Privacy Policy - West Kensington Man And Van

This Privacy Policy explains how West Kensington Man And Van collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all West Kensington Man And Van customers in the area, including anyone who enquires about, books, receives, or pays for our moving and van services. We are committed to handling personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

West Kensington Man And Van provides removals, delivery, transport, loading, unloading, and related moving services. In providing these services, we may act as a data controller for the personal data we collect directly from customers, prospective customers, and other individuals involved in a booking. This means we decide how and why personal data is used for our business operations.

2. Data We Collect

We collect only the information that is necessary for arranging and delivering our services, managing our business, and meeting legal requirements. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the names of other people involved in the booking.
Contact details such as phone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service information including moving date, collection and delivery locations, inventory details, access notes, and special handling requirements.
Payment and transaction data such as records of payments made, invoices, and related accounting information. We do not store unnecessary payment information beyond what is required for administration and compliance.
Communication records including messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and correspondence relating to your booking or service.
Technical data if you interact with our online systems, such as basic device or usage information needed for security and performance.
Legal and insurance-related information where a claim, dispute, accident, or damage report must be recorded.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it. If such information is shared with us, we will only process it where a lawful basis applies 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 quotes.
To manage bookings and deliver moving services.
To plan routes, assess access, and allocate staff or vehicles.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain business records.
To communicate with customers about service arrangements, changes, or issues.
To handle complaints, claims, and customer support requests.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations.
To protect our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud, misuse, or security risks.

We will only use your data for the purposes described here or for closely related purposes that would reasonably be expected.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. Depending on the activity, West Kensington Man And Van relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, confirming service details, carrying out removals, handling payments, and managing service-related communication.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your rights do not override those interests. This may include improving our services, keeping proper business records, preventing fraud, resolving disputes, and ensuring the safe and efficient operation of our business. When relying on this basis, we consider the impact on privacy and apply safeguards where appropriate.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax, accounting, record-keeping, and insurance requirements. We may also need to retain information for evidential purposes in the event of a claim or dispute.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where we want to send optional marketing communications or process information not required for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect processing already carried out lawfully before withdrawal.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data only when necessary and only with trusted third parties acting on our behalf or where required by law. These third parties may include:

Payment service providers used to process transactions securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records and tax compliance.
IT, hosting, and software providers who support our business systems, communications, and data storage.
Insurance providers and claims handlers where a claim, incident, or dispute needs to be managed.
Professional advisers such as legal or financial advisers when necessary for compliance or dispute resolution.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law or to protect rights, safety, or property.

Where we use processors, they are only permitted to process personal data on our instructions and must keep it secure, confidential, and compliant with data protection law. We take reasonable steps to ensure that our processors provide appropriate technical and organisational safeguards.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected and to meet legal, accounting, or insurance requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason it is held. In general:

Booking and customer service records are kept for as long as needed to manage the service and address follow-up issues.
Financial and invoicing records are retained in line with statutory accounting and tax obligations.
Communication records may be kept for a reasonable period to support customer service, complaint handling, and dispute resolution.
Claims, incident, and legal records may be retained longer where required for defence or establishment of legal claims.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or loss. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful management of records. While no system is completely secure, we aim to reduce risk to an appropriate level and review our safeguards regularly.

8. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have several rights under data protection law. These rights may apply in different circumstances and may be subject to legal limits. 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 information.
Right to erasure - to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing - to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object - to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability - to request transfer of certain data where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
Right to withdraw consent - where processing relies on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in accordance with applicable law and may need to verify your identity before taking action. Exercising your rights is free of charge in most cases, although we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse requests that are manifestly unfounded or excessive, as permitted by law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is necessary in connection with a moving service and provided by an adult customer or authorised representative. If we become aware that we have collected data inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it or obtain proper authority where required.

10. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it, such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal mechanisms. We only allow international transfers where necessary and lawful.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal duties, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain aware of how their personal data is handled.

12. Summary of Key Principles

West Kensington Man And Van follows the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality. In practice, this means we aim to collect only what we need, use it only for legitimate purposes, keep it secure, and retain it only for as long as necessary.

By using our services, making an enquiry, or entering into a booking with West Kensington Man And Van, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy applies to all West Kensington Man And Van customers in the area.