Privacy Policy - Man And A Van Richmond

This Privacy Policy explains how Man And A Van Richmond collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Man And A Van Richmond customers in area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, requests a quote, books a move, or uses our removal and transport services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy. We only collect information that is necessary for the provision, management, administration, and improvement of our services.

1. Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Identity information such as your name and title.
• Contact information such as address, email address, and telephone number.
• Service details relating to your move, including collection and delivery addresses, preferred dates, property access information, item descriptions, and moving instructions.
• Billing and payment information where needed to process transactions, issue invoices, and keep financial records.
• Communication records such as enquiries, quotes, complaints, feedback, and service correspondence.
• Technical data where you interact with digital systems, such as device details, IP address, and browser information, if applicable.
• Special instructions you provide to help us complete a move safely and efficiently, for example accessibility requirements or fragile-item notes.

We do not intentionally collect sensitive personal data unless it is strictly necessary for a specific service and you have provided it voluntarily. Where such data is required, we will ensure it is handled with additional care and only for the limited purpose for which it was provided.

2. How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you:

• request a quote or make an enquiry;
• book or amend a service;
• communicate with us by phone, email, or other means;
• provide instructions or delivery details;
• submit feedback or a complaint.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary to deliver the service, for example from a person making a booking on your behalf or from a payment provider confirming a transaction.

3. Why We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

• to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
• to arrange, manage, and deliver moving services;
• to communicate with you about your booking or service changes;
• to process payments, issue invoices, and manage accounts;
• to maintain records and meet legal, tax, and accounting obligations;
• to deal with complaints, disputes, and insurance-related matters;
• to improve our services, operations, and customer experience;
• to prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
• to defend or establish legal claims where necessary.

We only use your personal data for the specific purposes described above, unless we reasonably determine that we need to use it for a compatible purpose or where the law requires or permits otherwise.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the context, we rely on the following bases:

4.1 Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to provide a quote, manage a booking, deliver moving services, process payments, and carry out obligations arising from our agreement with you. This is the main lawful basis for most service-related processing.

4.2 Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This includes maintaining business records, improving services, preventing fraud, ensuring operational security, and handling customer communications efficiently. When we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on your privacy and apply appropriate safeguards.

4.3 Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where we are legally required to do so, including for tax, accounting, regulatory, or record-keeping purposes.

4.4 Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide optional information that is not required for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal will not affect processing that took place before consent was withdrawn.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary to provide and support our services. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the context.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

• Payment processors that handle card or online payments securely;
• Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help manage financial records;
• IT and cloud service providers that store or secure business information;
• Communication service providers that help deliver messages or manage correspondence;
• Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors where necessary.

All processors are required to protect personal data and may only use it according to our instructions and applicable law. We do not sell personal data. We also do not share personal data with third parties for their own marketing purposes unless you have expressly permitted this or the law otherwise allows it.

In some cases, we may need to disclose data to public authorities, insurers, courts, or law enforcement agencies where required by law or necessary to protect our legal rights, the rights of others, or public safety.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, tax, insurance, and dispute-resolution requirements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing. In general:

• Booking and service records are retained for a period necessary to manage the service relationship and address any after-service queries or claims.
• Financial and invoice records are retained for the period required under tax and accounting law.
• Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to help resolve disputes and maintain service history.
• Complaint or claim records may be retained longer where needed to defend legal claims or meet insurance obligations.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to you.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances:

• Right of access – you can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
• Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
• Right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your data where there is a lawful basis to do so.
• Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
• Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, including direct marketing where applicable.
• Right to data portability – you can request certain data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format where the law allows.
• Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so we can try to resolve them promptly.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to data on a need-to-know basis.

While we take reasonable steps to secure information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a personal data incident occurs, we will investigate and take appropriate action in accordance with legal requirements.

9. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to protect it. Any such transfer will be made only where permitted by law and subject to appropriate contractual or legal protections.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is necessary in connection with a booking or service arrangement made by an adult. If we become aware that we have collected data unlawfully from a child, we will take steps to delete it.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data handling practices. The latest version will apply to all relevant personal data processing. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how personal data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Man And A Van Richmond is committed to protecting the privacy of every customer in area. We collect only the information needed to provide reliable moving services, we process that information on a clear lawful basis, we keep it only for as long as necessary, and we use trusted processors who are contractually required to keep data secure. We also respect your rights and aim to be transparent in all our data practices.

This Privacy Policy is designed to reflect GDPR principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality.