Our use of cookies

A cookie is a text-only string of information that a website transfers to the cookie file of the browser on your computer's hard disk, so that the website can remember who you are.

A cookie will typically contain the name of the domain from which the cookie has come, the "lifetime" of the cookie, and a value, usually a randomly generated unique number.

Types of cookie used

When you visit our website, we send you a cookie. Cookies may be used in the following ways:

• To help us recognise you, so that you do not have to re-key your registration details.
• To help us recognise you as a unique visitor (just a number) when you return to our website, and to allow us to tailor content to match your preferred interests.
• To compile anonymous, aggregated statistics that allow us to understand how users use our website, and to help us improve the structure of our website. We cannot identify you personally in this way.

By using our website you agree to our use of these cookies as detailed below.

The cookies we use

1. Authentication cookie; this is a standard cookie produced by .NET websites to hold a user's identity after login.
   1st party, essential, persistent up to 48 hours.
2. Session cookie; this is a standard cookie produced by .NET websites to match up against a collection of server-side temporary variables that may be used while a user is working with the site.
   1st party, essential, non-persistent.
3. Google Analytics cookie; GA helps us identify common hardware, browsers and display settings among our users, so we can target changes to be relevant to the most people possible while trying not to render the system unusable to anyone.
   3rd party, persistent, various durations from 24 hours to 2 years.
4. Cookie cookie; This stores your preference on our cookie policy.

Session cookies

These are important for correct use of the site. Without these you will not be able to have full use of the website, including logging in to and managing your account, and requesting retirement income quotes. These cookies are encrypted, only accessible by our website, and last for the duration of your visit.

Persistent cookies

Should you register for an account, or log in to your account, you will have the option of logging in automatically on your next visit to the site. This is done with a persistent cookie that contains encrypted information for us to authenticate you. No personal details are stored in this cookie, and they are not accessible by other websites.

Note: you should only choose automatic log in from your personal computer, not a publicly accessible or shared computer.

Analytics-based cookies

In order to understand how our website is used and to improve it based on user experience, we run Google Analytics on our site. This uses cookies to provide anonymous tracking (no personal data is obtained) of how the site is used and performs. Cookies are typically used to monitor session usage and identify repeat visits (anonymously).

Third party and advertising cookies

Our website does not use third party advertising. With the exception of the analytics-based cookies, all cookies set are only accessible by our website and none of the cookies contain personal information to be passed to other websites.

Disabling cookies

If you choose to, you can disable cookies via your browser settings. See the help function of your particular browser for instructions on how to achieve this. Alternatively, most browsers now support plug-ins which can perform "do not track" functionality and these can be used to easily block or accept cookies.