Privacy Policy - Man With Van Southborough

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Southborough collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It applies to all Man With Van Southborough customers in the area, including individuals who request quotes, make bookings, receive moving services, or otherwise interact with our business in connection with removals, van hire support, lifting assistance, packing, or related transport services.

We are committed to handling personal information fairly, lawfully, transparently, and securely. This policy is intended to help you understand what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, and what rights you have in relation to your personal information.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services you request. The categories of data may include:

Identity information such as your name and title.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service and booking information including move dates, pickup and delivery locations, property access details, inventory notes, and any special handling requirements.
Payment and billing information such as invoicing details and transaction records.
Communication records including messages, quotes, complaints, feedback, and notes from calls or correspondence.
Technical and usage data if you visit any digital services we use, such as IP address, device type, browser information, and cookies or similar technologies.
Service preference information such as requested dates, estimated volume, and access constraints.

We generally do not seek to collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it or it becomes relevant to the service. For example, we may incidentally become aware of information relating to health, mobility, or access needs if you tell us about them in order to support the move safely. Where this occurs, we only use such information when there is a lawful basis for doing so and appropriate safeguards are in place.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for a range of operational and legal purposes, including:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
managing bookings and carrying out moving or transport services;
planning logistics, allocating staff, and ensuring safe service delivery;
processing payments, invoices, and account administration;
communicating service updates, changes, or important notices;
handling complaints, disputes, or service issues;
maintaining records for business administration and compliance;
improving our services, processes, and customer experience;
protecting against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
meeting legal, regulatory, and insurance obligations.

We only use your personal data where it is necessary and proportionate for the relevant purpose. We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under 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 bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform our obligations under a service agreement. This includes handling booking details, arranging the move, and delivering the agreed services.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information where we are required to do so by law, including accounting, tax, insurance, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include service administration, internal record keeping, fraud prevention, customer support, and business improvement. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and apply safeguards where appropriate.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example for optional communications or certain uses of cookies or similar technologies. Where consent is used, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

4. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the nature of the data and the reason it is held.

As a general approach:

Quotation and enquiry records may be retained for a reasonable period to manage follow-up enquiries, resolve disputes, and support customer service.
Booking and service records may be retained for business administration, quality control, and legal compliance.
Payment and invoicing records are retained in line with tax and financial obligations.
Complaint and incident records may be retained longer where necessary to defend legal claims or manage insurance matters.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We review retention regularly to ensure information is not kept for longer than required.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties where necessary for the operation of our business or delivery of services. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We require appropriate contracts and safeguards to protect your data.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

IT and cloud service providers that store or support business systems;
accounting or bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records;
payment processing services used to manage transactions;
communication and messaging tools that help us manage enquiries;
insurance providers, loss adjusters, or legal advisers where needed to handle claims or disputes;
subcontracted moving staff or logistics partners where required to complete a booking.

We only share the minimum data necessary for the intended purpose. Where a third party processes data on our behalf, they are required to act only on our instructions, keep the data secure, and comply with relevant data protection laws.

6. International Transfers

If any service provider stores or processes data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms approved under applicable data protection law. We take steps to ensure your information remains protected to a standard that is consistent with UK GDPR requirements.

7. Data Security

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

Although we work to protect your information, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we take data protection seriously and continually review our practices.

8. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions or exemptions 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 data.
Right to erasure – in some cases, you can ask us to delete your data.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – where applicable, you can request a copy of certain data in a structured format.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law. We may need to verify your identity before taking action on your request.

9. Cookies and Similar Technologies

Where relevant, we may use cookies or similar technologies to support site functionality, measure performance, or improve the user experience. If such technologies are used, you may be able to manage them through your browser settings or through any cookie controls provided. Non-essential cookies, where used, will only be deployed where lawful consent or another valid legal basis applies.

10. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle personal data, we encourage you to raise them promptly so we can address the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or operational practices. Any updates will apply from the date they take effect. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we process personal data.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With Van Southborough is committed to handling your personal data responsibly and in line with the principles of lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation, integrity, and confidentiality. We process personal information only when necessary, retain it only for as long as needed, and share it only with trusted processors under appropriate safeguards.

By using our services, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy applies to you as a customer in the Southborough area and that your information will be handled in accordance with the standards set out above.