Privacy Policy - Man And Van Westham

Man And Van Westham is committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information relating to our customers, prospective customers, and other individuals who interact with our services. It applies to all Man And Van Westham customers in the area.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy applies to information collected when you request a quote, make a booking, receive moving or van services, communicate with us, or otherwise use our services.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services, managing customer relationships, and meeting our legal obligations. The types of data we may collect include:

Identity information: name, title, and any details you provide when making an enquiry or booking.
Contact information: address, telephone number, and email address.
Service information: details about your move, collection and delivery addresses, access notes, inventory information, preferred dates, and service requirements.
Billing and payment information: invoicing details, payment status, and transaction records.
Communication records: emails, messages, call notes, and any other correspondence relating to your booking or enquiry.
Technical and usage data: basic information about how you interact with our digital systems, where applicable, such as browser type or device information.
Special category data: we do not usually seek to collect sensitive personal data. If you choose to disclose any such information, we will only process it where strictly necessary and where a lawful basis exists.

We may collect data directly from you, from a person acting on your behalf, or from third parties involved in delivering the service, such as payment providers or subcontracted processors.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes and respond to enquiries;
to arrange, manage, and deliver moving or van services;
to communicate with you about your booking, service requirements, or changes;
to issue invoices, process payments, and manage account records;
to maintain internal records and improve service quality;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
to resolve disputes, handle complaints, and protect against fraud or misuse;
to analyse service performance and business operations in a way that does not unduly impact privacy.

We will not use your data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was originally collected unless we have a valid lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis before processing personal data. Depending on the context, we rely on one or more of the following:

Performance of a Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotations, arranging removals or transport services, and managing bookings and payments.

Legal Obligation

We may process certain information to comply with legal requirements, such as tax rules, accounting obligations, insurance requirements, or requests from public 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 may include maintaining records, improving services, preventing fraud, and managing customer communications. We consider privacy impacts before relying on this basis.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, particularly for any optional processing that is not covered by another lawful basis. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Sharing Your Information and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the delivery of our services or to meet legal requirements. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on their role.

Processors may include:

payment service providers;
accounting and bookkeeping services;
IT, software, hosting, and data storage providers;
customer communications tools;
subcontracted service providers engaged to assist with the delivery of a move or van service.

Where a third party acts as a processor, they are required to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to use appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. We do not sell your personal data.

In some circumstances, we may also disclose information to insurers, legal advisers, regulatory bodies, or law enforcement where necessary and lawful. We will only share the minimum amount of data required for the relevant purpose.

5. Data Retention

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

As a general rule:

customer booking and service records are retained for as long as needed to manage the contract and any follow-up queries;
financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law;
communication records are retained for a reasonable period for customer service, quality assurance, and dispute resolution;
data no longer required is securely deleted or anonymised.

Where practical, we review retention periods regularly to ensure that data is not kept longer than necessary.

6. Security of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access on a need-to-know basis. While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce the risk of misuse or breach.

7. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

You have rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal restrictions, these include:

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 information.
Right to erasure: you may request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to limit how we use your data in specific 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, and to direct marketing where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Man And Van Westham will respond to valid requests without undue delay and within the time limits required by law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

8. International Transfers

If any of our processors or service providers store or access data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms designed to protect your information.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and businesses arranging moving or transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a booking made by an adult. If we become aware that we have inadvertently collected children’s data without a valid reason, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our internal practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

11. How We Respect Your Privacy

We aim to collect only what we need, use it only for clear and lawful reasons, and keep it only for as long as necessary. Our approach is based on data minimisation, purpose limitation, and accountability. We treat your information with care and expect the same standard from any processor acting on our behalf.

If you are a customer of Man And Van Westham in the area, this policy explains how your personal data is handled in connection with the services we provide. By engaging with our services, you acknowledge that your information may be processed as described in this policy, subject always to your rights under data protection law.