Important Information- in one place

DISCLOSURE: ABOUT OUR SERVICES

1. What products do we offer?

We offer savings and loans.

2. What will you have to pay us for our services?

We generally charge an initial £3.00 non-refundable membership fee when you first join the Credit Union.  This covers the initial administration fees. IMPORTANT – at the start of the Covid-19 emergency the Board suspended this membership fee. This position will be reviewed in 2021.

3. Who regulates us?

Salford Credit Union Ltd is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority Our FSA registered number is 213304.

Our permitted business is:  Deposit Taking.

You can check this on the FSA’s register by visiting the FSA’s website on www.fsa.gov.uk/register or by contacting the

FSA on 0845 606 1234

Terms of Lending

All approved loans are subject to Terms and Conditions. The current Terms are available to download here

Credit Reference and Fraud Prevention Agencies

We may make searches about you at credit reference agencies who will supply us with credit information as well as information from the Electoral Register.  The agencies will record details of any search whether or not this application proceeds.  We may use credit scoring methods to assist the application and to verify your identity.  Credit searches and other information which is provided to us and/or the credit reference agencies about you and anyone with whom you are linked financially or other members of your household.

This information may also be used for debt tracing and the prevention of money laundering as well as the management of your account.  In addition, we may ask you to provide physical forms of identification and/or we may telephone you to confirm you identity.

To prevent or detect fraud or to assist in verifying your identify we may make searches of group records and at fraud prevention agencies who will supply us with information.  We may also pass information to financial and other organisation involved in fraud prevention to protect ourselves and our customers from theft and fraud.  If you give us false or inaccurate information, details will be passed to fraud protection agencies.

This information may also be used for tracing and claims assessments and verifying identify.  Information held about you by the credit reference agencies may already be linked to records relating to anyone with whom you have a financial relationship such as a joint account.

More information is available in our guide to how we use your personal data.

 Salford Credit Union Privacy notice

Salford Credit Union is committed to protecting our members’ privacy. The credit union requires any information marked as mandatory for membership to either meet legal obligations or enable us to perform our contract with you. Where we request further information about you not required for these reasons, we will ask you for your consent.

Our full Privacy Notice can be downloaded here:

We are required to keep records in accordance with legislation, including the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014 which superseded the Industrial and Provident Societies Act 1965 and regulations in relation to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and Prudential Regulatory Authority (PRA) Regulations, Data Protection Regulations and Anti Money Laundering Regulations as well as HMRC requirements.

The full Salford Credit Union data retention Policy can be downloaded here

IF YOU NEED TO COMPLAIN
We do everything we can to make sure our members get the best possible service. However, sometimes, we don’t get things right. When that happens, we always encourage you to tell us about your complaints, so that we can put matters right.
We want to:
• Make it easy for you to tell us about your complaint
• Give your complaint the attention it deserves
• Resolve your complaint without delay
• Make sure you are satisfied with how your complaint was resolved.

The following information explains what to do if you have a complaint about Salford Credit Union’s service. It also tells you how we will deal with your complaint and who to contact if you are not completely satisfied with our response.

HOW AND WHERE TO COMPLAIN
If you’re not satisfied with any aspect of our service or products, you can tell us about your concerns in the following ways:
 In person – Visit our Brotherton House office and speak to one of our staff.
 In writing – Address your letter to the Chief Executive Officer.
 By telephone – Telephone 0161 686 5880
 By E-Mail – info@salfordcreditunion.com
We have a form for you to complete to provide the details of your complaint.

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE
We aim to solve your concerns as quickly as possible. Where possible we will try to resolve your complaint at the point you make us aware of it, however more complex problems may involve conducting an investigation.

Within 3 working days from the date your complaint was received we will EITHER write to confirm that we understand the complaint has been resolved OR if not satisfactorily resolved by then, will write to confirm that your complaint is being looked into and the likely timescale for a further response.
If your complaint is particularly complex, it may take longer to resolve.
We will aim to resolve your complaint within eight weeks and you will receive a copy of the resolution in writing for your records.
However if this is not possible within 8 weeks, we will write to you to let you know why we have not resolved your issues and when we expect to issue you with a final response.

YOUR RIGHTS- FINANCIAL OMBUDUSMAN SERVICE FOS)
Salford Credit Union is a member of the Financial Ombudsman Scheme. This is a free service where an independent review of your complaint will be made, but as we are committed to resolving your complaints quickly and simply, we hope that you will not need to use this service.
If you are unhappy with the resolution we offer, or we have not provided a resolution within 8 weeks from the date we received your complaint, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service. This is free of charge- but you must do so within six months of the date of this letter. If you do not refer your complaint in time, the Ombudsman will not have our permission to consider your complaint and so will only be able to do so in very limited circumstances. For example, if the Ombudsman believes that the delay was as a result of exceptional circumstances.
Further details regarding the FOS can be obtained from their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk. Alternatively the FOS may be contacted at:
The Financial Ombudsman Service
Exchange Tower
London E14 9SR Tel: 0800 0234 567