Privacy Policy

About this policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Energy Lend Pty Ltd (ABN 30 625 772 787, Australian Credit Licence 516776) collects, holds, uses and discloses personal information. It also explains how you can access or correct your personal information and how to make a privacy complaint.

We are committed to complying with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) where they apply to us, together with other privacy, credit and communications laws that apply to our activities.

Where it is lawful and practicable, you may deal with us anonymously or by using a pseudonym. However, we will generally need to identify you when providing credit assistance, arranging finance, verifying your identity or meeting legal and lender requirements.

Personal information we collect and hold

The kinds of personal information we may collect and hold depend on the products or services you ask us to assist with. They may include:

• identity information, including your name, date of birth and identity-document details;
• contact information, including your address, telephone number and email address;
• employment, occupation and income information;
• financial information, including assets, liabilities, expenses, bank account information and supporting financial documents;
• information about existing or proposed loans, credit facilities, property, vehicles, equipment or other assets;
• credit history and other information relevant to your creditworthiness;
• transaction, application, correspondence and customer-service records;
• information about your preferences, enquiries, complaints and interactions with us;
• technical and usage information associated with your use of our website and online services; and
• other information reasonably necessary for us to provide the service you have requested.

Sensitive information

We do not generally seek sensitive information unless it is reasonably necessary for our functions or activities and we are permitted to collect it. If sensitive information is required, we will handle it in accordance with applicable law and obtain consent where required.

Information about other people

If you provide us with personal information about another person, such as a joint applicant, guarantor or family member, you should have authority to do so and, where appropriate, make them aware of this Privacy Policy.

How we collect personal information

We usually collect personal information directly from you, including when you:

• contact us by phone, email, online form, video meeting, messaging service or in person;
• ask us for information or credit assistance;
• complete an application, questionnaire, consent or other form;
• provide documents or supporting information;
• subscribe to updates or marketing communications; or
• use our website or other digital services.

We may also collect personal information from third parties where you have consented, where you would reasonably expect us to do so, or where the law otherwise permits. These third parties may include:

• joint applicants, guarantors and authorised representatives;
• referral partners;
• lenders, credit providers and finance companies;
• mortgage and finance aggregators;
• employers, accountants, solicitors, conveyancers, real estate agents and other professional advisers;
• valuers, insurers and other parties involved in a finance transaction;
• identity-verification and fraud-prevention service providers;
• publicly available sources and registers; and
• other service providers involved in delivering services to you.

Why we collect, hold, use and disclose personal information

We may collect, hold, use and disclose personal information for purposes including:

• understanding your objectives, financial position and finance requirements;
• providing credit assistance and arranging or helping you apply for finance;
• comparing, preparing, submitting and managing finance applications;
• communicating with lenders and other parties involved in your application or transaction;
• verifying identity, information and documents and helping to prevent fraud;
• administering our relationship with you, including reviews, support and record keeping;
• responding to enquiries, complaints and requests;
• improving our services, website, systems and customer experience;
• conducting internal business operations, quality assurance, training, auditing and compliance;
• sending marketing communications where permitted by law; and
• complying with legal, regulatory and professional obligations.

If we cannot collect information that is reasonably necessary for these purposes, we may not be able to provide the requested service, assess available options or progress a finance application.

Credit-related information

When we assist you with a credit application, we may collect information about your credit history, existing credit commitments and creditworthiness from you, from credit providers and from other authorised sources.

A lender or other credit provider may obtain credit reporting information from a credit reporting body as part of assessing or managing a credit application. Where we receive or handle credit-related information, we handle it only as permitted by applicable privacy and credit-reporting laws and any relevant consent or authority you provide.

A lender's own privacy policy and credit-reporting statement may also apply to information it collects and uses when assessing your application. We recommend that you read those documents when they are provided to you.

Website, cookies and analytics

When you visit our website or use an online service, we may collect technical information such as your IP address, browser or device information, the date and time of your visit, referring pages, pages viewed and interactions with the site.

We may use cookies, analytics tools and similar technologies to operate the website, understand how it is used, improve performance and measure the effectiveness of content or campaigns. Some of these technologies may be provided by third parties and may involve information being processed outside Australia.

You can control or disable cookies through your browser settings, although doing so may affect how some website features operate.

Who we may disclose personal information to

We may disclose personal information where reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to:

• banks, lenders, credit providers and finance companies;
• mortgage and finance aggregators and their service providers;
• mortgage insurers, valuers and other parties involved in assessing or completing a finance transaction;
• solicitors, conveyancers, accountants, advisers and settlement-related parties where relevant;
• identity-verification, fraud-prevention and compliance service providers;
• our employees, contractors, brokers and authorised representatives who need the information to perform their role;
• technology, cloud hosting, document management, electronic-signature, communications, analytics and data-storage providers;
• referral partners where you have consented, where disclosure is reasonably expected, or where necessary to administer the referral;
• professional advisers, auditors and insurers;
• government agencies, regulators, courts, tribunals, law-enforcement bodies and dispute-resolution bodies where required or authorised by law; and
• another organisation in connection with a proposed or actual sale, transfer or restructure of all or part of our business, subject to appropriate confidentiality and privacy protections.

We may also disclose personal information with your consent or where otherwise required or authorised by law.

Overseas disclosure and storage

Some of the technology, cloud, communications, document-management and support providers we use may store, process or provide support for information from locations outside Australia. Depending on the service and configuration, overseas recipients or infrastructure may be located in the United States and potentially other jurisdictions in which our service providers operate.

Where we disclose personal information to an overseas recipient, we take reasonable steps as required by applicable law to ensure the information is handled consistently with the Australian Privacy Principles, unless an exception applies. You may contact us if you would like further information about the countries relevant to a particular service or transaction.

Direct marketing

We may use your personal information to send you information about products, services, reviews, educational content or offers that we reasonably believe may be relevant to you, where permitted by law.

Commercial electronic messages will only be sent where we have the consent required by law. They will identify Energy Lend, include our contact details and provide a straightforward way to unsubscribe. You can opt out at any time by using the unsubscribe facility in the communication or by contacting us, and we will action electronic marketing unsubscribe requests within 5 working days. Telemarketing activities will be conducted in accordance with applicable Do Not Call Register requirements.

If we obtained your personal information from a third party and you ask us to identify the source, we will respond where required by law and where it is reasonable and practicable to do so.

Security, retention and data breaches

We take reasonable steps to protect personal information we hold from misuse, interference, loss and unauthorised access, modification or disclosure. These steps may include access controls, staff and contractor obligations, system security measures, secure storage and appropriate processes for handling documents and information.

No internet transmission or electronic storage method is completely secure. While we take reasonable precautions, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

We retain personal information for as long as it is reasonably required for the purposes for which it may be used or disclosed and to meet our legal, regulatory, contractual and record-keeping obligations. When personal information is no longer required for a permitted purpose and we are not required by law or a court or tribunal order to retain it, we take reasonable steps to destroy it or ensure it is de-identified.

We maintain processes for responding to suspected data breaches and will assess and notify eligible data breaches in accordance with the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme where required.

Accessing and correcting your personal information

You may request access to personal information we hold about you and ask us to correct information that is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading.

To protect your privacy, we may need to verify your identity before giving access or making a correction. We will respond within the time required by law. In some circumstances, the law permits us to refuse access or correction; if that occurs, we will provide the reasons and available complaint options where required.

We do not charge for making a correction request. If a permitted charge applies to an access request, we will tell you in advance.

Privacy enquiries and complaints

If you have a question or concern about how we have handled your personal information, please contact us using the details below. If you are making a complaint, please provide enough information for us to understand the issue and the outcome you are seeking.

We will investigate privacy complaints fairly and aim to respond within 30 days. If we need more time, we will let you know.

If your complaint relates to a financial service and you are not satisfied with our response, you may be able to lodge a complaint with the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), a free and independent external dispute resolution service:

• Website: afca.org.au
• Phone: 1800 931 678
• Post: GPO Box 3, Melbourne VIC 3001

You may also be able to complain to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC). The OAIC generally expects you to raise the matter with us first and allow a reasonable period, usually 30 days, for us to respond:

• Website: oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-complaints
• Phone: 1300 363 992

Contact us

For privacy enquiries, access or correction requests, or privacy complaints, contact:

Energy Lend Pty Ltd
13/51-57 Merrindale Drive
Croydon South VIC 3136
Phone: 03 8578 3037
Email: info@energylend.com.au

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes to our practices, technology or legal obligations. The current version will be published on our website with the date it was last updated.