Privacy Policy - Kingston Upon Thames Man And Van

This Privacy Policy explains how Kingston Upon Thames Man And Van collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Kingston Upon Thames Man And Van customers in area, including anyone who enquires about, books, pays for, or receives our moving and transport services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Kingston Upon Thames Man And Van provides man and van services, removals, transport, loading, unloading, and related support services. In providing these services, we act as a data controller for the personal data we collect and process about customers, prospective customers, and other individuals connected with a booking. This means we decide why and how your personal data is used.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary to arrange and deliver our services, manage our business, and meet legal obligations. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity data: name, title, and any details needed to identify you.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and delivery or collection addresses.
Booking and service data: moving dates, inventory details, access information, property type, service preferences, and instructions.
Payment data: billing information, payment status, and transaction records. We do not store card details unless required by the payment method used and permitted by law.
Communication data: emails, messages, notes from calls, complaints, and records of correspondence.
Technical data: limited information such as device or browser details when you interact with our digital services, if applicable.
Special category data: in normal circumstances, we do not intentionally collect sensitive personal data. If you voluntarily provide information that could reveal special category data, we will only process it where legally permitted and necessary.

We generally collect data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, provide instructions, or communicate with us. In some cases, we may receive information from third parties involved in arranging the move, such as landlords, estate agents, property managers, or family members acting on your behalf.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and confirm bookings;
to plan, deliver, and manage moving and transport services;
to communicate with you before, during, and after the service;
to process payments, issue invoices, and maintain accounting records;
to handle complaints, claims, and service queries;
to improve our operations, service quality, and customer experience;
to comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory requirements;
to protect our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, or other risks.

We only use your personal data where we have a valid legal reason to do so. We do not use your information for unrelated purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must identify a lawful basis for every processing activity. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract: processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform our contract with you, such as providing moving services and managing your booking.
Legal obligation: processing is necessary to comply with tax, accounting, insurance, record-keeping, and other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests: processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving services, managing risk, preventing fraud, and responding to customer enquiries, provided your interests and rights do not override those interests.
Consent: in limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide optional information or agree to a specific use of your data. You may withdraw consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis.

We do not rely on consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate for the service relationship.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the delivery of our services, to meet legal obligations, or to operate our business securely. These third parties may act as data processors or independent controllers, depending on the context.

Processors We May Use

Payment service providers: to process payments securely.
IT and cloud service providers: to store data, manage communications, and support business systems.
Accountants and bookkeeping providers: to manage invoices, tax, and financial records.
Insurance providers and claims handlers: to manage cover and resolve incidents.
Administrative and operational support providers: to help schedule, record, or coordinate services.

Where we use processors, we ensure they are contractually bound to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection law. We do not permit processors to use your data for their own unrelated purposes.

We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority, or where necessary to protect our legal rights, property, staff, or customers.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, tax, insurance, and dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Booking and service records: retained for a reasonable period after the service in case of queries, claims, or service history needs.
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by law.
Correspondence and complaints: retained for as long as needed to resolve issues and demonstrate compliance.
Prospective customer enquiries: retained only as long as necessary to respond, unless a longer period is justified by a follow-up request or legal requirement.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in a way that prevents unauthorised use. We regularly review retention needs to avoid holding data longer than necessary.

7. International Transfers

If any of our service providers store or access data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information, such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent lawful transfer mechanisms. We take steps to make sure any international transfer is handled securely and in line with UK data protection law.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful selection of processors. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to reduce risk and respond promptly to potential incidents.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to legal limitations and exemptions, but we will always consider your request carefully.

Right of access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: you can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: you can request that we limit how we use your data in specific situations.
Right to data portability: you can ask for data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including any direct marketing where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the timescales required by law and may need to verify your identity before taking action. We encourage you to contact us if you believe any data we hold is inaccurate or if you want to understand how it is being used.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults arranging removals or transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally included in booking or household information provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it where required.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Kingston Upon Thames Man And Van is committed to using personal data responsibly, transparently, and only for legitimate business and legal purposes. We collect the minimum information needed, process it under a valid lawful basis, share it only with trusted processors and other authorised recipients, retain it only as long as necessary, and respect your data protection rights. This policy applies to all Kingston Upon Thames Man And Van customers in area and supports our ongoing commitment to privacy and compliance.