
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 23 July 2025
Universal Credit Essentials educates, informs and supports people who are claiming or investigating how to claim Universal Credit.
We are committed to keeping your data safe and making it clear what information we collect and how we use it.
This policy, together with our terms and conditions and cookie policy, outlines how we handle your personal data.
1. What data we collect and how we use it
The data we collect depends on why you’ve contacted us.
We will only collect, use and handle your personal data if:
you’ve given consent for specified, clear purposes
we have legal obligations
it’s in our legitimate interests, and your rights are not affected
2. Volunteers
If you volunteer with us, we may collect your:
name and contact details
emergency contact
availability and preferences
health/disability info
criminal convictions
gender/ethnicity (for monitoring)
We’ll keep this data for 2 years after you stop volunteering.
3. Online Community
Our online community is anonymous. No personal data is stored.
Posts may be kept indefinitely.
4. Services
When using our services, we may collect your contact details and preferences.
This helps us provide:
advice and guidance on Universal Credit
training/support to professionals and organisations
Data is only used for the reason you contacted us, and we keep it for up to 6 years if required by contract or regulation.
5. Complaints
If you raise a complaint, we collect:
your name and contact info
details about the issue
This may be shared with third parties (e.g. project partners) if needed to resolve the complaint.
We keep this for 6 years.
6. Website and Analytics
We use Google Analytics to track how people use our website. This includes:
page visits
browser/device details
IP addresses
We don’t collect personally identifiable info unless you give it to us (e.g. in a contact form).
We may use tools like Google Ads and Facebook to show relevant ads based on previous visits to our site.
We might also receive data through your social media settings — check your own privacy settings on those platforms.
7. Your rights
You can:
access your data
correct it
ask us to delete it
object to or restrict how we process it
request a copy (data portability)
withdraw consent at any time
To change how we contact you, email: info@uceplus.co.uk
If you're unhappy, you can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).