This Cookie Policy relates to the use of cookies on the Hastings Direct Loans website and should be read in conjunction with our Privacy Notice.

1. What are cookies?

A cookie is a small data file that a web server can transfer onto your computer's hard drive when you visit a website. The web server can read the information stored in a cookie so a website recognises your computer when you revisit it or browse from page to page. Only the web server that sent the cookie can read and use that particular cookie.

Cookies can help a website show content that matches your interests and/or avoid the need for you to re-enter data when you revisit the site. Cookies are commonly used on the internet and don’t harm your computer or computer files. For more information about cookies, see All About Cookies.

2. How do we use cookies on our website?

We use cookies to see how users navigate through our website so we can check and improve the website and our online services. We use the information we get from cookies to:

Collect statistical data on use of the website so we can improve our services.
Help users navigate through the website.
Check the website is working well.
Personalise and improve the service you receive by understanding your preferences and establishing which areas of the website are most relevant to you.

We also use cookie technology to make sure that, if you’ve registered for any of our online services, your confidentiality and security are maintained as you move through secure or password-protected areas of the website.

As well as this, we may (together with the third-party agents who help manage our online advertising) use cookies to measure response rates to our advertisements and promotions on third-party websites.

We won’t pass on any cookie-derived information to third parties other than as set out in this Cookie Policy. We may collate the statistical data on use of the website with statistical data collected from other websites operated by Hastings Direct in order to help company-wide evaluation and improvements.

3. What kind of cookies do we use on our website?

Cookies are managed on our website using the Cookie Banner. Clicking on the banner will open the tool and explain what types of cookies are used and what they are used for. Clicking on the + next to the category (e.g. Analytical Cookies) will give an explanation on its purpose and allow you to navigate the particular cookies used. For each cookie, the tool lists the cookie name, host (which company it comes from), its duration (how long it will stay on your device) and a more detailed description of that particular cookie.

4. What kind of information do we collect using cookies?

When you visit our website, our server will record your IP address, the date, time, duration and areas of the website you visit. Your IP address is a number allocated to your computer when you log on to the internet which acts as your computer’s "address" while you’re online and allows web servers to find and deliver content to you. It’s usually allocated on a temporary basis, i.e. for the duration of your session online.

5. What are web beacons?

Some of our web pages may contain electronic images known as web beacons (sometimes called ‘clear gifs’) so we can count how many users have visited the pages in order to check the effectiveness of a particular campaign. Web beacons collect only limited information, which includes a cookie number, time and date of a page viewed and a description of the page where the web beacon is located. We may also carry web beacons placed by third-party advertisers.

6. Can I decline to accept cookies?

You don’t have to accept a cookie that we (or any other web server) send to you. Most browsers accept cookies automatically but you can turn this off in your browser settings. However, some types of cookies are essential for some areas of the website and our online services, so if you don’t accept them you may not be able to use these areas or services (these are called 'Strictly Necessary' cookies').

7. How do I manage my cookie acceptance?

You can manage which cookies you want to allow through the Cookie Banner. By default, only Strictly Necessary Cookies are turned on and must stay on for you to use our website. The other cookie categories (Analytics, Functional and Targeting) are all turned off by default and can be turned on and off individually using the slider switch.

8. Contact us

If you have any questions about how we collect, store or use your personal information, please read our Privacy Notice. If that doesn't answer your questions, you can contact the Data Protection Team at:

Post: The Data Protection Team, Hastings Financial Services Limited, Conquest House, Collington Avenue, Bexhill-on-Sea TN39 3LW
Email: dataprotection@hastingsdirect.com

We may need to make changes to this Cookie Policy from time to time. This could be because of government regulation, new technologies or other developments in data protection laws or privacy generally, or where we identify new sources and uses of personal information (as long as the use is compatible with the purposes for which the personal information was originally collected).

Date of last update: 6th October, 2023

Loans from Hastings Direct - Cookie Policy