Are Winkworth really a high end estate agency?

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Permalink Reply by Elan on June 7, 2014 at 16:40

Can everyone please stop picking on John McMullan! He is what I'd describe as a "reformer" among us. Whilst such people can often be somewhat idealistic and irrational (and can make us feel like little children being spoken at) such types are essential to ensure that we live in a fair and just society.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on June 7, 2014 at 17:05

And so, Elan, say all of us - well, obviously not all, but all of us who matter.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 29, 2017 at 19:47

Here's the text of the deal you have to cut to rent a house/flat/room from a letting agency. It's just blatant data collection. And you thought Facebook was bad.

Your reference will be completed by HomeLet on behalf of your landlord. HomeLet is part of the Barbon Insurance Group Limited and for the purposes of this application, Barbon is the Data Controller as defined in the Data Protection Act 1998 (the “Act”).

In order to complete your application, HomeLet will consult with a number of sources to verify the information, including a licensed credit reference agency. As a result of the information received:

• HomeLet may pass on any information supplied to your landlord and/or letting agent, including the results of any linked verification checks.
• By consulting with a credit reference agency, HomeLet will share your information with them and the agency may record the results of this search. This search may show how you conduct payments with other organisations. From time to time, this information may also be used for debt tracing and fraud prevention. You may request the name and address of the Credit Reference agency HomeLet use and you may also apply for a copy of the information they provided to HomeLet.
• If you default on your rental payments, HomeLet may record this on a centrally held database of defaulting tenants, and such a default could affect any future application for tenancies, credit, and/or insurance.
• HomeLet may use debt collection agencies or tracing agents to trace your whereabouts and recover any monies owed to HomeLet.
• If false or inaccurate information is provided and fraud is identified, details will be passed to fraud prevention agencies to prevent fraud and money laundering.

Information may be sent to you and your nominated referees by email. This information will only be sufficient enough to identify you and it won’t be excessive; however you should be aware that information sent via electronic means can’t be guaranteed to be secure.

The provisions of Ground 17 of the Housing Act 1996 will apply to this application. If any information within this application is found to be untrue it may be grounds to terminate the tenancy agreement.

Please read and complete the following statements carefully – it’s important that you provide your consent for the checks by marking the boxes next to the text.

 Yes, I confirm that the information provided in this application form is true to the best of my knowledge, and I’m happy with the checks which HomeLet will complete as detailed above. These results may be accessed again if I apply for a tenancy in the future.

 Yes, I’m happy for HomeLet to contact my referees (including those outside the EEA), with personal information which has been provided in this form to allow them to verify the information about my earnings, dates of employment and previous tenancy term.

Please note, if you’d like to find out more about any of the information sources we access to complete your application, please visit http://homelet.co.uk/ref-info.

Following the completion of your reference, HomeLet or other Barbon Group Companies may contact you about additional services we can offer which may be of interest to you. These services could help you protect your liability as a tenant as well as your personal contents. If you don’t want us to contact you, please tick this box . We’ll never pass your details on to a third party unless we ask for your express permission. If you’d like to unsubscribe from any services at any time, then please contact HomeLet on unsubscribe@homelet.co.uk

 Yes, I’m happy for HomeLet and other Barbon Group Companies to contact me occasionally by email or SMS with exclusive offers, together with other information from selected third parties about products and services which could benefit me as a tenant.

In accordance with Data Protection guidelines your agent must have a copy of your signed declaration on file. Please ensure the signed declaration has been completed and returned to your agent by selecting the link below.

Download declaration

 I understand and agree with these terms and conditions.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 30, 2017 at 10:49

That's different, they're not collecting this information, charging me £150 and doing it every 12 months. They're not digging into my employer's business to see if they can pay me my salary. They're not calling my employer up to ask about my salary. They're not making me explicitly sign this before I use their services but after they've collected the money.

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