Privacy Policy

2. Who we are

SellCarInstant is a trading name of Oakwood Motor Company Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales (company number [to be inserted], VAT number [to be inserted]), registered office at Victoria Retail Park, Victoria Street, Bury, BL8 2EQ.

We are the data controller of the personal data we collect from you. We are registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) under registration number 00013961952.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your personal data, you can contact us at:

• Email: [privacy@sellcarinstant.co.uk]
• Post: Data Protection, Oakwood Motor Company Ltd, Victoria Retail Park, Victoria Street, Bury, BL8 2EQ
• Phone: [to be inserted]

3. The personal data we collect

Vehicle details you provide

• Registration number
• Mileage
• Service history, number of keys, V5C logbook status
• Outstanding finance details
• Insurance category and write-off status
• Photographs of the vehicle and any damage

Vehicle data we look up automatically

• Make, model, derivative, year, fuel type, transmission and other DVLA-held data linked to the registration
• MOT history
• Number of previous owners

Contact and identity details

• Full name
• Email address
• Mobile telephone number
• Postcode and full collection address
• Date of birth (where required for sale completion or finance settlement)
• Driving licence details (where required to verify ownership at collection)

Payment details

• Bank account name, sort code and account number, used solely to pay you for your vehicle

Technical and usage data

• IP address, device type, operating system, browser type
• Pages visited, time spent on the site, referral source
• Marketing campaign and click data

We do not knowingly collect special category personal data.

4. How we collect your data

• Directly from you, when you complete the valuation form, upload photos, accept an offer or contact us.
• Automatically, through cookies and similar technologies (see our Cookie Policy).
• From third-party data providers, including the DVLA, vehicle valuation providers (such as Cap HPI), HPI and finance check providers, and finance companies (where you have outstanding finance to settle).

5. How we use your data and our lawful basis

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

6. Sharing your data

We share your personal data only where necessary, with:

• Group companies: Oakwood Motor Company Ltd and Hero Car Finance, where this is necessary to complete your sale, retail the vehicle, or, where you have given consent, contact you about related products and services.
• Service providers: including our website hosting provider, IT support, customer relationship management software, vehicle data providers (such as DVLA and Cap HPI), payment processors, identity verification providers, and analytics providers (such as Google and Meta).
• Finance companies: to settle any outstanding finance against your vehicle.
• Trade partners: auction houses or other dealers, where we elect to retail the vehicle through trade channels.
• Regulators, courts and law enforcement, where required by law.
• Professional advisers: solicitors, auditors and accountants.

We do not sell your personal data.

7. International transfers

Some of our service providers (for example Google and Meta) may process personal data outside the UK. Where this happens, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, including UK International Data Transfer Agreements, the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, or transfers to countries the UK has deemed to provide adequate protection.

8. How long we keep your data

• Quote enquiries that do not result in a sale: up to 24 months from the last interaction.
• Completed sales: for the period required by law (typically 6 years for tax records, longer where motor trade or anti-money laundering rules require).
• Marketing data: until you withdraw consent or we identify you as inactive (typically 24 months without engagement).
• Website analytics data: typically 14 months.

After these periods, your data is securely deleted or anonymised.

9. Your rights

Under UK data protection law you have the following rights:

• Right of access: to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
• Right to erasure: to ask us to delete your data, subject to legal exceptions.
• Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we process your data.
• Right to portability: to receive your data in a structured, commonly used format.
• Right to object: to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing.
• Right to withdraw consent: at any time, where we rely on consent.
• Right to complain: to the ICO (see section 15).

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details in section 2. We will respond within one month.

10. Marketing

We use your contact details to send you marketing about our services and the services of our group companies (Oakwood Motor Company Ltd and Hero Car Finance), where the law allows. This may include information about cars we have for sale, finance products, and offers we think may be relevant to you.

We rely on the soft opt-in under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations for electronic marketing to existing or prospective customers about similar services, and on legitimate interests for other marketing channels.

You can opt out of marketing at any time, by:

• Ticking the marketing opt-out box during the valuation process;
• Clicking the unsubscribe link in any marketing email;
• Replying STOP to any marketing text message;
• Contacting us at [privacy@sellcarinstant.co.uk].

We will action any opt-out request promptly.

11. Cookies

We use cookies and similar technologies to operate, secure and improve our website. Please see our Cookie Policy for full details.

12. Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration or disclosure. These include encryption in transit, access controls, secure hosting and staff training. No system is completely secure; if a breach affects you we will notify you in line with our legal obligations.

13. Children

Our service is not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 18.

14. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "last updated" date at the top of the policy will tell you when. Material changes will be notified to you where required by law.

15. How to complain

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, please contact us first. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:

• Website: ico.org.uk
• Phone: 0303 123 1113
• Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF