590944 If you have any concerns or complaints as to how we have handled Your Information or you may lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator, the ICO, who can be contacted through their website at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or by writing to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Customer Privacy Notice

Altogether Financial Solutions Limited (our Firm, we, our, us) an Appointed Representative of PRIMIS Mortgage Network a trading name of First Complete Limited (Our Network)

Why are we asking you to read this document?

During the course of dealing with us we will ask you to provide us with detailed personal information relating to your existing circumstances, your financial situation and, in some cases, your health and family health history (Your Information). We would like to explain to you what we will need to do with Your Information, and the various rights you have in relation to Your Information.

What do we mean by “Your Information”?

Your Information means any information describing or relating to you. Your Information may identify you directly, for example your name, address, date or birth, National Insurance number and the like. Your Information may also identify you indirectly, for example, your employment situation, your physical and mental health history, or any other information that could be associated with your cultural or social identity.

In the context of providing you with assistance in relation to your mortgage and/or insurance requirements Your Information may include:

• Title, names, date of birth, gender, nationality, civil/marital status, contact details, addresses and documents that are necessary to verify your identity
• Employment and remuneration information, (including salary/bonus schemes/overtime/sick pay/other benefits), employment history
• Bank account details, tax information, loans and credit commitments, personal credit history, sources of income and expenditure, family circumstances and details of dependents
• Health status and history, details of treatment and prognosis, medical reports (further details are provided below specifically with regard to the processing we may undertake in relation to this type of information)
• Any pre-existing mortgage and/or insurance products and the terms and conditions relating to these

The basis upon which our Firm will deal with Your Information

When we speak with you about your mortgage and/or insurance requirements we do so on the basis that a contract for the supply of services is in place between us. In order to perform that contract, and to arrange the products you require, we have the right to use Your Information for the purposes we set out below.

Alternatively, either in the course of initial discussions with you or when the contract between us has come to an end for whatever reason, we have the right to use Your Information provided it is in our legitimate business interest to do so and your rights are not affected. For example, we may need to respond to requests from mortgage lenders, insurance providers and our Network relating to the advice we have given to you, or to make contact with you to seek feedback on the service you received.

On occasion, we will use Your Information to enable us to meet any contractual responsibilities we may owe our Network, or for wider compliance with any legal or regulatory obligation to which we might be subject. If this were to arise we would be processing Your Information in order to meet a legal, compliance or other regulatory obligation to which we are subject.

The basis upon which we will process certain parts of Your Information

Where you ask us to assist you with your insurance needs, in particular life insurance and insurance that may assist you in the event of an accident or illness, we will ask you information about your ethnic origin, your health and medical history (Your Special Data). We will record and use Your Special Data in order to make enquiries of insurance providers in relation to insurance products that may meet your needs and to provide you with advice regarding the suitability of any product that may be available to you.

If you have parental responsibility for children under the age of 16 it is also very likely that we (and consequently our Network) will record information on our systems that relates to those children and potentially, to their Special Data.

The arrangement of certain types of insurance may involve disclosure by you to us of information relating to historic or current criminal convictions or offences (together “Criminal Disclosures”). This is relevant to insurance related activities such as underwriting, claims and fraud management.

Your Special Data and any Criminal Disclosures will be used by us in the same way as Your Information generally, as set out in this Customer Privacy Notice.

When we process your Special Data and any Criminal Disclosures we do so on the basis that it is in the substantial public interest to be able to provide vital insurance products and as permitted by UK data protection related laws and regulations from time to time. Information on Special Category Data and Criminal Disclosures must be capable of being exchanged freely between insurance intermediaries such as our Firm, and insurance providers, to enable customers to secure the important insurance protection that their needs require.

How do we collect Your Information?

We will collect and record Your Information from a variety of sources, but mainly directly from you. You will usually provide information during the course of our initial meetings or conversations with you to establish your circumstances and needs and preferences in relation to mortgages and insurance. You will provide information to us verbally and in writing, including email.

We may also obtain some information from third parties, for example, credit checks, information from your employer, and searches of information in the public domain such as the voters roll. If we use technology solutions to assist in the collection of Your Information, such as software that is able to verify your identity on-line or to access your credit status and/or bank account entries, then you will be required to provide your consent for us or our nominated processor to access your information in this manner, and details of how such software operates will be provided to you prior to the activation of the service.

What happens to Your Information when it is disclosed to us?

In the course of handling Your Information we will:

• record and store Your Information in our paper files, mobile devices and on our computer systems (websites, email, hard drives, cloud facilities) and it will be accessed by employees and consultants within, or contractors engaged, by our Firm as necessary to provide our service to you and to perform any administration tasks associated with or incidental to that service
• submit Your Information to mortgage lenders and/or insurance product providers, both in paper form and on-line via mortgage lender/insurance provider systems, in order to progress any enquiry or application made on your behalf and to deal with any additional questions or administrative issues that mortgage lenders and insurance providers may raise
• input Your Information, along with full details of the mortgage and/or insurance, discussed with you or which you have taken out, to the computer systems of our Network
• use Your Information for the purposes of responding to any queries you may have in relation to any mortgage product or insurance policy you may take out, or to inform you of any developments in relation to those products and/or polices of which we might become aware

Sharing and transferring Your Information

From time to time Your Information will be shared with or transferred to:

• our Network 
• to mortgage lenders and insurance providers 
• third parties who we believe will be able to assist us with your enquiry or application, or who are able to support your needs as identified, such third parties will include but may not be limited to, product specialists (including those within our Network and other Appointed Representatives of the Network), estate agents, providers of legal services such as conveyancing, surveyors and valuers (in each case where we believe this to be required due to your particular circumstances).

in each case for the purposes set out in this customer privacy notice, i.e. to progress your mortgage and/or insurance enquiry and to provide you with our professional services.

Please note that this sharing of Your Information does not entitle such third parties to send you marketing or promotional messages: it is shared for the purpose of ensuring we can adequately fulfil our responsibilities to you, and as otherwise set out in this Customer Privacy Notice.

We do not envisage that the performance by us of our service will involve Your Information being transferred outside of the European Economic Area.

The basis upon which our Network will deal with Your Information, Your Special Data and Criminal Disclosures

Our Network is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Our Network is responsible for the quality of the advice that we provide to you in relation to your mortgage and/or insurance products, where those products are regulated by the FCA. In the course of doing so, our Network will also process Your Information generally, including Your Special Data and Criminal Disclosures.

In the course of handling Your Information and Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures our Network will:

• record and store Your Information and Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures on Network systems run on secure servers. Your Information and Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures will be accessed by authorised employees and consultants within, or engaged, by the Network as necessary for the purposes of supervision, training, quality audits, customer surveys and complaint handling or otherwise to comply with any other legal or regulatory obligation the Network may have
• use, and where appropriate transmit, Your Information and Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures to respond to any request from the FCA, the Financial Ombudsman Service, HMRC, the Office of the Information Commissioner or any other regulatory, law enforcement or governmental body
• need to access and process Your Information and Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures to deal with enquiries received from mortgage lenders and insurance providers that relate to the service this Firm has provided to you, including the payment of any commission or fees to us that may be linked to the product you have taken out.

Your Information and Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures will be retained by our Network either electronically or in paper format for a minimum of six years and possibly for a longer period where this is required to enable the Network to fulfil its legal and regulatory obligations.

Please note that the above information is a summary of the Network Privacy Policy for customers. If, you wish to understand in more detail what the Network will do with Your Information and Special Data/Criminal Disclosures then please visit the Network Privacy Policy for customers located at http://www.primis.co.uk/privacy-policy-and-tcs

Security and retention of Your Information

Your privacy is important to us and we will keep Your Information secure in accordance with our legal responsibilities. We will take reasonable steps to safeguard against Your Information being accessed unlawfully or maliciously by a third party, accidentally lost, destroyed or damaged.

We also expect you to take reasonable steps to safeguard your own privacy when transferring information to us, such as not sending confidential information over unprotected email, ensuring email attachments are password protected or encrypted and only using secure methods of postage when original documentation is sent to us.

Your Information will be retained by us either electronically or in paper format for a minimum of six years, or if longer than six years, the duration of this Firm’s relationship with you.

Your rights in relation to Your Information

THE RIGHTS MARKED WITH AN * ARE EFFECTIVE FROM 25 MAY 2018

You can:

• request copies of Your Information that is under our control
• ask us to further explain how we use Your Information
• ask us to correct, delete* or require us to restrict or stop using Your Information (details as to the extent to which we can do this will be provided at the time of any such request)
• ask us to send an electronic copy of Your Information to another organisation should you wish*
• change the basis of any consent you may have provided to enable us to market to you in the future (including withdrawing any consent in its entirety)

How to make contact with our Firm in relation to the use of Your Information

If you have any questions or comments about this document, or wish to make contact in order to exercise any of your rights set out within it please contact:

Our contact details are below:

Altogether Financial Solutions Limited
Data Protection Officer Richard Willan
Telephone 01274 590944

If we feel we have a legal right not to deal with your request, or to action it in different way to how you have requested, we will inform you of this at the time.

You should also make contact with us as soon as possible on you becoming aware of any unauthorised disclosure of Your Information, so that we may investigate and fulfil our own regulatory obligations.

If you have any concerns or complaints as to how we have handled Your Information or Your Special Data/Criminal Disclosures you may lodge a complaint with the UK's data protection regulator, the ICO, who can be contacted through their website at https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/ or by writing to Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

This month families all over the country paid tribute to their mums and the world put women in the spotlight for International Women’s Day. While we also celebrate Women’s History Month, a time dedicated to the momentous contributions made by women everywhere. With this in mind, would your family be able to cope if the unthinkable were to happen to the women in your life? Studies show that a huge 92% of women aged 25 to 49 (with children under 18) take care of their children on a daily basis, compared to just 68% of men¹.

If the unthinkable were to happen to these women and they were no longer there just how would that huge gap be filled? The scary fact is that every 22 minutes a parent with children under 18 dies in the UK² and yet 30% of UK employees have no financial back up in place³. It’s vital this safety net is considered.

Protection could be even more important for single parent families, 90% of which are women.⁴ With 68% of single parents working⁵, what would happen if mum couldn’t work suddenly due to accident or illness?

Considering protection to replace this income is vital.

But it’s not just mums that need protection, every woman should assess what protection that is best for her circumstances, be it single, partnered or with children or not.

Accidents, a serious illness, or even the unthinkable, these must be thought of and they could strike at any time, so you don’t want it to be too late. Whether it’s life cover, critical illness, income protection or all or some of the above, make sure you consider protection, you’re worth it.

Sources:

1. The life of women and men in Europe by Eurostat, May 2017 http://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/cache/infographs/womenmen/bloc-1b.html?lang=en
2. Omnibus Survey by Child Bereavment UK, June 2016 https://childbereavementuk.org/about-us/why-we-are-needed-statistics/
3. Deadline to Breadline by Legal & General, May 2017 http://www.legalandgeneral.com/adviser/protection/news-and-insight/deadline-to-breadline/
4. Who are single parents, taken from ONS 2017 statistics https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/policy-campaigns/publications-index/statistics/
5. Single parents today, taken from ONS 2017 statistics https://www.gingerbread.org.uk/policy-campaigns/publications-index/statistics/

Over the last two years the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries have been working closely with HMRC regarding the changes in how self-employed applicants evidence their income when applying for a mortgage. HMRC is phasing out the issuing of SA302s.

People who are self-employed and who are looking to purchase or re-mortgage their home will need to register to use HMRC’s self-service system to obtain a tax calculation and a tax year overview. Lenders have agreed that this is an acceptable way to evidence of income, even if this is provided via third party software. If you use Accountant to do your returns, they should be able to provide this document for you.

Altogether Financial Solutions

News Update – We have expanded! We are pleased to announce that Alison Hannam has recently joined Altogether Financial Solutions and will be undertaking mortgage administration as well as developing our home insurance division along with Helen. She brings a wealth of Financial Services experience having spent many years working in the Mortgage Industry. Her career spans from Advisor, Training to Risk, Quality & Compliance with the emphasis on making sure that customers can expect to get the correct outcome for their needs.

Welcome to the Altogether Team!

Our network, Personal Touch Financial Services are now sending us industry relevant news which we pleased to share with you and hope you will find interesting. To view this the latest newsletter simply click on the link: http://buff.ly/2umJyNM

Our network, Personal Touch Financial Services are now sending us industry relevant news which we pleased to share with you and hope you will find interesting. To view this the latest newsletter simply click on the link:

http://www.personaltouchar.com/export/sites/personaltouchar/documents/4722_Client_Newsletter_050517_v1.pdf

Our network, Personal Touch Financial Services are now sending us industry relevant news which we pleased to share with you and hope you will find interesting. To view this the latest newsletter simply click on the link: http://www.personaltouchar.com/export/sites/personaltouchar/4639_Client_Newsletter_310317_v2.pdf