Privacy Policy - Man With A Van Waterloo

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With A Van Waterloo collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in relation to services provided to all customers in the Waterloo area. It applies to every customer, enquiry, booking, and service interaction connected with Man With A Van Waterloo, whether the service is requested online, by phone, by email, or through any other communication channel.

We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is written to help you understand what personal data we may process, why we process it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your information.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for managing enquiries, providing quotes, arranging removals, carrying out transport and related services, and meeting legal and administrative obligations. Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect the following types of information:

Identity details: your name and, where relevant, the name of your business or organisation.
Contact details: phone number, email address, and service address or collection and delivery locations.
Booking information: moving date, service requirements, access details, item descriptions, and special instructions.
Payment information: billing records, transaction references, and payment status. We do not retain more payment data than necessary.
Communication records: messages, emails, call notes, and any other correspondence relating to your enquiry or booking.
Service and operational records: details needed to complete the move, confirm attendance, and resolve service issues.
Technical information: limited information such as device or browser details if you interact with digital systems used for administration.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you voluntarily provide it and it is strictly necessary for the service or required by law. Special category data may include information about health, religion, or other sensitive matters. If such data is provided incidentally, we will handle it with additional care and only use it where there is a lawful basis to do so.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for specific and limited purposes connected with our services. These include:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
managing bookings and scheduling services;
delivering moving, loading, unloading, and transport services;
communicating about service changes, delays, and completion;
issuing invoices, processing payments, and maintaining records;
handling complaints, claims, and service disputes;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
protecting our customers, staff, and property against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
improving our operations, service quality, and internal administration.

We will only use your data in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected, unless we are required or permitted by law to use it for another reason.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. Man With A Van Waterloo relies on the following lawful bases where appropriate:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging collections, deliveries, and related moving services, as well as managing your booking and payment.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where this is necessary to comply with a legal obligation, such as maintaining accounting records, complying with tax requirements, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing customer enquiries, preventing fraud, improving our service, keeping internal records, and defending legal claims.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily agree to a specific optional use of your data. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital Interests and Public Task

These bases are unlikely to apply in normal circumstances, but if there is an emergency or a legal necessity, data may be processed to protect vital interests or to comply with a public function where required by law.

4. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only where necessary and proportionate. These third parties may act as data processors or independent controllers depending on the circumstances. We take steps to ensure that any sharing is limited to what is needed and that appropriate contractual and security measures are in place.

Examples of processors and recipients may include:

IT and system providers: for secure storage, email, scheduling, or customer record management.
Payment service providers: to process transactions and confirm payments.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers: to support financial administration and legal compliance.
Insurance providers or claims handlers: where required to manage damage, liability, or incident claims.
Professional advisers: such as legal or tax advisers where necessary for compliance or dispute handling.
Regulators or public authorities: when disclosure is required by law, court order, or lawful request.

Where a processor is used, they are permitted to process personal data only on our instructions and must implement appropriate security and confidentiality controls.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and no longer than is required by law or operational necessity. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason it is held.

Enquiry records: kept for a reasonable period to manage follow-up and service administration.
Booking and service records: retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a period after completion to handle queries or claims.
Accounting and tax records: kept for the period required by law.
Complaint and claim records: retained for as long as necessary to resolve the matter and protect legal rights.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete, anonymise, or securely destroy it in accordance with our retention practices.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include restricted access, secure storage, password protection, staff confidentiality obligations, and careful selection of service providers.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable and proportionate steps to safeguard the information we hold and to reduce the risk of misuse.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply subject to legal conditions and exemptions. They include:

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: you can request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability: you can ask for certain data in a structured, commonly used format where the legal requirements are met.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based 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 data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

8. International Transfers

Where personal data is stored or processed outside the UK, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to protect it to an equivalent standard. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other approved transfer mechanisms where required.

9. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal data is handled, you should first contact us using the relevant service channel through which your booking or enquiry was made. We will aim to investigate and resolve concerns promptly and fairly. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. Any updates will apply from the date they are published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

Scope notice: This Privacy Policy applies to all Man With A Van Waterloo customers in the area and to all personal data processed in connection with our services.