Privacy Policy - Man With Van Hornchurch

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Hornchurch collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Man With Van Hornchurch customers in the Hornchurch area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, books a service, receives a quote, or otherwise interacts with us in connection with our moving and transport 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. This policy is intended to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have in relation to your data.

1. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the name of your business or organisation.
Contact details including telephone number, email address, billing address, collection address, and delivery address.
Service details such as booking preferences, moving dates, inventory information, special handling requirements, and access notes.
Payment information such as payment status, transaction references, and invoicing details. We do not ordinarily store full card details if payments are processed by secure payment providers.
Communication records including messages, call notes, complaint details, and any other correspondence relating to a booking or enquiry.
Technical data such as IP address, browser type, and device information if collected through digital systems used for enquiry management or administration.
Operational data including job records, scheduling information, route planning, and service history.

In some cases, we may also process information about access needs or specific handling requirements if you provide it to us and if it is necessary to deliver the service safely and effectively. We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is voluntarily provided and clearly relevant to the service.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotes.
To manage bookings, schedules, and service delivery.
To communicate with customers about their move or transport arrangement.
To prepare invoices, process payments, and maintain accounting records.
To monitor service quality, handle complaints, and improve operations.
To comply with legal, regulatory, tax, and insurance obligations.
To maintain internal records and evidence of completed work.
To protect our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud, misuse, or legal claims.

We only process personal data where it is necessary for a legitimate business purpose and where our use is compatible with data protection law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes you request, arranging bookings, completing moves, issuing invoices, and managing customer accounts.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data to comply with legal duties, such as tax records, bookkeeping requirements, and insurance or regulatory obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. Examples include service administration, customer support, record keeping, fraud prevention, and improving our services.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide certain optional information. Where consent is used, you have the right to withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to use your data according to our instructions and for the purposes described in this policy. They are required to keep your data secure and confidential.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

Accounting and invoicing providers used to manage financial records and payments.
IT and cloud storage providers used to store business records, communications, and operational documents.
Customer management or scheduling systems used to organise bookings and service administration.
Payment processors used to handle secure transactions.
Professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, or accountants where necessary for legal or business purposes.
Subcontracted service providers who assist with fulfilment of a specific job, where such sharing is necessary for the delivery of the service.

We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, law enforcement request, or to protect our legal rights and the safety of others.

We do not sell your personal data.

5. International Transfers

Some of our processors may store or access data outside the UK. Where this occurs, we take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protections recognised under data protection law.

6. Data Retention

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

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the nature of the service. As a general approach:

Enquiry records may be kept for a limited period if no booking is made, to support follow-up and administration.
Booking and service records are usually retained for a reasonable period after completion of the job for customer service, dispute handling, and record keeping.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Complaint or claim-related records may be kept longer where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

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

7. Security of Your Data

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

While we strive to protect your data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a high risk to your rights and freedoms, we will act in accordance with applicable legal requirements.

8. Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances, you may have the following rights under data protection law:

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 cases.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit processing in certain circumstances.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability – to receive certain information in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

To exercise your rights, you may make a request through the appropriate administrative channel used for our services. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within the time limits set by law.

Please note that some rights are not absolute and may be limited where we must retain information for legal obligations, contractual performance, or legitimate business reasons.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging moving and transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children in the ordinary course of business. If we become aware that we have collected such data without appropriate authority, we will take steps to delete it or otherwise handle it lawfully.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, operational practices, or data handling processes. Any revised version will apply from the date it is made available and will continue to apply to all relevant customers in the Hornchurch area.

11. Scope of Application

This Privacy Policy applies to all Man With Van Hornchurch customers in the area, including prospective customers, active customers, and past customers whose information we retain for lawful business purposes. By using our services or providing your information to us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood how we handle personal data.