COOKIES
Homeprotect Cookie Policy
Last updated: 15th February 2024
We use cookies on our websites to help us customise your experience. This policy explains what cookies are, how we use them, and what your options regarding them.
WHAT ARE COOKIES?
A cookie is a piece of information in the form of a very small text file that is stored in your web browser on the device you have used to access the internet when you visit a website.
Cookies are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, and customise the information shown to you, as well as to provide information to us about how you have interacted with the site.
TYPES OF COOKIES WE USE
ESSENTIAL COOKIES
Some cookies we use are essential to allow the website to run or to fulfil essential functionality for website visitors.
1. Website security and fraud prevention
We use cookies to prevent spam attacks and improve our service to our customers, these enable us to operate contact forms for customers. We also use cookies to ensure website security and minimise fraudulent use of the website – the site cannot function without these.
2. Processing payments
Cookies allow us to process payments securely and correctly, this is key for the functioning of the site.
3. Ensure the website is running effectively
Cookies monitor the website to check its core functionality is up and running, allowing us to fix issues that may occur and improve our service to our customers
4. Communicate with customers
We use cookies to offer customers the option to chat with us online, give feedback and be contacted by a member of our customer service team to help with a query the customer has made. We also use cookies to know if logged in customers have seen notifications from us, to help prevent us sending the same notification multiple times.
5. Fulfil obligations to customers and partners
We use cookies to collect a number which corresponds to how a website user came to purchase with us – we need this information to pay customers cashback who purchase via a cashback website, or have a partner website offer fulfilled i.e. to confirm that the customer purchased via a particular comparison website and so is due a reward. This information also tells us if a website user came to us directly or via a partner site.
6. Improve our website using tests
From time to time we use cookies to run tests and experiments on the website through VWO. A key outcome of these tests is to improve the website. We also use these cookies to ensure that customers experience a consistent visual journey and have access to functionality relevant to them. These cookies are often temporary and used to test the stability and feasibility of new features and experiences
7. Cookies to record your preferences
We need to use cookies to store your cookie preferences, these are from our consent management provider InMobi.
NON-ESSENTIAL COOKIES
We also use non-essential cookies on our site, find out more about the types we use and how to opt out or in below.
FIRST PARTY COOKIES
The following first party, non-essential cookies are used onsite:
- Cookie to establish the segment each prospective customer is part of, helping us provide more relevant information, for example if we know a website user is a holiday home owner we can provide messaging to explain how we cover holiday homes
THIRD PARTY TRACKING COOKIES
These enable us to recognise repeat visitors to our website. By matching an anonymous, randomly generated identifier, we’re able to record specific browsing information such as how you arrive at the site, the pages you view, options you select, and the path you take through the site.
We use Google Analytics (www.google.co.uk/analytics) to analyse page use, page interactions (including mouse clicks and movements) and the routes our customers take through our sites. These are known as ‘web metrics’. We don’t record any personal or payment information you provide during an on-site purchase or any other process. By monitoring this information we’re able to make improvements to our sites. Google reserve the rights to the anonymised data they collect.
We also use tracking cookies supplied by our business partners to help us to track the source of the site you click through from and log any purchases you make. This allows us to assess the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and pay sales commission to partners.
THIRD PARTY ADVERTISING COOKIES
These cookies gather information about your browsing habits. They remember that you’ve visited a website and share this information with other organisations, such as advertisers and platforms on which we advertise. They do this in order to provide you with ads that are more relevant to you and your interests. Without these cookies, online advertisements you encounter will be less relevant to you and your interests.
We currently use third party cookies from the following organisations:
• Bing
• Meta
Other third party cookies
These cookies fulfil a range of other purposes:
- Trustpilot – sometimes uses cookies to display reviews, helping website users make a more informed choice using feedback from others
- Cookies to enable website visitors to share the page they are visiting on social media sites
HOW TO TURN COOKIES OFF
You can opt in or out of cookies following the prompt which appears when you visit our website. Should you wish to change your choice simply clicking the ‘Manage Privacy Settings’ or ‘Privacy’ link in the footer of our web pages.
If you disable cookies on your device, you may find that certain areas of our website do not function correctly.