Privacy Policy - Man With Van Cheam

Man With Van Cheam is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of everyone who uses our services. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It applies to all Man With Van Cheam customers in the area, including individuals, families, landlords, tenants, and business customers who engage our moving and transport services.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Man With Van Cheam acts as the data controller for the personal information we collect and use in connection with our services. This means we decide how and why your data is processed when you request a quote, make a booking, communicate with us, or use our moving services.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. The type of data we may collect includes:

Identity information such as your name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details such as your address, email address, and phone number.
Service information such as property details, moving dates, inventory notes, access instructions, and service preferences.
Payment and billing information such as payment status, invoices, and transaction references.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, and complaint or feedback records.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you contact us through digital channels.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and permitted by law. Special category data includes information such as health, race, religion, or political opinions. If such data is provided incidentally, we will handle it with extra care and only where a lawful basis applies.

3. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect information in several ways, including:

Directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, or communicate with us.
Through service-related forms, messages, or instructions you provide.
From payment records and administrative processes.
From third parties where necessary, such as property managers, landlords, or business clients who arrange services on your behalf.

Where we receive data from someone other than you, we expect that person to have a proper basis for sharing it and to inform you where required.

4. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only for legitimate business and legal purposes. This may include:

Providing quotes and arranging moving services.
Managing bookings, scheduling jobs, and preparing for removals.
Communicating with you about your service, changes, or issues.
Processing payments, invoices, refunds, and accounting records.
Handling complaints, claims, and customer support requests.
Maintaining internal records and improving our operations.
Meeting legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory requirements.

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

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. We rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, delivering moving services, and managing service-related communications.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where we must comply with legal obligations, including tax law, accounting requirements, and other applicable regulatory duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include business administration, record keeping, service improvement, fraud prevention, and handling customer queries.

Consent

In limited cases, we may ask for your consent, for example where we need to use your data for a purpose that is not covered by another lawful basis. Where consent is relied upon, you may withdraw it at any time.

6. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and deliver services. These third parties act as processors when they handle data on our instructions, or as separate controllers where they determine their own purposes.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

IT and cloud service providers that store data securely and support our systems.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help with invoicing, tax, and financial records.
Payment service providers that process transactions.
Communication service providers that support messaging, email, or phone systems.
Insurance or claims service providers where needed to manage incidents or disputes.

We only use processors that provide suitable guarantees about data protection and confidentiality. They are required to process personal data securely, only for authorised purposes, and in accordance with our instructions.

We may also disclose data if required by law, to prevent fraud, to protect our rights, or in connection with legal proceedings.

7. International Transfers

Where any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal data is protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection law. These safeguards may include approved contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

8. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, tax, and insurance requirements. The retention period depends on the nature of the data and our legal obligations.

Customer and booking records are generally retained for a period that allows us to manage service history and handle any disputes.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Complaint, claim, or correspondence records may be retained longer where needed to resolve issues or defend legal claims.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you.

9. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures are designed to reflect the nature of the data we hold and the risks involved. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to maintain strong protection and limit access to personal information on a need-to-know basis.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply in certain circumstances and are subject to legal limits.

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 data.
Right to erasure – you may request deletion of your data where there is no lawful reason for us to keep it.
Right to restriction – you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability – you may request that we provide 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 processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the timeframes required by law and may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

11. Complaints

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, please raise the issue with us first so we can review and address it. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK supervisory authority for data protection if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or data handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

By using Man With Van Cheam services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.