Legal
Privacy Policy
Last updated: 26 May 2026
Advanced Rent Option Ltd, trading as ARO, is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal information responsibly, lawfully and transparently.
This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you visit our website, use our ARO calculator or online forms, contact us, enquire about our services, enter into an agreement with us, or otherwise interact with us.
This policy applies to landlords, prospective landlords, tenants, prospective tenants, guarantors, website visitors, suppliers and other people who contact or interact with us.
This Privacy Policy replaces any previous privacy wording used on the ARO website or ARO calculator.
1. Who we are
ARO is the trading name of Advanced Rent Option Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales under company number 12953174.
Registered office:
Ground Floor, 1/7 Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1HT
Correspondence/contact address:
99 Brighton Road, Redhill, Surrey, RH1 6PS
Email: info@advancedrentoption.co.uk
Telephone: 01342 840 050
For data protection purposes, Advanced Rent Option Ltd is the controller of the personal information described in this Privacy Policy, unless we explain otherwise.
2. Personal information we collect
We may collect and use the following types of personal information.
Information you provide to us
This may include:
- your name;
- email address;
- telephone number;
- rental property postcode;
- monthly rent.
Information collected through the ARO calculator and online forms
When you use the ARO calculator or enquiry forms, we may collect your rental property postcode, monthly rent, name, email address and phone number.
We use this information to calculate an indicative ARO figure, assess whether ARO may be suitable for you, and follow up with you about your enquiry.
Any figure produced by the calculator is indicative only and subject to further assessment, eligibility checks, property details, tenancy details, applicable fees and our discretion.
Information from calls and messages
Where applicable, we may keep records of calls, emails, SMS messages, WhatsApp messages or other communications with you.
Calls may be recorded, transcribed or summarised for training, quality monitoring, customer service, compliance, record keeping and follow-up purposes.
Where we use AI-enabled tools to help manage enquiries, calls, messages, scheduling, document workflows or customer support, those tools may process your information on our behalf. We remain responsible for ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place.
Information we collect automatically
When you use our website or online tools, we may collect technical information, including:
- IP address;
- browser type and version;
- device type;
- operating system;
- time zone setting;
- pages visited;
- time spent on pages;
- referring websites;
- interactions with our website, forms or emails;
- cookie and similar technology data.
Information from third parties and public sources
We may receive information about you from third parties and public sources, including:
- tenants, landlords, guarantors or applicants;
- referencing providers;
- credit reference agencies;
- fraud prevention and identity verification providers;
- Land Registry;
- Companies House;
- property portals and valuation tools;
- contractors, agents and professional advisers;
- Choices group companies or connected businesses;
- publicly available websites and databases;
- regulators, courts, law enforcement or public authorities where applicable.
3. How we use your personal information
We may use your personal information for the following purposes:
| Purpose | Examples | Lawful basis |
|---|---|---|
| Responding to enquiries | Replying to your website, calculator, phone, email, SMS or WhatsApp enquiry | Legitimate interests; steps before entering into a contract |
| Providing indicative ARO calculations | Estimating potential upfront rent based on property and rent details | Legitimate interests; steps before entering into a contract |
| Assessing eligibility for ARO | Reviewing property, tenancy, compliance, financial and referencing information | Legitimate interests; contract; legal obligation where applicable |
| Providing our services | Managing property, tenancy, rent, documents, contractors, inspections and communications | Contract; legitimate interests; legal obligation |
| Identity, AML, fraud and risk checks | Verifying identity, checking documents, preventing fraud and managing risk | Legal obligation; legitimate interests |
| Communicating with you | Service updates, appointment reminders, document requests, customer support and follow-up | Contract; legitimate interests |
| Marketing similar services | Sending relevant updates about ARO, property management or related services | Consent or legitimate interests, where PECR permits |
| Measuring marketing performance | Understanding email engagement, advert performance and website journeys | Consent where required for cookies/tracking; legitimate interests where lawful |
| Improving our services | Analysing enquiries, service performance, complaints, feedback and customer outcomes | Legitimate interests |
| Training and quality monitoring | Reviewing calls, messages or customer interactions | Legitimate interests |
| Compliance and legal claims | Keeping records, responding to complaints, enforcing agreements, handling disputes | Legal obligation; legitimate interests; legal claims |
| Business administration | Accounting, reporting, audits, insurance, professional advice and business planning | Legal obligation; legitimate interests |
4. Marketing communications
We may contact you with information about ARO, property management, landlord services, market updates, offers or related services where the law allows us to do so.
For email, SMS, WhatsApp and similar electronic marketing, we will only contact you where:
- you have consented; or
- you have previously enquired about, discussed or used similar services and we gave you a clear opportunity to opt out when we collected your details and in every subsequent message; or
- another lawful basis under applicable marketing rules applies.
You can opt out of marketing at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in our emails, replying to a message where that option is provided, or contacting us at info@advancedrentoption.co.uk.
We may still send you service-related messages where necessary, such as messages about an existing enquiry, agreement, appointment, compliance matter, payment, property management issue or legal obligation.
5. Cookies and similar technologies
Our website uses cookies and similar technologies to operate the site, understand how it is used, improve performance, and support advertising or marketing activity.
Some cookies are necessary for the website to work properly. Other cookies, such as analytics, advertising or tracking cookies, will only be used where the law allows us to do so, including where you have given consent.
You can manage cookie preferences through our cookie banner or browser settings. If you disable some cookies, parts of the website may not work as intended.
We recommend maintaining a separate Cookie Policy that explains the specific cookies and similar technologies used, their purposes, durations and providers.
6. Who we share personal information with
We do not sell your personal information.
We may share your personal information where necessary with:
- Choices group companies or connected businesses;
- CRM, website, hosting and IT providers;
- email, SMS, telephone, WhatsApp, call recording and customer communication providers;
- AI, automation or workflow providers acting on our behalf;
- referencing, identity verification, AML, fraud prevention and credit reference providers;
- property portals, valuation tools and marketing platforms;
- contractors, maintenance providers, inventory clerks and property professionals;
- landlords, tenants, applicants and guarantors where relevant to a tenancy or property management matter;
- payment, accounting and finance providers;
- professional advisers, including lawyers, accountants, auditors and insurers;
- regulators, courts, public authorities, law enforcement or government bodies where required;
- potential buyers, investors or advisers if we sell, restructure or transfer part of our business.
Where third parties process personal information on our behalf, we require them to protect it and only use it in accordance with our instructions and applicable data protection law.
7. International transfers
Some of our service providers process personal information outside the UK. In particular, Anthropic, the provider of our AI assistant, processes data in the United States, and some of our hosting and communication providers may also be based there.
Where we transfer personal information outside the UK, we protect it using safeguards recognised under UK data protection law. For our US providers, including Anthropic, we rely on the UK International Data Transfer Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, which we have entered into with each provider.
You can ask for a copy of the safeguards we use (with commercial terms redacted) by contacting us at info@advancedrentoption.co.uk.
8. How long we keep personal information
We only keep personal information for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, regulatory, accounting, reporting, contractual and operational requirements.
As a guide:
| Type of information | Typical retention approach |
|---|---|
| Website and calculator enquiries that do not proceed | Usually up to 2 years after last meaningful contact, unless there is a reason to keep it longer |
| Marketing contacts | Until you opt out or we no longer have a valid reason to contact you. Suppression records may be kept to ensure we do not contact you again |
| Customer, landlord, tenant and property records | Usually up to 6 years after the end of the relationship or contract, unless a longer period is required |
| AML, identity and compliance records | For the period required by applicable law, commonly 5 years from the end of the business relationship or transaction where AML rules apply |
| Complaints and disputes | For as long as needed to investigate, resolve and defend any claim |
| Call recordings, transcripts and message records | For as long as needed for quality, training, compliance, service and dispute-resolution purposes |
| Cookie and analytics data | In accordance with our Cookie Policy and the settings of the relevant tools |
We may retain information for longer where required by law, where a dispute may arise, where we need to establish, exercise or defend legal claims, or where we are required to preserve records for regulatory reasons.
9. Your rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
- ask for access to your personal information;
- ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information;
- ask us to delete your personal information;
- ask us to restrict how we use your personal information;
- object to certain uses of your personal information;
- object to direct marketing at any time;
- ask for your information to be transferred to another provider, where applicable;
- withdraw consent where we rely on consent;
- not be subject to a solely automated decision that has legal or similarly significant effects, subject to certain exceptions.
These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exceptions.
To exercise your rights, contact us at info@advancedrentoption.co.uk.
10. Automated decision-making and profiling
We may use systems, analytics and automated tools to help us manage enquiries, prioritise follow-up, calculate indicative figures, assess service performance, understand customer interests, or support operational decisions.
We do not intend to make decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects for you without appropriate safeguards and without telling you where required.
Where AI-enabled tools are used, they are intended to support our team rather than replace human oversight for important decisions.
11. Security
We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against accidental or unlawful loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration or destruction.
These measures may include access controls, secure systems, staff training, contractual safeguards with suppliers, encryption where appropriate, monitoring and internal policies.
No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure, so we cannot guarantee absolute security of information sent online. Please take care when sending sensitive information to us.
12. Complaints
If you have a concern about how we use your personal information, please contact us first so we can investigate and respond.
Email: info@advancedrentoption.co.uk
Post: Advanced Rent Option Ltd, Ground Floor, 1/7 Station Road, Crawley, West Sussex, RH10 1HT
We will acknowledge data protection complaints within 30 days and respond without undue delay.
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office, the UK data protection regulator. You can find more information at ico.org.uk.
13. Links to other websites
Our website may contain links to websites operated by other organisations. We are not responsible for the privacy practices, content or security of those websites. You should read their privacy policies before providing personal information to them.
14. Changes to this Privacy Policy
We keep this Privacy Policy under regular review and may update it from time to time.
If we make significant changes, we may notify you by email, website notice or another appropriate method.