We believe in making sure that any information we hold about our customers is confidential. We will only ask for information that we need and it will only be available to staff so they can provide services for you. We will only pass our customers personal details to someone outside Broadacres if they have told us that we can do so or in certain other circumstances.

Getting information about you

We will only ask you for personal information so that we can:

• Deal with a housing application
• Manage your tenancy
• Provide support services for you; and
• Make sure that any groups we consult about our services represent all our tenants.

Giving information about our customers to other people and organisations

We will only give personal details about our customers to other people and organizations if we their permission, except in the following circumstances:

• If we have to do so by law
• In line with other information sharing agreements with other organizations (for example, local Community safety Partnerships)
• Where there is a clear health and safety risk to our customers and other people
• Where there is evidence of fraud or criminal activity
• In connection with any action we make take to ensure our tenants meet their tenancy conditions. This may include passing our former tenants details to Debt Collection Agencies if they do not repay money that they owe to us either during or at the end of their tenancy
• To allow contractors or other organizations acting on our behalf provide services
• To allow the local council or other local housing associations to give you information about housing in the area.

To make sure we don’t give information about our customers to someone else, by mistake, we will ask all our tenants for a password so we can identify them if they phone us. If a customer wants someone else to act on their behalf and get information from us, they must write in and tell us.

Preventing fraud

We take part in the Audit Commission’s National Fraud Initiative. This is a scheme, which involves housing associations, local councils, health and other public organizations checking information with each other to prevent and deter fraud. We will share certain information that we hold about our tenancies, in accordance with the Code of Data matching Practice 2006. This complies with the data protection legislation.