Privacy notice

Last updated: 17 October 2026

Almost Family Limited (company number 06184135) is responsible for the personal information you give us when you contact us through this website, by email or by phone. Contact us about privacy at care@almostfamily.co.uk or write to Almost Family Limited, The Old Barn, Cidermill Farm, Partridge Lane, Newdigate, Surrey RH5 5BP.

What we collect

If you make an enquiry, we collect the name, email address, phone number, area or postcode and any message you provide. You may also tell us who the support is for, the kind and frequency of support you are considering, when it might start and how you would prefer us to contact you. If you contact us directly, we also keep the information in your correspondence and any notes needed to respond. Our website and hosting provider may process basic technical information, such as your IP address, to operate and protect the website.

Please do not put detailed medical or other sensitive information in the website form. If we need information about someone’s health or care needs to discuss a service, we will explain how we handle it at that stage.

Why we use it

We use your details to respond to your enquiry, discuss the support you are looking for, and arrange a follow-up if you ask us to. Our lawful basis for this is our legitimate interest in answering enquiries and helping people find suitable support. Where you ask us to take steps towards arranging a service, we may also need to use your details to take steps before a contract is made.

Sending an enquiry does not sign you up for marketing. We do not use your enquiry details to send promotional emails without a separate lawful basis.

Who sees your information

Your enquiry is sent to our care@almostfamily.co.uk team email group. The Almost Family team members who handle enquiries can see it and respond. We use website hosting and email service providers, including Heart Internet, Google Workspace and Resend, to operate the form and deliver messages. The website’s email-sending system may also keep a copy in its delivery logs so we can troubleshoot missing enquiries.

We may share relevant details with a local team member or potential companion or live-in carer if you ask us to explore an arrangement. We do not sell your information.

Some service providers may process information outside the UK. Where this happens, we use the protections required by UK data protection law. Contact us if you would like details of the safeguards relevant to your information.

How long we keep it

We keep enquiry correspondence while we are dealing with it. If no service is arranged, we review it after 12 months from our last contact and delete it when it is no longer needed. We may keep it longer where necessary to deal with a complaint or legal claim. The website’s outgoing email logs are set to delete automatically after 14 days. Resend retains email and delivery-log data for 30 days on its current plan. Copies received in team mailboxes are retained under the relevant enquiry or recruitment arrangements below. If you become a client, information needed to arrange and deliver your service is kept under our client record retention arrangements, which we will explain to you separately.

Your choices and rights

You can ask for access to your personal information, request correction or deletion, object to certain uses, or ask us to restrict use of it. The rights that apply depend on the circumstances. Email care@almostfamily.co.uk and we will respond. You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how we handle your information.

We may update this notice when the way we operate the website changes. The date at the top shows the latest version.

Companion applications and recruitment

This section applies when you apply for visiting companionship or live-in support, and to the people you nominate as referees. Almost Family Limited is the controller; use the contact details above for any privacy questions.

Information we use

We collect your name and contact details, the work and locations you are interested in, availability, travel arrangements, relevant experience, interests, skills and training, your declarations, and referee names, contact details and relationship to you. We also retain recruitment correspondence and relevant assessment notes. Please give referees a copy of this notice before providing their details. Do not submit health information, criminal-record details, passport images, DBS certificates or other sensitive documents through this application form.

Purposes and lawful bases

We use this information to assess your application, discuss suitable opportunities, contact you, arrange references with appropriate permission, and administer recruitment. We rely on taking steps at your request before entering a contract where applicable, and our legitimate interests in recruiting suitable companions, checking relevant experience and reliability, and keeping an appropriate recruitment record. Referee information is used for our legitimate interests in assessing suitability. Any later identity, right-to-work, safeguarding or legally appropriate DBS checks are handled separately, with relevant privacy information and lawful conditions explained before collecting additional information.

Access and delivery

Applications are sent to the Almost Family care team inbox and may be accessed by authorised team members handling recruitment. Our website, hosting and email providers, including Heart Internet, Google Workspace and Resend, process information to deliver and protect the service. We do not create a separate application-entry database in WordPress. Email delivery logs and receiving mailboxes contain copies as described above. Relevant details will only be shared for a potential client introduction when this is discussed with you.

Recruitment retention

If your application is unsuccessful or you withdraw, we keep the application and associated recruitment correspondence for six months after the application is closed or withdrawn, then delete it unless a complaint, legal claim or other legal obligation requires specific information to be retained longer. We will ask you separately before keeping your details for future opportunities beyond that period. If you start work through Almost Family, relevant information becomes part of your employee or independent-companion records and the applicable retention arrangements will be explained during onboarding. Backup copies are removed through the normal backup retention cycle.

Your rights and recruitment decisions

You and your referees can use the contact details above to ask about access, correction, deletion, restriction or objection, subject to the rights that apply in the circumstances. Providing application details does not sign you up to marketing. Suitability and placement decisions are made by authorised people; this form does not make automated recruitment decisions. The general information above about international processing safeguards and complaints to the ICO also applies.