Cookie policy

MortgageExplained asks before it sets analytics cookies. Google Analytics and Microsoft Clarity only set cookies if you choose Accept analytics in the banner. If you reject, neither sets a cookie on your device. You can change your choice at any time with Cookie settings in the footer.

What cookies are

A cookie is a small text file that a website can store in your browser. Cookies can be strictly necessary (needed for the site to work), or non-essential (analytics, personalisation or advertising, which need your consent under UK law). We treat similar technologies such as local storage in the same way in this policy.

Your choice

The first time you visit, a banner asks you to accept or reject analytics. Both buttons work the same way and you can use the whole site either way. To change your mind, use Cookie settings in the footer of any page. Rejecting after you have accepted stops analytics and removes the Google Analytics and Clarity cookies we can reach from this site.

What is stored on your device

• Your cookie choice (cookie_consent, local storage). Strictly necessary. Remembers whether you accepted or rejected, in this browser only. It is kept until you clear your browser storage.
• Our visit counter (fleet_vid, local storage). Our own visit counter doesn't use cookies, but it does keep a small random code in your browser's storage. The code is for today only, so a second visit that day is not counted twice; it goes only to our counter and is replaced each day. Turn it off with "Don't count me" at the foot of any page, which saves fleet_no_count in your browser. The law allows this for site statistics without asking first, as long as you can opt out (Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, Schedule A1, paragraph 5); see Counting visits in our privacy policy.
• Where you arrived from (me_attribution, local storage). Stores the page you first landed on, any campaign tags in the link and the site you came from, for up to 30 days. It is not sent anywhere when you read the site. If you send an enquiry, it is attached to that enquiry so we can see which guide helped. It does not depend on the banner.
• Google Analytics (_ga and _ga_ followed by an ID). Analytics, only after you accept. Counts visits and which pages are read, with IP addresses anonymised. Set by Google; these cookies typically last up to two years.
• Microsoft Clarity (_clck, _clsk and related). Analytics, only after you accept. Session recordings and heatmaps to see where readers get stuck. The Clarity script is not loaded at all until you accept. Set by Microsoft; these cookies last from one day to one year.

If you reject analytics

No Google Analytics or Clarity cookie is set and the Clarity script does not load. The Google Analytics tag is still on the page, but with storage denied it sends limited signals without any cookie or persistent identifier, which Google uses to model totals. We do not use any of this data for advertising. We set no advertising cookies.

Page counts without cookies

Loaded from other companies

• Propillo tools. Some pages (for example the self-employed borrowing calculator) embed a regulated tool from Propillo. It loads from Propillo's own website, so anything you type into it is collected by Propillo under its own privacy policy, not ours.
• Links to other sites. If you follow a link to a regulated broker or another website, that site has its own cookies and its own policy, which we do not control. Embedded third-party tools, such as the Propillo tools, handle your data under their own privacy and cookie policies.

Managing cookies

You can also block or delete cookies in your browser settings at any time. Questions about this policy can go to hello@mortgageexplained.co.uk. See also our privacy notice and data protection page.