Privacy Policy - Man With A Van Blackheath

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With A Van Blackheath collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Man With A Van Blackheath customers in area, including anyone who requests, books, receives, or enquires about our moving, transport, or related services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure way 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 Privacy Policy. We only collect information that is necessary for the purposes explained below and we take appropriate steps to protect it.

1. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity information: name, title, and any details you provide when making an enquiry or booking.
Contact information: address, email address, telephone number, and other communication details.
Service information: details about your move, collection and delivery locations, property access, item descriptions, and service preferences.
Payment information: billing details and transaction records. We do not store full card details where payment is processed by a secure third-party payment provider.
Correspondence: messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and records of communications with us.
Technical information: limited device or usage information when you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address, browser type, and basic analytics data.
Special category data: we do not usually require special category data. If you choose to share such information with us, for example to explain access needs, we will process it only where a lawful basis applies and where necessary.

We generally collect personal data directly from you when you make an enquiry, request a quote, place a booking, or communicate with us. In some cases, we may receive data from third parties such as a person booking on your behalf, a payment processor, a subcontracted service provider, or another business partner involved in the provision of services.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to manage bookings and deliver moving services;
to communicate with you about schedules, changes, and service updates;
to process payments, deposits, refunds, and invoicing;
to handle complaints, claims, and service issues;
to maintain internal records and business administration;
to improve our services, customer experience, and operational efficiency;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to prevent fraud, protect our business, and ensure safety and security.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another compatible purpose and that purpose is lawful.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This applies when we prepare quotations, arrange bookings, provide moving services, or process payments related to those services.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, such as accounting requirements, tax record keeping, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These interests may include maintaining accurate records, improving our services, securing our operations, and managing business relationships. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on your privacy and limit processing to what is necessary.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is needed for certain optional communications or specific types of processing not covered by another lawful basis. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These parties process data only under our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately. Examples of processors may include:

payment service providers;
booking, scheduling, or customer management systems;
IT and cloud storage providers;
email and communication service providers;
accounting and invoicing software providers;
professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers;
subcontractors or operational partners involved in delivering services.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority, or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

When we use processors, we ensure that suitable data processing agreements are in place and that appropriate security and confidentiality obligations apply. We do not sell your personal data.

5. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying legal, accounting, tax, insurance, or reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the purpose of processing.

In general:

booking and service records are kept for a reasonable period after the service has been completed;
financial and invoicing records are retained in line with legal and tax obligations;
correspondence and complaint records are retained for as long as needed to resolve the matter and maintain proper business records;
data collected for consent-based communications is kept until you withdraw consent or it is no longer needed.

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

6. Security of Personal Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, unlawful destruction, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limiting access to personal data on a need-to-know basis.

While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

7. International Transfers

If any personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to protect it in accordance with data protection law. This may include the use of adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal mechanisms.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply in certain circumstances and may be subject to legal exceptions. They include the right to:

access the personal data we hold about you;
rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data;
erasure of your data in certain circumstances;
restriction of processing in certain situations;
object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
data portability, where applicable;
withdraw consent at any time, where processing is based on consent;
lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been mishandled.

You also have the right to request information about the lawful basis we rely on, the categories of data we process, and the third parties with whom data may be shared. We may need to verify your identity before responding to a rights request.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are not intended for children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in the context of a service request made by an adult responsible for the booking. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or the way we process personal data. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage you to review it periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your information.

11. Fair Processing and Transparency

We believe in processing personal data in a way that is fair, transparent, and limited to what is necessary. We aim to be clear about why information is collected and how it is used, and we will not keep data longer than required. Where appropriate, we also apply the principle of data minimisation, meaning we only request the details needed to provide our services safely and effectively.

This Privacy Policy is intended to give customers a clear understanding of our practices and their rights. If any part of this policy is found to be inconsistent with applicable law, the relevant legal requirements will prevail.

By using the services of Man With A Van Blackheath, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy applies to you as a customer in the area and that your personal data will be handled in accordance with the principles set out above.