Privacy Policy - Man And Van St Johns Wood

This Privacy Policy explains how Man And Van St Johns Wood collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Man And Van St Johns Wood customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quote, books a move, uses our packing or transport services, or communicates with us in connection with a service. We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We respect your privacy and aim to be transparent about the information we collect and why we collect it. This policy should help you understand your rights and our responsibilities when we process personal data.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us. The information we collect is limited to what is necessary for arranging and delivering our services.

Information you provide directly

Identity information such as your name and, where needed, the name of your business or organisation.
Contact details including address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details such as moving date, collection and delivery addresses, property access details, volume of items, and special handling instructions.
Payment-related details where needed for invoicing, receipts, or confirming transactions.
Communication records including messages, booking requests, complaints, and feedback.

Information collected automatically

Technical information such as device type, browser type, and basic usage data when you interact with our digital systems.
Operational information related to service performance, scheduling, and logistics.

Information from third parties

In some cases, we may receive information from third parties such as letting agents, landlords, estate managers, business clients, or other representatives who arrange services on your behalf. We only use such information where it is necessary to provide our services and where doing so is lawful.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for specific and legitimate purposes connected with our moving and transport services. These purposes may include:

Preparing quotations and confirming bookings.
Planning, delivering, and managing removal or transport services.
Communicating with you about schedules, access arrangements, and service updates.
Processing payments, issuing invoices, and maintaining business records.
Handling complaints, claims, and queries.
Improving our services, internal administration, and customer experience.
Meeting legal, regulatory, accounting, and insurance requirements.
Protecting our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud or misuse.

We will only use your data for purposes that are compatible with the reason it was originally collected, unless we have a lawful basis to use it differently.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. Depending on the activity, 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. This includes taking bookings, arranging removals, delivering items, and providing customer support connected to the service.

Legal obligation

We may process personal data when required to meet legal duties, such as maintaining accounting records, complying with tax obligations, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

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 can include managing our operations, improving services, preventing fraud, and keeping records of completed jobs.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example if it is needed for a specific optional activity. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time. Withdrawing consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, and to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting obligations.

Booking and service records are generally retained for a reasonable period after the job is completed in case of queries, disputes, or claims.
Financial and invoicing records may be retained for the period required by law.
Correspondence and complaint records may be kept for as long as needed to resolve issues and demonstrate compliance.
Technical or operational logs are retained only for a limited time unless needed for security, legal, or business purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in line with our retention practices.

5. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share it with trusted third parties when necessary to deliver our services or manage our business. These parties act either as independent controllers or as processors acting on our instructions.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and hosting providers that support data storage, email, or system operations.
Administrative and accounting service providers that help with invoicing, bookkeeping, and record-keeping.
Payment service providers that process transactions securely.
Customer communication tools used to manage messages and service updates.
Insurance or claims support providers where needed to assess incidents or resolve claims.

We require our processors to handle personal data securely, use it only for the agreed purpose, and comply with data protection obligations. We may also disclose personal data where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority.

6. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to protect it. This may include using adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other safeguards permitted under data protection law.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, and review of service providers. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and protect your information.

8. Your Rights

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data under UK data protection law. These rights are not absolute and may be subject to exemptions or conditions.

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – in some circumstances, you can ask us to delete your personal data.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability – you may request your data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests, and to direct marketing where relevant.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the timeframe required by law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging removals or transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for a service arrangement and provided by an adult with authority to do so. If we become aware that we have collected data from a child inappropriately, we will take steps to delete it.

10. 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. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is used.

11. Further Information

If you have concerns about how your personal data is handled, you have the right to raise those concerns with the relevant data protection authority. We also encourage you to review your rights carefully and request clarification where anything is unclear.

In summary: we process personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently; we keep it only as long as necessary; we use trusted processors under appropriate controls; and we respect your rights as a customer of Man And Van St Johns Wood.