16% of brokers expect to spend £5000 or more preparing for GDPR - but 15% are yet to start

26 March 2018

16% of brokers and intermediaries, who responded to a recent UTB poll, expect their GDPR bill to exceed £5000. However, 15% are yet to start their preparations for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which comes into force on the 25th May 2018.

The research, carried out amongst over 120 brokers operating in the fields of property and asset finance, revealed that 65% of brokers are currently working towards ensuring their businesses are GDPR compliant whilst a further 14% believe they already meet the data handling, storage and security requirements stipulated by the new regulations. With 15% yet to start, the remaining 6% didn’t know what GDPR was or didn’t think it would apply to them.

The survey also asked brokers to estimate a figure for the total cost of their GDPR preparations including the value of resources and time committed to it. Over a quarter (28%) of respondents suggested they would spend between £1001 and £2500 in total whilst a further 22% indicated that they would spend more than £2500.

9% of brokers believed they would spend more than £10,000 preparing for GDPR.

How much do you think your business will spend in total preparing for GDPR?

Finally, brokers were asked how confident they were that they would be GDPR compliant by the May 25th deadline. 64% were very confident, 32% confident and the remaining 4% were not at all confident.

Mark Heaphy, Head of Compliance at United Trust Bank, commented:

“Data Protection Regulation has been around for a number of years and all businesses should be taking the regulation seriously. From the 26th of May this year companies will have to be able to demonstrate compliance or face potentially heavy fines – up to 20m Euros for the biggest companies. If you run a business or are self-employed in the financial services sector, or provide a service to a company or individual which is, there’s a good chance that GDPR will affect you.

“At UTB this has been on our radar for over a year and we’ve been preparing for just as long. Whilst we’re confident of being compliant by the May deadline, we’re not there yet and I would urge those 15% of brokers who haven’t started preparing, and the 6% who don’t know what GDPR is or think it doesn’t apply to them, to take a close look at what they’re expected to do. There’s little more than two months in which to get houses in order and if you can’t prove you’re ready, you may be in trouble with the Information Commissioner’s Office and find that other businesses will refuse to trade with you until you are.”

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is the UK’s independent authority created to uphold information rights in the public interest, promoting openness by public bodies and data privacy by individuals. They have created a frequently updated guide to the GDPR for those who have day-to-day responsibility for data protection. It’s a useful resource for anyone wishing to learn more.

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/