Privacy Policy - Man With Van East Bedfont

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van East Bedfont collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, transportation, loading, unloading, and related services. It applies to all Man With Van East Bedfont customers in the area, including individuals and businesses who enquire about, book, or use our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Man With Van East Bedfont operates as a removals and transport service provider. For the purposes of data protection law, we act as a data controller for the personal data we collect and determine how and why it is used. This policy applies to personal data received directly from customers, potential customers, business partners, and individuals connected to a booking or service request.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary to provide services safely and efficiently, manage customer relationships, and comply with legal duties. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name, title, and any business or company name.
Contact details such as phone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service information such as collection and delivery addresses, dates, item descriptions, access details, and special handling requirements.
Payment information such as billing details, payment status, and transaction records. We do not store more payment data than is necessary for processing and accounting purposes.
Communications such as messages, emails, call notes, quotations, complaints, and feedback.
Technical information if you interact with our digital services, including IP address, device type, browser information, and usage logs where applicable.
Safety and incident information such as claims, damage reports, or records needed to investigate issues during a move.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and lawful to do so. If such information is ever provided by you, we will only process it where a valid legal basis exists and additional safeguards are in place.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To arrange, manage, and deliver moving and transport services.
To communicate booking updates, service changes, and operational information.
To process payments, invoicing, and accounting records.
To assess access, loading, and safety requirements for each job.
To handle complaints, claims, or disputes.
To maintain records for business administration, quality control, and training.
To comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
To protect our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud, misuse, or other risks.

We only use personal data where there is a proper and lawful reason to do so, and we do not use it in a way that is incompatible with the purposes for which it was collected.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out removals, and managing related customer service.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where required to meet legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include service improvement, fraud prevention, record management, and maintaining business security.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for certain optional communications or specific processing activities. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

We assess each processing activity carefully to ensure the correct lawful basis is applied.

5. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary to deliver our services, manage our operations, or comply with legal duties. These third parties may act as processors on our behalf or, in some cases, as independent controllers.

Examples of processors may include:

Payment service providers used to process transactions.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers.
IT and cloud storage providers that support secure data handling.
Communication tools used for email, messaging, or customer administration.
Insurance or claims handling providers where relevant to a service issue.

Where we use processors, they are required to act only on our instructions, keep personal data secure, and comply with data protection law. We do not sell personal data. We only share the minimum information necessary for the intended purpose.

We may also disclose personal data to public authorities, law enforcement, regulators, courts, or professional advisers where required or permitted by law.

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, insurance, and operational requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason it was collected.

Booking and service records are generally kept for a reasonable period after the service has ended to manage follow-up queries, complaints, or claims.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Correspondence and customer communications may be retained for as long as needed to support service history or dispute resolution.
Incident or damage records may be held longer if required for legal claims or insurance purposes.

When personal data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed. We review retention needs periodically to ensure we do not keep data for longer than necessary.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, restricted permissions, staff awareness, and careful handling of paper and electronic records. While we take reasonable steps to safeguard data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

8. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or processes personal data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure suitable safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable law. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protections designed to keep your data secure and lawful.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing. They include:

Right of access – to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain situations.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – to request transfer of certain data to you or another organisation.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We will respond to valid requests within the timeframe required by law. In some cases, we may need to retain certain information despite a request, for example where required by law or where we have compelling legitimate grounds.

10. Complaints and Further Rights

If you are concerned about how your personal data has been handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. We encourage you to raise concerns directly with us first so we can address them promptly and fairly. We take privacy concerns seriously and aim to resolve them in a transparent and respectful manner.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not aimed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is provided by an adult customer in connection with a lawful service arrangement. Where relevant, we expect the adult customer to ensure that any information shared is appropriate and necessary.

12. 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 revised version will apply from the date it is made effective. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how we protect personal data.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With Van East Bedfont is committed to respecting privacy, using personal data responsibly, and maintaining the trust of all customers in the area. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. Your privacy matters to us, and we aim to handle your information with care, security, and accountability.