Cookie Policy

1. Introduction

Our website, https://bellemaisonmortgages.com (hereinafter: “the website”) uses cookies and other related technologies (for convenience all technologies are referred to as “cookies”). Some cookies are also placed by third parties we have engaged. In the document below we inform you about the use of cookies on our website.

In short: when you first arrive, no analytics or marketing cookies are set. We only place those cookies once you tell us we can, using the consent banner. Before then, the only things on your device are the small record of your consent choice, a cookieless page-view count that stores nothing on your device, and — if you arrived from one of our adverts — a first-party note of which campaign sent you, which never leaves your device unless you make an enquiry.

2. What are cookies?

A cookie is a small simple file that is sent along with pages of this website and stored by your browser on the hard drive of your computer or another device. The information stored therein may be returned to our servers or to the servers of the relevant third parties during a subsequent visit.

3. What are scripts?

A script is a piece of program code that is used to make our website function properly and interactively. This code is executed on our server or on your device.

4. What is a web beacon?

A web beacon (or a pixel tag) is a small, invisible piece of text or image on a website that is used to monitor traffic on a website. In order to do this, various data about you is stored using web beacons. The Meta (Facebook) Pixel described below is an example of this kind of technology.

5. Consent comes first — nothing fires before you agree

We use Google Consent Mode v2. This means that when you first visit, all analytics and advertising storage is set to “denied” by default. No Google Analytics or Meta (Facebook) cookies are placed, and those scripts are not even loaded, until you actively choose to accept them in our consent banner.

When you make a choice, we update your consent state and only then load the categories you have agreed to. If you accept nothing beyond what is strictly necessary, the site still works fully — you simply won’t be measured for analytics or advertising.

5.1 Strictly necessary cookies

These cookies are required for the site to function and to remember your privacy choices. They do not track you and cannot be switched off. The most important one is the cookie that records your consent decision, so we don’t have to ask you again on every page.

When you choose to book a meeting with us, we load a booking calendar from our customer-relationship system, GoHighLevel (crm.bellemaisonmortgages.com). This loads only after you have started a booking, and the calendar provider may set its own cookies on that domain in order to run the calendar. Because it appears only when you actively choose to book, we treat it as strictly necessary to provide the booking service you have asked for.

5.2 Analytics cookies

We use Google Analytics 4 to understand which pages are popular and how visitors move around the site, so we can improve it. These cookies are only placed if you accept the “Analytics” category. We ask your permission before placing them.

5.3 Marketing / tracking cookies

We use the Meta (Facebook) Pixel to measure the effectiveness of our Facebook and Instagram advertising and to help us reach people who have shown interest in our services. These cookies are only placed if you accept the “Marketing” category. On the website the Pixel only records page views and the start of a booking; the actual enquiry/conversion measurement happens on our servers via our customer-relationship system, not in your browser.

If you accept the “Marketing” category, we also load a tracking script from our customer-relationship system, GoHighLevel (served from crm.bellemaisonmortgages.com). It links your visit to our CRM so that, if you make an enquiry, we can match it to your browsing and avoid contacting you twice about the same thing. Any cookies it uses are set by GoHighLevel on its own domain. Like the Meta Pixel, it is only loaded after you accept the “Marketing” category.

5.4 Measurement that doesn’t use cookies

Separately from the cookies above, we use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views. It does not use cookies and stores nothing on your device, so it is not covered by the consent banner — there is nothing stored on your device to ask permission for. It tells us only how many people visit each page and contains no information that identifies you.

6. Cookies we place

The tables below list the cookies this website may set, grouped by consent category. Analytics and Marketing cookies are only set after you give consent.

Strictly necessary

Our website is hosted by Vercel, which may set a small number of short-lived, strictly necessary cookies for security and load balancing. We also use Vercel Web Analytics to count page views. Vercel Web Analytics is privacy-friendly and cookieless: it sets no cookies and stores nothing on your device (it uses a daily-rotating, server-side calculation with no persistent identifier), and it collects no personal data. Because it does not store or read any information on your device, it runs on a legitimate-interest basis and does not require your consent — its purpose is simply to let us count visits, including from people who decline analytics cookies. None of this is used for advertising.

Analytics (only set with your consent)

For more information, please read the Google Analytics Privacy Statement.

Marketing (only set with your consent)

For more information, please read the Meta Privacy Policy.

7. Campaign measurement stored on your device

In addition to cookies, we use a small amount of your browser’s local storage to remember which advertising campaign or link brought you to our site (for example, the utm_* tags or a Facebook/Google click identifier in the web address). This is stored under the key bm_attribution_v1 and is kept for up to 90 days. Because this is a first-party note that stays on your own device and is never shared unless you choose to send us an enquiry, we store it on a legitimate-interest basis when you arrive from one of our links — it is not advertising tracking and does not require the consent banner.

We use this so that if you arrive from one of our ads, browse the site, and then make an enquiry on a different page, we can still credit the right campaign. It is a first-party store on your own device — it is not shared with anyone simply by being stored, and it is only attached to the details you submit if and when you choose to send us an enquiry. You can clear it at any time by clearing your browser’s site data for this site.

We use your browser’s storage in two other small, first-party ways. When you submit one of our forms, we create a random reference (stored as bm_session_id) that contains no personal information; we use it only to link the steps of your enquiry — for example a calculator and then a booking — and to avoid duplicate records. If you use one of our calculators, we may also hold the name and email you entered in your browser’s session storage (bm_calc_prefill) for a moment, purely so the booking form can pre-fill them and you don’t have to type them again; this is removed as soon as it is used and is cleared when you close the tab.

8. Managing and withdrawing your consent

When you visit our website for the first time, we show you a banner explaining our use of cookies. As soon as you choose “Accept all”, “Necessary only”, or save your own preferences, you consent to us using the categories of cookies you selected, as described in this Cookie Policy.

8.1 Change your mind at any time

You can review or change your choices whenever you like using the “Manage cookie consent” link in the footer of every page. This reopens the preferences panel, where you can grant or withdraw consent for the Analytics and Marketing categories. Withdrawing consent stops the relevant scripts from loading on future page views and clears the matching cookies.

8.2 Browser controls

You can also use your internet browser to automatically or manually delete cookies, to block certain cookies, or to be warned each time a cookie is placed. For more information about these options, please refer to the instructions in the Help section of your browser. Please note that if you block all cookies, including strictly necessary ones, parts of our website may not work properly.

9. Your rights with respect to personal data

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

• You have the right to know why your personal data is needed, what will happen to it, and how long it will be retained for.
• Right of access: You have the right to access your personal data that is known to us.
• Right to rectification: you have the right to supplement, correct, have deleted or blocked your personal data whenever you wish.
• If you give us your consent to process your data, you have the right to revoke that consent and to have your personal data deleted.
• Right to transfer your data: you have the right to request all your personal data from the controller and transfer it in its entirety to another controller.
• Right to object: you may object to the processing of your data. We comply with this, unless there are justified grounds for processing.

To exercise these rights, please contact us — see the contact details below. You can also read our Privacy Policy for full detail on how we handle your personal data. If you have a complaint about how we handle your data, we would like to hear from you, but you also have the right to submit a complaint to the supervisory authority (the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)).

10. Contact details

For questions and/or comments about our Cookie Policy and this statement, please contact us using the following contact details:

Important notes on protecting your own data

Please be aware of cybercrime and protecting your own information online, particularly financial information. Do not send unsecure personal information over the internet. We recommend you use encryption software or provide any information to us using the online tools we provide.

Do not respond to emails asking you to pay money. Never make a payment purely in response to an email. Always call the company to validate any payment requests and check the phone number independently from the email (i.e. via a secure web site). If you receive a phone call asking for payment ensure you are satisfied the call is genuine, or else call the company back to check. Neither Belle Maison Mortgage Solutions Ltd nor HL Partnership will take responsibility if you transfer money to a fraudster in error.