Privacy Policy March 2023
Newcastle Commercial Finance Pty Ltd
T/AS Newcastle Commercial Finance, NCF Finance, Inlon Finance, Gato Equipment Finance, Bus & Coach Finance Australia
Table of Contents
About this statement
What is “personal information”?
What is “credit eligibility information”?
What is “credit information”?
Why do we collect personal information?
How do we collect personal information?
How do we store personal information?
How do we protect personal information?
Why do we exchange personal information with third parties?
Exchange of information within the group
Exchange of information with overseas parties
Important information about the exchange of credit-related information with Credit Reporting Bodies (CRBs)
Marketing
Accessing and correcting personal information
Dealing with us anonymously or using an alias
Changes to this Privacy Policy
Our internet websites
Lodging complaints
Internal Dispute Resolution
External Dispute Resolution
Contacting us
About this statement
Newcastle Commercial Finance Pty Ltd ACN 109 035 074 (“we”, “us” and “our”) is committed to respecting the privacy of your personal information.
This policy statement explains how we collect, store, use and disclose personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) and what steps we take to comply with privacy laws.
We are bound by the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) including Division 3 of Part IIIA and the Australian Privacy Principles contained in the Act as well as the Credit Reporting Privacy Code (CR Code) and are committed to protecting personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) we may hold at any time in respect of any individual, in accordance with those requirements.
Those principles do not apply to certain records and practices relating to the employment relationship between us and our employees. In addition, certain disclosures of personal information between related bodies corporate do not have the same protection as disclosures to other persons.
We may, in connection with particular services we offer or provide to you, make other privacy disclosures to you or seek your authority to use your personal information in ways which are different from or more specific than those stated in this Privacy Policy. In the event of any inconsistency between the provisions of this Privacy Policy and those other disclosures, the other disclosures will apply.
It is important that you read and understand this Privacy Policy.
What is “personal information”?
“Personal information” is information or an opinion about a reasonably identifiable individual. The types of personal information that we collect includes the following information about you which is relevant to our relationship or the product or service you are enquiring about or making an application for: name, address, contact details, date of birth, financial details such as income, savings and expenses and information from other financial institutions, employment details and the reason you might be applying for a financial product we supply.
We may also collect information regarding your internet activity (including your location) when you use our website or online services.
Sensitive information
“Sensitive information” is a subcategory of personal information which includes information about your health. We may be required to collect sensitive information about your health in certain circumstances, for example when you make an application for assistance with financial hardship caused by illness or injury. We realise that this is often sensitive information and we will treat it with the highest degree of security and confidentiality.
What is “credit eligibility information”?
“Credit eligibility information” is personal information that has been obtained from a credit reporting body (CRB) (e.g. a consumer credit report), or personal information that has been derived from that information, that is about an individual’s consumer credit worthiness.
The kind of information we might derive from a consumer credit report includes:
information which assists us to assess your suitability for credit; information about your credit history with other credit providers; and the likelihood of you being able to meet your commitments to us.
What is “credit information”?
“Credit information” is certain types of personal information that includes the following:
information about an individual, like their name and address, that we may use to identify that individual;
information about an individual’s current or terminated consumer credit accounts and, from 12 March 2014, an individual’s repayment history;
the type and amount of credit applied for in any previous consumer or commercial credit applications to any credit provider, where that credit provider has requested information; information about an individual from a CRB;
information about consumer credit payments overdue for at least 60 days and for which collection action has started;
advice that payments that were previously notified to a CRB as overdue are no longer overdue; information about new credit arrangements an individual may have made with a credit provider, in relation to consumer credit currently or previously held, to deal with any defaults or serious credit infringements by that individual;
information about court judgments which relate to credit that an individual has obtained or applied for;
information about an individual on the National Personal Insolvency Index; publicly available information about an individual’s credit worthiness; and
an opinion of a credit provider that an individual has committed a serious credit infringement of credit provided by that credit provider.
We will hold all of this information about an applicant for credit, a guarantor, or related person (e.g. a director of a company which has applied for credit).
Why do we collect personal information?
We only collect, hold and use personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) about you which is necessary for us to establish and administer the products you hold with us, provide services to you or to comply with the law.
We will tell you the main reasons for collecting your personal information when we ask for it, however, the purposes for which we will generally collect and use your information include considering any application you make to us and providing services to you, performing administrative functions, conducting customer satisfaction research improving our products and developing new products and telling you about our other products and services and products and services we distribute on behalf of other organisations. You may tell us at any time that you do not want us to advise you about other products and services (see Marketing below for more details).
We may also collect your personal information to comply with legislative and regulatory requirements, for example under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (Cth) and / or the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth).
How do we collect personal information?
We ordinarily collect personal information directly from you or where it is provided to us with your authority (e.g. from a person appointed to act on your behalf). For example, we collect personal information through forms you fill out when applying for our products and services or through your ongoing interaction with us for example by telephone, mail and electronic communications, when you visit a branch or when you make a transaction.
We may also be required to collect personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) about you from a third party. These parties may include other credit providers or financial institutions, your representatives such as financial advisers or accountants, your insurers, publicly available sources (e.g. telephone directories), brokers, referrers or other intermediaries, government agencies (e.g. Centrelink) and CRBs.
Sometimes we may be required to collect sensitive health information about you from a third party, for example a doctor or a hospital.
In addition to the above, we may use technology called “cookies” to collect statistical information on our website use. When you call us on the telephone, we may monitor and in some cases record the telephone conversation for staff training and record-keeping purposes. Further, when we communicate with you by email, we may use technology to identify you so that we will be in position to know when you have opened the email or clicked on a link in the email.
If personal information about you is collected by third parties on any website you have accessed through our websites, we may also collect or have access to that information as part of our arrangement with those third parties.
We may also collect basic personal information about third parties (e.g. an employer or a health provider) if provided by you as part of providing our services.
Finally, from time to time we may receive information that we have not asked for about you from third parties. We will only keep, use and disclose this information as permitted by law.
How do we store personal information?
We store your personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) in a number of ways including:
in electronic systems and devices; in telephone recordings;
in paper files; and
document retention services off-site.
This may include storage on our behalf by third party service providers. See our comments below about how we protect your personal information.
How do we protect personal information?
We take all reasonable steps to protect your personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) from misuse, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These include:
using appropriate information technology and processes;
restricting access to your personal information to our employees and those who perform services for us who need your personal information to do what we have engaged them to do; protecting paper documents from unauthorised access or use through security systems we deploy over our physical premises;
using computer and network security systems with appropriate firewalls, encryption technology and passwords for the protection of electronic files;
securely destroying or “de-identifying” personal information if we no longer require it subject to our legal obligations to keep some information for certain prescribed periods; and
requesting certain personal information from you when you wish to discuss any issues relating to the products and services we provide to you.
Whilst we take reasonable measures, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed as fully secure and accordingly, we cannot guarantee or warrant the security of any information you send to us using our online forms or products. You submit information over the Internet at your own risk.
Why do we exchange personal information with third parties?
We may need to disclose personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) about you to certain organisations in connection with the establishment and administration of your accounts.
The types of organisations to which we may disclose this information include other credit providers (particularly when you are seeking finance from them), regulatory bodies and government agencies, courts and external dispute resolution schemes, your agents, brokers, referrers and other intermediaries, credit and debt agencies, payments systems participants, agents, contractors and professional advisers who assist us in providing our services, your referees and guarantors, your or our insurers, third parties for securitisation purposes and organisations that carry out functions on our behalf including mailing houses, data processors, researchers, debt collectors, system developers or testers, accountants, auditors, valuers and lawyers.
We may also disclose your personal information to third parties where you request us to or consent to us doing so or in order to fulfil our legal obligations.
The information we provide to other organisations will be limited to what is required to provide the service or comply with the law.
Exchange of information with overseas parties
Some of the parties with which we exchange your personal information, including our service providers and other third parties listed above, may be located outside Australia in countries including
N/A
We may also need to send your information overseas in order to process transactions you have instructed us to make, such as international money transfers. The countries to which we disclose your information will depend on the transaction details.
Important information about the exchange of credit-related information with Credit Reporting Bodies (CRBs)
If you apply for credit or offer to act as a guarantor, we may exchange certain credit-related personal information with CRBs.
The types of information we may disclose to CRBs may include that you are applying for credit, the type of credit you hold, the amount of credit provided to you, or when your credit account is opened and closed, CRBs may include that information in reports provided to credit providers to assist them to assess your creditworthiness.
Under the Privacy Act, CRBs are also permitted to assist credit providers who wish to direct market to you by ensuring you meet certain specified criteria (called “pre-screening”). You have a right to request that CRBs not use your credit-related information for this purpose by contacting them using the details below.
You also have a right to request that a CRB not use or disclose your credit-related information if you believe that you have been a victim of fraud (including identity fraud) by contacting them using the details below.
The CRB we exchange information with is:
Equifax Australia Information Services and Solutions Pty Limited PO Box 964
NORTH SYDNEY NSW 2059
https://www.equifax.com.au/understanding-your-credit-file Phone: 1300 850 211
Equifax’s Privacy Policy is located at www.equifax.com.au/privacy
You may obtain a copy of Equifax’s privacy policy at the above website or by contacting Equifax using the details provided.
Marketing
From time to time we may also use your personal information to let you know about other products and services from us that you might be interested in. We might also want to let you know about products and services from our partners and other companies.
If you don’t want to receive advertising materials, please contact us
Accessing and correcting personal information
We take reasonable steps to ensure that your personal information is accurate, complete and up-to- date.
You may request access to the personal information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) we hold about you at any time by:
contacting our Privacy Officer by telephone on 02 4922 1000
via email at reception@newcomfin.com.au
post at
PO Box 688 The Junction NSW 2291
In certain circumstances, we may be unable to give you access to all of your personal information in our possession. Some of these circumstances include:
where giving you access would compromise some other person’s privacy;
where giving you access would disclose commercially-sensitive information of ours or any of our agents or contractors;
where we are prevented by law from giving you access; or
where the personal information you request relates to existing or anticipated legal proceedings.
If we are unable to give you access, we will consider whether the use of an intermediary is appropriate and would allow sufficient access to meet the needs of both parties.
Where we do grant access to your information, we may charge you a fee for accessing your personal information.
Under the Privacy Act, you also have a right to request that we correct information (including credit information and credit eligibility information) that you believe to be inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.
If at any time you believe that personal information about you is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, please advise us by contacting our Privacy Officer by:
telephone on 02 4922 1000
email at reception@newcomfin.com
post at
PO Box 688 The Junction NSW 2291
We will take all reasonable steps to correct the information. If we do not correct the information, you can also ask us to include with the information held, a statement from you claiming that the information is not correct.
If there is a denial of access to your personal information or a dispute as to the correctness of any personal information held, we will provide you with reasons for the denial or its refusal to correct the personal information. If you disagree with our decision for the denial or refusal to correct the personal information, you may request that we review the decision via our complaints handling procedures which are outlined below.
Dealing with us anonymously or using an alias
We will generally need to know who you are in order to provide you with our products and services. Despite this, in some circumstances you are entitled to deal with us anonymously, or by using a pseudonym (alias), for example when making general enquiries about the services we offer.
In some circumstances, you may receive a better service or response if we know who you are. For example, we can keep you up-to-date and better understand a complaint you might have if we know who you are and the circumstances of your complaint.
You must tell us when you are using a pseudonym when applying for our services. If we need to identify you, we will tell you whether or not your real name is required to access those services.
Changes to this Privacy Policy
This statement sets out our current Privacy Policy. It replaces any of our other Privacy Policies which have been issued before the date of this Privacy Policy.
Please note that this Privacy Policy may change from time to time. We will notify you of any change by posting an updated version on our website at:
www.newcomfin.com.au
You may also obtain a copy of our current Privacy Policy: via our websites as detailed above
or by
telephoning us on 02 4922 1000
We encourage you to periodically review our Privacy Policy for any changes.
Our internet websites
This Privacy Policy applies to our website operated by us at the following domain names
www.newcomfin.com.au, www.inlonfin.com.au, www.bcfa.com.au
and any other website/s operated by us or on our behalf which we authorise to provide a link to this Privacy Policy.
When you use a link from our website or from any other website to which this Privacy Policy applies, to the websites of third parties, those websites are not subject to our privacy standards. Those third parties are responsible for informing you of their own privacy policies.
Lodging complaints
We are committed to resolving any complaint you may have. Complaints can be received in several different ways:
in person by phone in writing via email
via website
Internal Dispute Resolution
Our representative will be in contact with you regarding your complaint and will let you know who will be assisting you, their contact details and the expected resolution date of your issue within 48 hours.
If the issue is a more complicated one, we may ask you for additional documentation to help resolve the issue. In turn, we will keep you updated on the progress of your complaint. We may also provide you with information on how to contact an external dispute resolution scheme.
If you are not satisfied that the matter has been resolved, we can forward the complaint to the Customer Relations Team. This team will review the complaint and take further actions in an attempt to resolve it.
Customers may contact the Compliance Team by any of the following means: Phone: 02 4922 1000
Email: reception@newcomfin.com.au
Mail: Customer Service Team – Complaints
External Dispute Resolution
In the unlikely event that your complaint remains unresolved to your satisfaction through the internal procedures outlined above, you may elect to refer your complaint to external dispute resolution.
If you have a complaint, you can contact the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA) at: Australian Financial Complaints Authority
GPO Box 3, Melbourne Vic 3001
Phone: 1800 931 678 (free call) Website: www.afca.org.au
You may also elect to contact the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) if you have a complaint about the way we handle your personal information at:
Office of the Australian Information Commissioner GPO Box 5218
Sydney NSW 2001
Phone: 1300 363 992
Email: enquiries@oaic.gov.au Website: www.oaic.gov.au
Contacting us
If you have any further questions or concerns about the way we manage your personal information, including if you think we have breached the Australian Privacy Principles, Part IIIA of the Privacy Act or the CR Code please contact:
Mail: PO Box 688 The Junction NSW 2291
Phone: 02 4922 1000
Email: reception@newcomfin.com.au
