Privacy Policy - Man With Van Gunnersbury

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Gunnersbury collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Man With Van Gunnersbury customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quote, makes a booking, uses our moving services, or otherwise interacts with us in connection with removals, deliveries, packing, loading, unloading, or related van services. We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK GDPR, the Data Protection Act 2018, and applicable privacy laws.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Man With Van Gunnersbury acts as the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide why and how personal data is processed when providing our services, managing customer enquiries, and operating our business.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to provide our services and manage our business effectively. The personal data we may collect includes:

Identity information such as your name.
Contact information such as address, email address, and phone number.
Service details such as pickup and delivery locations, moving dates, access information, item descriptions, and service preferences.
Payment information such as payment status, invoice details, and transaction references.
Communication records including messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and booking correspondence.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you contact us online, where relevant.
Special category data only where strictly necessary and where you choose to provide it, for example health-related access needs that help us carry out a move safely. We will normally seek to minimise such data and process it only with a lawful basis.

We do not intentionally collect more information than is needed. If you provide information about third parties, such as building managers or recipients, you should ensure you have their permission to do so where required.

3. How We Collect Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote;
make or amend a booking;
communicate with us by phone, email, or other means;
pay for services or request an invoice;
submit feedback or a complaint;
provide delivery instructions or access details.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary, such as building reception staff, landlords, estate agents, or payment providers, but only where this is relevant to delivering the service or processing the transaction.

4. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotes;
to arrange, confirm, and deliver moving services;
to manage logistics, schedules, and route planning;
to process payments and issue invoices;
to communicate service updates, changes, or issues;
to maintain business records and accounting records;
to handle complaints, claims, and disputes;
to improve service quality and customer experience;
to meet legal, regulatory, tax, and insurance obligations;
to protect our business, staff, customers, and property.

We will only use your personal data for the purpose for which it was collected, unless we reasonably believe we need to use it for another compatible purpose and the law allows it.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a valid lawful basis under the UK GDPR. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract — where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing a quote, taking a booking, and completing a move.
Legal obligation — where we must process data to comply with legal requirements, such as tax, accounting, or record-keeping obligations.
Legitimate interests — where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing service quality, preventing fraud, handling disputes, and maintaining business records.
Consent — where we rely on your clear permission, for example for specific optional communications or where required for certain types of sensitive data processing.

Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties who help us operate our business. These parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service provided. Processors may include:

IT and hosting providers that help store or manage business systems;
payment service providers that process transactions;
accountants or bookkeeping services that support financial administration;
cloud communication providers that help us manage messages and records;
insurance providers where required to handle claims;
subcontractors or operational partners involved in completing your move;
public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

We only share the minimum data needed for the relevant purpose. Where we use processors, we require them to protect personal data appropriately and to process it only on our instructions, in line with data protection law.

Man With Van Gunnersbury does not sell personal data. We do not allow processors to use your personal data for their own unrelated purposes.

7. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses personal data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to protect that information. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other approved transfer mechanisms, as required by law.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, tax, insurance, and reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

In general:

quote and booking records are kept for a reasonable period after the service;
invoicing and payment records are kept for the period required by law;
correspondence and complaint records are kept as long as needed to resolve issues and protect our legal position;
any optional marketing permissions are kept until withdrawn or no longer needed.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or otherwise dispose of it.

9. Data Security

We take 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 limiting data access to people who need it for business purposes.

Although no system can be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of security appropriate to the nature of the data and the risks involved.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

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 circumstances.
Right to restrict processing — to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability — to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
Right to object — to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent — where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

These rights are not absolute and may not apply in every situation. If you exercise a right, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the time limits required by law.

11. Marketing Preferences

We do not send unsolicited marketing unless permitted to do so by law or with your consent where required. If we ever send you marketing communications, you can opt out at any time. We will respect your preferences and process opt-out requests promptly.

12. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adult customers and business contacts. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children in the normal course of our services. If we become aware that such data has been provided inadvertently, we will take appropriate steps to delete it where required.

13. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle personal data, we encourage you to raise them so we can address the issue. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

14. Changes to This 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 communicated.

15. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With Van Gunnersbury is committed to handling customer data fairly, lawfully, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear purposes, retain it for appropriate periods, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. We also respect your rights and aim to protect your data at every stage of our services. Your privacy matters to us, and we will continue to process personal data with care and responsibility.