Privacy Policy - Man With Van Southharrow

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Southharrow collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Man With Van Southharrow customers in the area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, requests a quotation, books a service, receives a moving or transport service, or communicates with us in connection with our operations. 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.

1. Who We Are

Man With Van Southharrow provides moving, transportation, collection, and delivery services. In the context of data protection law, we act as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use for our business operations. This means we determine why and how your personal data is processed.

2. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for legitimate business and service purposes. The categories of information we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details such as moving date, collection and delivery locations, property access details, inventory information, and special handling requirements.
Payment and billing information where needed to process invoices, payments, refunds, or account records.
Communication records including emails, phone notes, message logs, and service-related correspondence.
Technical information if you interact with our digital systems, such as basic device, browser, or usage data, where applicable.
Complaint and claims information if you submit feedback, report damage, or raise a service issue.

We do not collect more data than is reasonably required to provide and manage our services. Where we need sensitive information, we will only process it when strictly necessary and where permitted by law.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To plan, arrange, and deliver moving and transport services.
To communicate with customers about bookings, schedules, access arrangements, and service updates.
To issue invoices, take payments, and manage financial records.
To handle complaints, claims, and customer support requests.
To maintain internal records and manage our business operations.
To comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
To improve our services, train staff, and ensure quality and safety.

We do not sell your personal data. We also do not use it in ways that are incompatible with the purposes described in this Policy.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. The lawful bases we rely on may include:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes managing bookings, carrying out services, confirming details, and completing payment-related activities.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal information to meet legal requirements, such as tax recordkeeping, accounting duties, insurance obligations, and compliance with regulatory or law enforcement requests.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer communications, maintaining service records, preventing fraud, improving operations, and defending legal claims.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for certain optional communications or specific types of processing. When we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to provide our services or manage our business. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share information that is relevant and necessary for the purpose in question.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

Payment processors to handle secure transactions.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers for financial administration.
IT and cloud service providers that support storage, communication, and business systems.
Customer management tools used for scheduling, recordkeeping, and internal administration.
Insurance providers where a claim, incident, or coverage matter must be addressed.
Professional advisers such as lawyers, auditors, or insurers when necessary.

Where we use processors, we require them to protect your information, act only on our instructions, and process data in line with data protection law. We do not permit unnecessary use of your personal data.

6. International Transfers

If any processor stores or processes data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal information remains protected. These safeguards may include approved contractual protections or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including the need to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, or dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the nature of the information and the service provided.

In general:

Customer and booking records are retained for as long as needed to manage the service and related follow-up.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Complaint, claim, and incident records are retained for a reasonable period to resolve matters and defend legal rights.
Enquiry records may be deleted after they are no longer needed, unless they are needed for follow-up or legal purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it as appropriate.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures are designed to be proportionate to the nature of the data and the risks involved. Although no system can be completely secure, we aim to maintain a high standard of protection and regularly review our safeguards.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal information. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and the lawful basis used for processing.

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 – In certain cases, you may ask us to delete your data.
Right to restriction – You may request limited use of your information in certain situations.
Right to data portability – You may ask to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object – You may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise concerns with the relevant data protection authority if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly.

10. Marketing Communications

If we send any optional marketing communications, we will do so only where permitted by law. You can opt out of such communications at any time. Opting out will not affect service-related messages that are necessary for booking, payment, or service delivery.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging transport or moving services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in a service context and provided by a responsible adult or lawful guardian where appropriate.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or processing practices. Any updated version will continue to apply to all Man With Van Southharrow customers in the area. Please review this Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.

13. Summary of Key Commitments

In summary, Man With Van Southharrow collects only the personal data needed to provide and manage its services, processes it on lawful grounds such as contract, legal obligation, consent, and legitimate interests, and shares it only with trusted processors where necessary. We retain information only for as long as needed and respect your rights under UK data protection law. We are committed to using your information responsibly, transparently, and securely.

This Privacy Policy is intended to provide a clear and lawful explanation of our data practices while remaining concise and customer-focused.