Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive privacy notice
Guidance
- Publication date
- Scheme name
- Domestic RHI
This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we collect and process your personal information for the purposes of the Domestic Renewable Heat Incentive (“DRHI”) scheme in Great Britain. This privacy notice also sets out your rights as a data subject.
It applies to information we process concerning:
- scheme applicants and participants, registered users of the DRHI Register (MyRHI), and installations of renewable heating systems;
- people who contact Ofgem with a query or information request, for example, a right of access request, regarding the DRHI scheme;
- people who sign up to receive our newsletters and regular correspondence.
Controller
The Controller for the processing of any personal information as outlined in this privacy notice is the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority, (GEMA). For ease of reference, this privacy notice refers to the administrative office of GEMA, "Ofgem" throughout.
- your name;
- the address of the accredited or registered equipment to produce renewable heat (which may also be your home address);
- your date of birth, email address and telephone number;
- your bank account details;
- your unique RHI number and details of payments made in respect of your DRHI installation
- to verify your identity (including but not limited to):
- your name;
- date of birth;
- photographic identification;
- evidence of home address.
- your installation details, including:
- specific location
- date of installation and commissioning;
- type of technology installed;
- installed capacity;
- generation data relating to electric consumption and heat generation;
- the meter point administration number(s) (“MPAN”) assigned to the installation.
- documentary evidence in support of your application, accreditation or registration and ongoing obligations. This includes, but is not limited to, Microgeneration Certificate Scheme (MCS) and Energy Performance (EPC) certificates, Green Deal Reports and other relevant materials such as planning permission, financial reports, schematic diagrams, fuel and emissions data and other records relating to the installation (if applicable).
- any other information required for the purpose of administering the DRHI scheme, including any information you provide us in respect of your application for registration as an investor and subsequently as a registered investor under the DRHI Scheme
We will also collect information directly from you when you sign up to our newsletter(s), respond to our surveys or are part of any Ofgem working group related to the DRHI. We will collect and store your name and email address in order to send these to you, as well as your responses to questions posed relating to our performance in administering the scheme(s).
We only collect and process information that we need in order to carry out our functions in relation to the DRHI scheme. The purposes of processing personal data include monitoring, reviewing, and improving Ofgem’s performance of its legal functions related to scheme administration. Our Primary function is to administer the DRHI scheme which includes but is not limited to the functions below:
In relation to the DRHI scheme, we collect and process your information (including disclosing it to our agents, representatives or successors, or to other public bodies or third parties) in order to:
- effectively administer the DRHI scheme;
- produce and send out newsletters which you have given your explicit consent to receive;
- verify the eligibility of installations applying for accreditation or registration under the DRHI scheme;
- make automatic decisions in relation to applications, i.e. automated decisions made by the Domestic RHI IT system [1];
- verify the volumes of renewable energy generated by any accredited installation;
- assign the correct tariff rate applicable to the installation for which support is claimed;
- ensure any RHI support payments are timely and accurate;
- monitor compliance with the scheme regulations;
- carry out site inspections and audits for the purposes of the DRHI scheme;
- assist us in the identification of fraud, misuse, and misreporting;
- enable us to inform you about, or provide literature about, our services, renewable heat and / or the DRHI scheme;
- to carry out statistical analysis or research and development in relation to the DRHI scheme;
- to assist in enforcement and / or debt recovery where non-compliance, and / or overpayment has occurred;
- to verify your identity.
In some cases we use data analytics software to:
- validate claims made in respect of renewable heat generated;
- improve the services we provide;
- ensure and monitor compliance with the DRHI scheme requirements;
- to identify suspected fraud;
Your information is not used for profiling, i.e. automated processing of personal data to evaluate certain things about an individual, e.g. direct marketing.
In order to inform future policy development of our Environmental and Social Schemes your data may be shared internally within Ofgem. Your information will be used to review and improve our scheme administration
[1] These decisions are undertaken only when an application is submitted online and if the application meets all the eligibility criteria and does not require any elements to be manually reviewed. If this is the case, then the application is automatically accredited to the DRHI scheme.
Information collected directly from you
We collect information from you when you:
- register as a user on MyRHI;
- apply for accreditation or registration under the DRHI scheme;
- provide us with documentary evidence in support of your accreditation or registration;
- when it is necessary to verify your identity e.g. account change requests;
- submit information and data to us (including via MyRHI) such as periodic data or declarations as part of your ongoing obligations under the DRHI;
- are subject to an audit of an accredited installation or an installation that has made an application for accreditation;
- engage with us when we carry out our statutory and administrative functions;
- contact us with an enquiry relating to the DRHI scheme, or in relation to information requests (e.g. Freedom of Information Request), complaints and general enquiries;
- email or telephone us, or send information related to the DRHI scheme in paper format;
- visit our website, to remember you when you make repeat visits. You can find out how we do this through the use of cookies by viewing our cookies page;
- use our services, e.g. subscribe to our RSS feeds, social media sites, e-newsletters, email alerts or request a publication from us.
We may also receive information indirectly about you via:
- Third-party credit referencing agencies, CBG, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion, who verify the information you provide us in support of your application for accreditation or registration;
- Woodsure, to validate the sustainability information provided for your installation, if applicable;
- The Land Registry (and the Registers of Scotland), to validate the information you provided relating to the ownership of property to which your heating system provides heat;
- The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”), formerly known as the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (“BEIS”) and other third parties who provide Ofgem information in relation to your application, accreditation, registration, including (but not limited to) public grants funding and audit information;
- Third parties relating to any Green Deal Scheme accreditation and EPC certificates who provide Ofgem with information that may be relevant to your application and installation address (if applicable), e.g. for EPCs we receive information from Northgate for England and Wales, and the Energy Savings Trust for Scotland;
- The MCS Service Company Limited and the MCS Charitable Foundation who provide Ofgem with information relating to MCS certificates that are relevant to your application and / or accreditation;
- Local Authorities, in order to view planning applications and building usage; registered social landlords; and housing associations. In some cases the information provided will include further documentary evidence, including photographs, relating to the property and / or installation;
- third parties you may have nominated to provide us with information;
- third parties we believe may be able to independently verify information provided to us on your application, or as part of your accreditation;
- a third party whom we have contracted to undertake auditing work on our behalf – in some cases the information provided will include further documentary evidence, including photographs, relating to the installation;
- public bodies or organisations involved in the prevention and detection of crime;
- an investor or third-party organisation (if you have applied for the RHI schemes via an investor third-party, or Assignment of Rights arrangement) who collect data from you, they share this data with Ofgem for the purposes of gaining accreditation / registration under the RHI schemes;
- Third parties we have arrangements with to recover debt.
We only collect information that we need in order to effectively administer the government’s Environmental and Social Schemes which includes the DRHI scheme.
We will disclose your personal information in the following circumstances:
- where the disclosure is required by law, statutory direction, court orders, or is necessary for the purposes of the administration or development of the DRHI;
- where you give us explicit permission to disclose it;
- for the processing and sharing of relevant information during audits.
We may share your information with the following organisations or official bodies:
- third-party auditors who audit the information provided to us by you (we will require such third parties to agree to treat the information in accordance with this privacy notice and the wider Ofgem privacy policy)
- Third party suppliers, appointed by us in connection with our scheme administration. This may include research companies or agencies appointed to conduct customer satisfaction or wider organisation performance surveys on our behalf;
- Action Fraud in England or Wales or the Police (and other public bodies or organisations involved in the prevention and detection of crime) when we or they have found instances of suspected fraud [or other criminality];
- The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO) in the event of a complaint not being resolved;
- DESNZ, who are responsible for the RHI policy and legislation in Great Britain, may issue a notice that legally compels Ofgem to disclose specified information collected for the purposes of the DRHI administration for its functions in relation to the DRHI scheme which include, but are not limited to:
- surveys and statistical purposes (e.g. to publish official statistics and to fully monitor the rollout and progress of the scheme);
- quality assurance;
- forecasting expenditure;
- wider purposes connected with analysis, research, monitoring, evaluation, development and understanding of the RHI schemes and BEIS policies.
DESNZ may share your data with its contractors or sub-contractors for these purposes. DESNZ contractors and sub-contractors may contact you for the purposes described immediately above.
DESNZ have also published a privacy notice covering how they use personal data.
- The Energy Saving Trust (EST), by processing your data for the purpose of cross referencing DRHI participants with Home Energy Scotland Loan (HES), participant and payments data. This processing enables us check whether or not you have benefitted from a HES loan to ensure DRHI funding is allocated correctly.
- The Scottish Government and their approved contractors to report on and monitor devolved heat policy in Scotland;
- The Welsh Government and their approved contractors to report on and monitor RHI deployment in Wales;
- Microgeneration Certification Scheme (MCS) who may receive your contact details from Ofgem to investigate instances of suspected installer fraud;
- The Environment Agency and their devolved administration equivalents in Scotland (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and Wales (Natural Resources Wales);
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;
- Department for Transport;
- Trading Standards bodies and the Serious Fraud Office (SFO);
- Local Authorities in Great Britain (upon request);
- Credit-checking agencies [GBG, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion] who verify the information you have provided;
- Indesser who we have arrangements with to recover debt;
- Universal Language Solutions Ltd should there be a requirement for the provision of written and/or spoken translation services from English into Welsh and from Welsh into English.
We collect and process your information under the ‘Public Task’ (UK GDPR, Article 6(1)(e)) legal basis for processing as part of our remit as the administrator of the DRHI scheme.
We would not be able to fulfil our legal obligations as the administrator of the DRHI scheme without collecting and using your information.
We may process your information for the purpose of conducting surveys. Where we do so, this is necessary for the purposes of legitimate interests pursued by us within the meaning of article 6(1)(f) GDPR. Where you agree to participate in a survey, we will also process your information based on your consent.
Newsletters are sent to you on the basis of your consent. Where you subscribe to DRHI newsletters, your consent is used as a basis to process your personal data. You can request to be taken off the distribution list at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the newsletter. You are also able to unsubscribe by emailing us at DomesticRHI@ofgem.gov.uk.
Your personal information is deleted when we no longer need it for our functions in administering the DRHI scheme. As such, it is retained by Ofgem for the duration of the scheme, and for a period of 7 years thereafter.
As part of our verification process, we collect copies of participants’ identity documents. Once verification is completed satisfactorily, photographic identification for all applications other than Third Party Model (TPM) are destroyed 3 months from application approval and bank account details for all applications other than TPM are destroyed 1 month from date of the successful second payment.
For TPM applications these records are destroyed 1 year after the period of scheme participation.
If we hold information about you, you have the right to:
- be informed about the data we hold about you;
- access the information we hold about you;
- have your personal information corrected if it is incomplete or inaccurate;
- ask us to restrict how we process your information;
- object to certain ways we use your information;
- in some circumstances, you may have a right to object to Ofgem processing your information;
To see the full suite of new consumer rights available to you under UK GDPR, please refer to the ICO website or the Ofgem Privacy Policy. The Ofgem privacy policy also provides information on how Ofgem processes personal data.
If you would like to:
- make an FOI or EIR request please refer to the Freedom of Information section
- make a complaint about Ofgem please refer to the Complaints about Ofgem section
- make a Subject Access Request please refer to the Subject Access Request section
- exercise any of your rights and/or request information about Ofgem privacy policy please contact our Data Protection Officer by email on DPO@ofgem.gov.uk or alternatively write to us at:
The Data Protection Officer
Ofgem
10 South Colonnade
Canary Wharf
London
E14 4PU
- For any other general enquiries related to the DRHI scheme please email DomesticRHI@ofgem.gov.uk
You have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner. If you want to raise a concern about how we have handled your information, you can report it directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following address:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Online: Live chat
We keep our privacy policy under regular review. This privacy policy was last updated on 12 September 2024.