This notice explains how University of Liverpool Pension Fund Trustees Limited, the Trustee of ULPF, uses and protects the personal information that it holds about members and other beneficiaries of ULPF. Contact details for the Trustee are set out at the end of this notice.
The Trustee is a "controller" and in conjunction with the University of Liverpool, a "joint controller" for the purposes of the data protection laws.
The current data protection laws are set out in the Data Protection Act 1998. This will be replaced by new data protection laws with effect from 25 May 2018. We refer to both the current and the new data protection laws as the "Data Protection Laws" in this privacy notice.
You should share this notice with your family and dependants where you have provided us with personal information about them.
What is personal information?
Personal information broadly means information that identifies (or which could, with other information that we hold or are likely to hold, identify) a living individual. This includes any information provided to us by or on behalf of you, ULPF's employers or HM Revenue & Customs in relation to your actual or potential membership of ULPF.
What types of personal information might we hold about you?
We will collect and process the information about you that you provide by filling in forms and by corresponding with us and our service providers by telephone, email or otherwise. We will also collect and process information about you that is provided to us by ULPF's employers or by HM Revenue & Customs in relation to your actual or potential membership of ULPF.
We may hold and process any or all of the following personal information about you:
- Personal details such as your name, gender, age, date of birth, contact details (e.g. your address and postcode, email, telephone and mobile numbers), and identifiers such as your National Insurance number, pension or member reference number and employee number (where applicable);
- Details of your family, lifestyle and social circumstances. This could include details about your current marriage or civil partnership, any previous relationships and details of your family and dependants;
- Employment details such as your earnings, length of service, employment and career history, recruitment and termination details, absence record, job title and job responsibilities;
- Other financial details such as any other income, other pension arrangements, bank account details (e.g. to process pension payments) and tax code;
- Information about your physical or mental health (where there is a legal basis for the processing of such data under the Data Protection L_aws - see below); and
- Information about criminal convictions if these relate to money owed to the employer in circumstances where the employer is entitled to be reimbursed from your benefits.
Why do we hold this information?
We hold this information because we need it to administer ULPF. Without your personal information, we cannot provide you and your dependants with the correct benefits, at the right time.
For example, we may need this information to verify your membership of ULPF, to calculate your pension or to assess whether you are entitled to a specific benefit or how the tax rules apply to you.
We may use unique identifier information, such as your National Insurance number, pension or member reference number and employee number (where applicable) for the purposes of sending communications to you and verifying your identity.
In some instances, we may need to hold and process information relating to your physical or mental health, for example if you are applying for a pension on grounds of ill-health. We will ask for your explicit consent to this, unless there is an alternative legal basis for processing this information under the Data Protection Laws.
Once you have given your consent, you can withdraw it at any time by writing to us using the contact details below.
Using your information in accordance with Data Protection Laws
Data Protection Laws require us to meet certain conditions before we are allowed to use your personal information in the way described in this privacy notice.
We rely on a condition that allows us to use your personal information to comply with our legal obligations in relation to ULPF. We also rely on a condition known as 'legitimate interests' in order to use this information in the way described in this privacy notice.
We have legitimate interests to collect and process your personal information as we need this to administer ULPF and to provide benefits for you and your dependants. We will keep the amount of personal information collected and the extent of any processing to the minimum.
We will only process 'sensitive' or 'special categories' of personal information under the Data Protection Laws (e.g. information about your health) where you have explicitly consented to this or where there is an alternative legal basis for processing this information under the Data Protection Laws.
This may mean that you will be asked to sign consent forms in the future. If you do not consent to our processing this information when asked to do so, it may mean that we are unable to pay benefits to you or your dependants. Once you have given your consent, you can withdraw it at any time by writing to us using the contact details below.
We will only process information about criminal convictions if these relate to money owed to the employer in circumstances where the employer is entitled to be reimbursed from your benefits and either you consent to this or the processing is necessary for the exercise of a legal claim by the employer.
What do we do with the information?
We may use your personal information for a number of purposes relating to the administration of ULPF, including the following:
- To calculate and pay benefits. This includes providing you with details of your benefits and options under ULPF and dealing with any queries that you have about these;
- To carry out our obligations arising from any agreement that we have with, or concerning, you and to provide you with the information, benefits and services that you request from us;
- To notify you about services provided to members of ULPF and any changes to those services or to enable you to access those services
- For statistical, financial modelling, funding, accounting and reference purposes;
- For internal record keeping;
- For risk management purposes, including the insurance of ULPF's benefits;
- Complying with our legal obligations, any relevant industry or professional rules and regulations or any applicable voluntary codes; and
- Complying with demands or requests made by any relevant regulators, government departments and law enforcement or tax authorities or in connection with any disputes or litigation.
How long do we keep your information for?
We will hold your personal information on our systems for as long as is necessary for ULPF to provide benefits to you or your dependants. So, for example, if your pension is paid from ULPF when you retire, we will hold your information for the rest of your life, until your pension ceases on your death. If a pension is payable to any of your dependants after your death, we will continue to hold your information until their pensions cease.
We will also continue to hold your information for an indefinite period after all benefits payable to you and your dependants have ceased, in case there are any further queries about your membership of ULPF.
If you cease to be a member of ULPF (e.g. because you transfer your benefits to another pension arrangement), we will hold your information for as long as you are a member and then for an indefinite period after you cease to be a member, in case any further queries arise about your membership of ULPF.
Who do we share the information with?
Where appropriate for the purposes of administering ULPF, we may share your information with:
- ULPF's administrator, which is the University of Liverpool. The University supplies and uses the information to administer ULPF, including to calculate and pay benefits;
- ULPF's professional advisers and auditors. This includes the ULPF actuary (which is currently Mr James Auty) and his employer JL T Benefit Solutions Limited, the firm that provides actuarial and consultancy advice to the Trustee. It also includes ULPF's legal advisers Pinsent Masons LLP and auditors PricewaterhouseCoopers. These organisations use the information when advising the Trustee and carrying out their respective professional obligations;
- ULPF's insurers (and other insurers for the purpose of obtaining quotations relating to ULPF or its benefits), investment consultants, independent investment advisers, investment managers, banks and other service providers;
- Any adviser appointed by you where you have asked us to provide them with details of your benefits under ULPF or any financial adviser or other organisation that may be appointed by the Trustee or your employer to advise you about your options under ULPF;
- Any other person who is authorised to act on your behalf;
- Your employer and its professional advisers;
- Regulators, government departments, law enforcement authorities, tax authorities and insurance companies; and any relevant ombudsman, dispute resolution body or the courts.
The entities listed above may also share personal information with their own business suppliers, for example in relation to the operation of IT systems or where they outsource part of their services.
Some of these entities may also be controllers under the Data Protection Laws. However, in the first instance you should contact the Trustee using the contact details below if you have any queries about how they use your personal information.
A copy of the privacy statement produced by ULPF actuary, Mr James Auty, employed by JL T Benefit Solutions Limited can be obtained directly from the ULPF Actuary by emailing James Auty@jltgroup.com.
Please note that some of ULPF's former service providers may continue to hold information about you for their own record keeping purposes once they have ceased to be involved with ULPF.
Where we store your personal data
The data that we collect from you will usually be stored inside the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA).
However, if you live or work outside of the UK or the EEA, we may need to transfer your personal data outside of the UK or the EEA to respond to any queries that you may have. Where this applies, we will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely and in accordance with this privacy notice.
We also may transfer data outside the UK or the EEA where ULPF's service providers, professional advisers or auditors host data outside the UK or the EEA. Where we do this, we will ensure that the transfer is to a country covered by a decision of the Commission of the European Union or is otherwise made in circumstances where appropriate safeguards have been put in place to protect your data in accordance with the Data Protection Laws.
Your rights in relation to your personal information
The accuracy of the information that we hold about you is important to us. If any of the information that we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please let us know using the contact details set out at the end of this notice.
You have a number of rights under the Data Protection Laws in relation to the way we process your personal data, namely:
- To access your data;
- To have your data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
- In certain circumstances, to have your data deleted or removed;
- In certain circumstances, to restrict the processing of your data;
- A right of data portability, namely to obtain and reuse your data for your own purposes across different services;
- To object to direct marketing (although we do not carry out direct marketing);
- Not to be subject to automated decision making (including profiling), where it produces a legal effect or a similarly significant effect on you (although we do not use automated decision making); and to claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection Laws.
Any complaints?
If you wish to exercise any of these rights, please contact Mrs Christine Jones, Secretary to the Trustee, University of Liverpool Pension Fund, Hart Building, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5TQ. Email: cjj@liverpool.ac.uk Telephone no: 0151 794 2124.
We will aim to respond to any request received from you within one month from your request. Access to your data will usually be provided free of charge, although in certain circumstances we may make a small charge where entitled to do so under the Data Protection Laws.
Please note that we may be unable to delete or remove your data whilst we still need this to administer ULPF - see the section 'How long do we keep information for?' above.
Changes to this privacy notice
This privacy notice is current as at 1 May 2018.
We keep our privacy notice under regular review, and may change it at any time. We will tell you about any significant changes.
Contact us
If you have any queries about this privacy notice, or wish to exercise any of the rights above, please contact:
Mrs Christine Jones, Secretary to the Trustee, University of Liverpool Pension Fund, Hart Building, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5TQ.
Email: cjj@liverpool.ac.uk
Telephone no: 0151 794 2124.
If you have any other questions about ULPF, please contact:
Pensions Team, University of Liverpool, Hart Building, Mount Pleasant, Liverpool L3 5TQ.
Email: pensions@liverpool.ac.uk
Telephone no: 0151 795 4674 or 0151 794 2125.
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