Privacy Policy - Man With Van Hernehill

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Hernehill collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects personal data when providing moving, van, packing, transport, and related services. This policy applies to all Man With Van Hernehill customers in the area, including individuals who request quotes, make bookings, receive services, or otherwise interact with our business.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We take privacy seriously and aim to collect only the information necessary to deliver our services effectively and safely.

1. Information We Collect

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

Identity details: name, title, and any information needed to identify you.
Contact details: address, email address, and telephone number.
Booking and service details: moving dates, addresses, property access notes, inventory lists, and service preferences.
Payment and transaction details: records of payments, invoices, and billing information.
Communication records: enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence with us.
Usage and technical data: limited information about how you interact with our online forms or communications, where relevant.
Special category data: generally we do not intend to collect special category data. However, you may choose to provide information that reveals health issues, accessibility needs, or other sensitive details relevant to your move. If so, we will only process it where necessary and with appropriate safeguards.

We usually collect personal data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, provide instructions, or contact us. In some cases, we may receive information from third parties involved in arranging a move, such as landlords, letting agents, estate agents, or payment service providers, where appropriate and lawful.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and manage bookings;
to plan and carry out moving services safely and efficiently;
to communicate with you about your service, including changes and updates;
to process payments and issue invoices or receipts;
to maintain records for accounting, tax, and business administration;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and service requests;
to improve our services, operations, and customer experience;
to comply with legal and regulatory obligations;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims, where necessary.

We will only use personal data in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine that we need to use it for another lawful and compatible purpose.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the situation, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract: we process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing moving services, arranging a booking, or processing payment.
Legitimate interests: we may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing our operations, keeping records, preventing fraud, and improving services.
Legal obligation: we process personal data where necessary to comply with legal duties, such as tax, accounting, or record-keeping requirements.
Consent: in limited cases, we may rely on your consent, especially where we process optional sensitive information or use your details for optional communications. Where consent is relied upon, you may withdraw it at any time.

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

4. How We Share Personal Data

We do not sell personal data. We may share personal data only where necessary and lawful, and only with parties who need it to support our services or legal obligations.

Processors and Service Providers

We may use trusted third-party service providers acting as data processors on our behalf. These may include:

payment processors and invoicing systems;
email and communication service providers;
IT hosting, cloud storage, and backup providers;
accounting and bookkeeping providers;
customer management or booking software providers;
professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where needed.

These processors are permitted to process personal data only on our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately. We take reasonable steps to ensure they meet data protection and security standards.

Other Disclosures

We may also disclose personal data to:

law enforcement agencies, regulators, or public authorities where required by law;
insurance providers, where a claim or incident requires handling;
courts, tribunals, or legal representatives in connection with disputes or legal proceedings;
other third parties where you have asked us to do so or where you have given us clear authority.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the reason we hold it. For example:

booking and service records may be kept for a reasonable period after the service is completed to manage queries, disputes, or follow-up matters;
financial and tax records may be kept for the period required by law;
communication records may be retained for an appropriate time to support customer service and business administration;
where we process data based on consent, we will retain it until consent is withdrawn 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 identify you.

6. Data Security

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

Although we take reasonable steps to safeguard your information, no system can be guaranteed completely secure. We therefore encourage you to share only the information necessary for your booking and service requirements.

7. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in line with data protection law. This may include the use of adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other recognised transfer 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 different circumstances, subject to legal limitations:

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

Exercising one of these rights will not normally affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before your request. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests, and we will respond within the time limits required by law.

9. Automated Decision-Making

We do not ordinarily use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects for customers. If this changes, we will provide appropriate information about the logic involved and your rights.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging moving and transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children as part of standard business operations. If we become aware that we have collected such data without appropriate authority, 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. When we do so, we will revise the policy accordingly. We encourage customers to review it periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

12. Contact and Complaints

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your rights, or are concerned about the way your data has been handled, you may raise the matter with us through the appropriate business channels. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

Summary of our commitment: we process personal data responsibly, lawfully, and only to the extent needed to deliver services to Man With Van Hernehill customers in the area. We aim to keep your information secure, accurate, and retained only as long as necessary.