Privacy notice
Last updated 9 October 2026 (Rent Challenge Pack).
This notice explains what personal data RentersExpert collects, why and what your rights are under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
Who we are
The data controller is Karol Slusarczyk, a sole trader trading as RentersExpert, based in England. Contact: support@benefitsexpert.co.uk.
The checker: your answers stay with you
The Form 4A checker runs entirely in your browser. The dates, rents and other answers you type into it are not sent to us or stored by us. Your browser keeps your last answers for the rest of the visit (session storage, see the table below) so that the Rent Challenge Pack can fill them in if you buy it. When you close the tab, they are gone.
What we collect and why
If you give us your email with a download
This covers the optional email next to the checklist and the free sample pages of the pack, and anyone who joined the Rent Challenge Pack waitlist before the pack went on sale.
- What: your email address, which form you used and on which page, the checker's overall result if you signed up from a result (for example "looks valid"), the website that sent you to us (if your browser shares it), if you accepted analytics the page you first landed on and any campaign tags in its address, the time, your IP address and your browser type.
- Why: to send you one email about the Rent Challenge Pack, to understand which pages lead people to sign up and to stop abuse of the form.
- Lawful basis: your consent for that email (Article 6(1)(a)); our legitimate interests in understanding demand and keeping the form safe (Article 6(1)(f)).
- How long: 12 months after we send that email, or until you ask us to delete it, whichever is sooner.
You can download the checklist and the preview without giving an email address.
To stop one person signing up many times, one browser can sign up with two email addresses at most, and an email domain that is not a big email provider (for example a company's or a private one) with two a week. Several email addresses signing up from one internet connection within a day are marked for us to check. For this we keep coded forms (keyed hashes, which cannot be read back) of your email address, of its domain if it is not a big email provider, of your IP address network and of the random code in the re_fd cookie below, with the time you signed up. Nothing else is kept with them, and they are deleted automatically after 30 days at most (7 days for the domain, 24 hours for the IP address network).
If you buy the Rent Challenge Pack
- Payment: Stripe takes your payment on its own secure page. We receive your email address, the amount, the time and an order reference from Stripe, never your card details. Stripe is a separate controller for the payment itself (see stripe.com/gb/privacy).
- Your answers: while you answer the pack's questions, your answers are saved only on your device (local storage, see the table below). When you download or email your files, the answers are sent to our server to make the PDFs, and the PDFs are made and sent in the same moment. We do not store your answers or your pack and our logs do not contain them.
- Emails: we email you your order confirmation and, if you ask, your pack. Our email provider (Zoho) delivers them and keeps the usual copy in our sent mail.
- Why and lawful basis: to supply the pack you bought and to deal with any problem with your order (Article 6(1)(b), a contract); to keep accounts and records the law requires (Article 6(1)(c)).
- How long: order records (email address, amount, date and reference) for 6 years for tax purposes; your order emails up to 2 years after our last exchange.
Your answers can include details about your home, your income and the people you live with. Only put in what you are happy to send to the tribunal and your landlord, and clear them from your device when you have finished (there is a button on the pack page).
If you use the contact form or email us
- What: your name, email address, your message, the page you sent it from, the website that sent you to us (if your browser shares it), if you accepted analytics the page you first landed on and any campaign tags in its address, the time, your IP address and your browser type.
- Why: to reply and to stop abuse of the form.
- Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in answering messages and keeping the form safe (Article 6(1)(f)).
- How long: up to 2 years after our last exchange, then deleted.
Please do not send details of your housing case or health. We cannot advise on your case and do not need them.
Server logs
Our hosting provider keeps short-lived technical logs (such as IP address, the page requested and the time) to run and protect the site. To stop abuse of the forms we also keep a count of form uses per IP address network for 10 minutes and a count of form emails per hour and per day, with no other details.
Cookies and similar storage
| Name | What it does | When | How long |
|---|---|---|---|
| re_fd (cookie) | A random code with no personal details in it, signed so that it cannot be altered, which lets us limit how many email addresses one browser can sign up with. It is sent only to our own forms and cannot be read by the page | When you add your email to a download (strictly necessary to keep the form safe) | 30 days |
| re_order (cookie) | Your order link, so the pack page can make your PDFs even if the page loses its own copy. Sent only to our pack service and cannot be read by the page | When you open the pack page after paying (strictly necessary to supply the pack) | Until your order link expires (14 days at most) |
| re_pack_draft (local storage) | Your answers to the pack's questions, so you can come back and change them. Stays on your device and is never sent to us on its own | When you answer the pack's questions (strictly necessary for the pack you asked for) | 30 days, or until you press "Clear my answers from this device" |
| re_order_sid and re_checker_answers (session storage) | Your order link for this visit, and your last checker answers so the pack can fill them in | When you use the checker or open the pack page | Until you close the tab |
| re_cookie_consent (local storage) | Remembers whether you accepted or rejected analytics | Always (strictly necessary) | Until you clear it |
| re_first_touch (session storage) | Remembers the first page of your visit, any campaign tags and the website that sent you, sent to us only if you submit a form | Only if you click "Accept analytics" | Until you close the tab |
| _ga, _ga_* | Google Analytics 4: counts visits and which pages are used | Only if you click "Accept analytics" | Up to 2 years |
Google Analytics does not load at all unless you accept. You can change your choice at any time with the "Cookie settings" link at the bottom of every page. If you reject after accepting, we remove the analytics cookies we can reach.
Who we share data with
We do not sell your data. We use these service providers, who process data for us under contract:
- Vercel: hosts the website, runs the forms and makes your pack's PDFs.
- Zoho: our email provider, which delivers form messages to our inbox and your order and pack emails to you.
- Stripe: takes payments for the Rent Challenge Pack.
- Upstash (a database, through Vercel): holds the counts and coded forms used to stop abuse of the forms and the pack emails, for 30 days at most.
- Google: Google Analytics, only if you accept analytics cookies.
Some of these providers process data outside the UK. Where that happens, we rely on the safeguards UK data protection law allows, such as adequacy regulations or approved contract clauses.
Your rights
You have the right to ask for a copy of your data, to have it corrected or deleted, to restrict or object to how we use it and to have it moved. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time, for example by replying "unsubscribe" or emailing us. Email support@benefitsexpert.co.uk. We reply within one month.
If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office at ico.org.uk. We would appreciate the chance to put things right first.
Changes
If we change this notice, we will update the date at the top.