Privacy Policy - Earlscourt Man And Van

Effective date: This Privacy Policy applies to all Earlscourt Man And Van customers in the area where our services are provided. It explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when you request, book, receive, or enquire about our moving and transport services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. Please read this policy carefully to understand how your information is used and what rights you have.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process personal data that you provide directly to us, information generated during the provision of our services, and limited technical information where relevant. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity details: name, title, and any other identifiers needed to arrange or deliver our services.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and other communication details.
Service details: booking information, move dates, property access details, inventory lists, delivery instructions, and notes about items to be moved.
Payment and transaction information: records of payments, invoices, and billing-related information.
Communication records: messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and records of correspondence.
Operational information: details needed to plan routes, estimate workloads, allocate staff, and complete the moving service safely and efficiently.
Verification information: where necessary, limited information to confirm identity, ownership, or authority to arrange a move.
Technical and usage data: if you interact with our digital services, we may collect basic device and usage information, such as browser type, IP address, and log data.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it or it is required in a specific situation. If such data is ever needed, we will only process it where a lawful basis applies and where additional safeguards are in place.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only where it is necessary for legitimate business, legal, or contractual purposes. In particular, we may use your information to:

respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
arrange, manage, and complete moving and van services;
prepare schedules, loading plans, and route arrangements;
process payments, issue receipts, and manage account records;
communicate about bookings, changes, or service updates;
deal with complaints, disputes, or service issues;
maintain records for accounting, tax, insurance, and compliance purposes;
improve our services, safety procedures, and customer experience;
protect our business, staff, customers, and property;
meet legal and regulatory obligations.

We will only use your personal data for the purpose for which it was collected unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another compatible purpose and that purpose is permitted by law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging quotes, managing bookings, delivering moving services, and handling payment or service administration.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service improvement, fraud prevention, record-keeping, operational planning, and protecting our staff and customers.

Legal Obligation

We process data when required to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, safety, and regulatory requirements.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent. Where consent is used, you have the right to withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Vital Interests

In rare situations, we may process data where it is necessary to protect someone’s vital interests, such as during an emergency involving health or safety.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only where necessary and only for the purposes described in this policy. These third parties may act as data processors or, in some cases, independent controllers.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment providers: to process card or online payments securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers: to manage invoices, records, and tax compliance.
IT and software providers: to support booking systems, email services, data storage, and business administration tools.
Insurance or claims handlers: where required for managing incidents, damage claims, or liability matters.
Professional advisers: such as legal, financial, or compliance advisers when necessary.
Subcontractors or operational partners: where needed to carry out a service you have requested.

We require processors to handle personal data securely, use it only for specified purposes, and comply with data protection law. We do not sell personal data.

We may also disclose information where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority, or where necessary to protect our rights, customers, staff, or the public.

5. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal protections to ensure your data receives a similar level of protection.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, and reporting requirements. The length of time may vary depending on the nature of the data and the reason for processing.

In general, retention periods may include:

Enquiry records: kept for a limited period after the enquiry is closed, unless a booking or further action follows.
Booking and service records: kept for the duration of the customer relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards for disputes, audit, and operational needs.
Financial and tax records: kept for the period required by law.
Complaints and incident records: kept for as long as needed to resolve the matter and defend legal claims.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention procedures. We do not keep personal data longer than necessary.

7. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff awareness, and restricted data handling procedures.

While we take reasonable steps to protect information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a personal data breach occurs and it is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take appropriate action in line with legal requirements.

8. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, these may include:

Right of access: to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of it.
Right to rectification: to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data where there is no legal reason for us to keep it.
Right to restriction: to request that we limit how your data is used in certain situations.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format and request transfer where technically feasible.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.
Right not to be subject to solely automated decisions: we do not use automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects without human involvement.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will review your request in accordance with data protection law. In some cases, we may need to verify your identity before responding.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging removal and transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental to the service and provided by a parent, guardian, or authorised adult. If we become aware that data has been collected inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

10. Cookies and Similar Technologies

If we use websites or digital tools in connection with our services, limited cookies or similar technologies may be used for functionality, security, and basic analytics. Where required, we will provide appropriate notice and controls in line with applicable law. Any such use will be limited to what is necessary and proportionate.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practices, or our services. The updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

12. Summary of Key Principles

Earlscourt Man And Van processes personal data fairly, securely, and only for specified purposes. We collect only what is necessary to provide our services, rely on appropriate lawful bases, share information only with trusted processors where required, retain data for no longer than necessary, and respect your rights under data protection law.

This policy applies to all Earlscourt Man And Van customers in the area.

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy.