Book a HeroPrivacy Policy
How we collect, use, store and disclose your personal and credit information while we help you with a loan — and the choices you have about it.
Last updated [date]
1. About this policy
Mortgage Superheroes Pty Ltd (ABN [ABN]), Australian Credit Licence [Australian Credit Licence number], provides credit assistance to people and businesses looking for finance. In this policy, “we”, “us” and “our” mean Mortgage Superheroes, and “you” means anyone whose information we hold.
We handle personal information in line with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Where we handle credit-related information, Part IIIA of the Privacy Act and the Privacy (Credit Reporting) Code apply as well. This policy explains what that means in practice, in plain English.
It covers information we collect through this website, over the phone, by email, and in person while we help you with a loan. It does not cover the practices of lenders, referrers or other businesses we deal with on your behalf — each of those has its own privacy policy.
2. The information we collect
What we need depends on what you ask us to do. To place a loan application with a lender, we generally need enough to show that lender who you are, what you are trying to achieve, and that the loan is not unsuitable for you.
- Identity details — your name, date of birth, residency status, and the identity documents we are required to sight.
- Contact details — your address, phone number and email address.
- Financial details — income, employment, assets, liabilities, living expenses, bank and credit card statements, and tax information.
- Your goals — what you want the loan to do, how long you expect to hold it, and anything else that affects what is suitable for you.
- Credit information — your credit history, existing loans, repayment history, and information obtained from credit reporting bodies.
- Website information — the pages you visit, the device and browser you use, and anything you type into an enquiry form on this site.
We collect sensitive information — such as health information, where it is relevant to an insurance or hardship discussion — only with your consent, and only where we genuinely need it.
3. How we collect your information
Wherever we reasonably can, we collect information directly from you: in a phone call, in an email, in a meeting, or through a form on this website. Sometimes it has to come from somewhere else.
- From you, when you enquire, complete a fact find, or send us documents.
- From people you have authorised to act for you, such as your accountant, financial adviser, conveyancer, or a family member acting under a power of attorney.
- From lenders, credit providers, insurers and valuers involved in your application.
- From credit reporting bodies, where you have consented to a credit check.
- From a referrer who introduced you to us, where they have your permission to pass your details on.
- Automatically, through cookies and analytics tools, when you use this website.
If we collect information about you from someone other than you, we take reasonable steps to make sure you know we hold it and why.
4. Why we collect and use your information
We use your information to do the job you have asked us to do, and to meet the obligations that come with being a credit licensee.
- To understand what you are trying to achieve and whether we are able to help.
- To compare loan products across the lenders on our panel and explain the options to you.
- To prepare, submit and follow up a loan application on your behalf.
- To meet our obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth), including our duty to act in your best interests.
- To verify your identity, as anti-money-laundering law requires.
- To stay in touch about your loan, including at review time or when a refinance may be worth a look.
- To answer your questions, handle complaints, and keep the records the law requires us to keep.
- To run, secure and improve this website and our own business.
You do not have to give us everything we ask for. If you choose not to, we can usually still talk to you — but we may not be able to compare products properly or lodge an application, and a lender may decline to assess one.
5. Who we disclose your information to
We do not sell your information, and we do not hand it over for someone else's marketing. We disclose it where it is needed to do the job you have asked us to do, or where the law requires it.
- Lenders and credit providers we approach on your behalf.
- Lenders mortgage insurers and other insurers involved in an application.
- Credit reporting bodies, in the circumstances described in the next section.
- Valuers, settlement agents, conveyancers and solicitors working on your transaction.
- Our aggregator or licensee, [aggregator or licensee name, if applicable], and our professional indemnity insurer.
- Service providers who work for us under contract — including IT, document storage, email and CRM providers — who may use the information only to provide that service to us.
- Our accountants, auditors and lawyers.
- Anyone you have told us to deal with, and anyone we are required or authorised to disclose to by law, a court, or a regulator.
6. Credit reporting
With your consent, we may obtain a credit report about you from a credit reporting body, and we may give that body information about you and your application. Credit reporting bodies use that information to build the credit report other credit providers see.
Each credit reporting body publishes its own policy on how it handles credit information, including how to ask for a correction. You can ask us at any time which bodies are involved in your application, and we will tell you how to reach them.
- You can ask a credit reporting body not to use your credit information to pre-screen direct marketing offers on behalf of a credit provider.
- If you believe you have been, or are likely to be, a victim of fraud, you can ask a credit reporting body not to use or disclose your credit information.
- You can ask for a correction of credit information you believe is wrong, and we will pass that request on to the relevant body or credit provider.
7. Storing your information and keeping it secure
We hold your information in electronic systems, and in paper files where a document has to exist on paper. Access is limited to the people in our business who need it to do their job, and our systems sit behind passwords, access controls and the protections you would expect of a licensed business.
Some of the service providers we rely on store information on servers outside Australia. Where that happens, we take reasonable steps to make sure the provider handles your information in a way consistent with the Australian Privacy Principles. Personal information may be stored in or disclosed to recipients in [countries where personal information may be stored or disclosed].
We keep your information for as long as we need it, and for as long as the law requires — credit and lending records must be kept for a minimum period set by law. Once we no longer need information and are no longer required to hold it, we destroy it or de-identify it.
No system is perfect. If we become aware of a data breach that is likely to cause you serious harm, we will notify you and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner, as the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme requires.
8. Accessing and correcting your information
You can ask us for a copy of the personal or credit information we hold about you, and you can ask us to correct anything that is wrong, out of date, incomplete or misleading. Send the request to the contact details at the end of this policy and tell us what you are after.
We will verify who you are before we release anything, and we will respond within the period the law allows. There is no charge for making a request. We may pass on a reasonable cost of giving you access where the request is a large one — if that applies, we will tell you what it will cost before we do the work.
If we decline a request, we will tell you why in writing and explain how to complain about that decision.
9. Marketing and how to opt out
If you are a client, or you have asked us to keep you posted, we may contact you about rate changes, refinancing opportunities, loan reviews and other things we think are genuinely useful. We send those by email, SMS or phone.
Every marketing email carries an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out of any channel at any time by telling us — one reply or one phone call is enough. Opting out of marketing does not stop the messages we have to send you about a loan or an application already on foot.
11. Making a complaint
If you think we have mishandled your personal or credit information, tell us first. Use the contact details at the end of this policy, set out what happened, and we will acknowledge your complaint and investigate it.
We aim to resolve complaints quickly and will write to you with the outcome. If we cannot resolve it, or you are not satisfied with how we handled it, you can take it further at no cost to you.
- Our external dispute resolution scheme is the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA), membership number [AFCA membership number]. AFCA is free to consumers and its determinations bind us. Details are at afca.org.au.
- For a privacy complaint you can also go to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner at oaic.gov.au.
12. Changes to this policy
We review this policy from time to time and may update it as our business, our systems or the law change. The current version always lives on this page, and the date at the top tells you when it last changed.
If a change materially affects how we handle your information, we will take reasonable steps to let you know rather than leaving you to spot it here.
13. How to contact us
Questions about this policy, or about the information we hold on you, go to our privacy officer.
- Phone
- (03) 6144 9669
- Post
- [postal address]
You can deal with us anonymously or under a pseudonym where it is lawful and practical to do so — though we generally cannot place a loan application without knowing who you are.