Privacy Policy - Man With A Van Mile End

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With A Van Mile End collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, delivery, transport, and related services. It applies to all Man With A Van Mile End customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business clients who use our services or communicate with us in connection with a booking, quotation, or service enquiry.

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

1. Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for providing and managing our services, responding to enquiries, complying with legal duties, and improving our operations. The data we may collect includes:

Identity information such as your name, title, and any business or organisation name.
Contact details such as phone number, email address, and service address.
Booking and service information such as requested dates, moving details, items to be transported, access requirements, and any special instructions.
Payment and billing information such as transaction records, invoice details, and payment confirmations.
Communication records including emails, messages, call notes, and complaint or feedback details.
Technical information if you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address, device details, and basic usage information.
Location-related information needed to carry out collections, deliveries, or removals efficiently.

We do not seek to collect unnecessary information. In most cases, we receive data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, provide service instructions, or contact us. In some cases, information may also be provided by a third party acting on your behalf, such as a family member, landlord, estate agent, solicitor, or business representative.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only where we have a valid reason to do so. Typical uses include:

Providing quotes and managing bookings.
Delivering moving, transport, and related services.
Communicating with you about your booking or service requirements.
Issuing invoices, managing payments, and keeping financial records.
Responding to queries, complaints, and customer support requests.
Maintaining records for legal, accounting, and insurance purposes.
Protecting our services against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.
Improving our service quality, staff training, and operational efficiency.

We will not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so. We also avoid collecting special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you have chosen to disclose it to us.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each use of your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, arranging services, confirming details, and completing the work you have requested.

Legal Obligation

We may process data to meet our legal obligations, such as tax record-keeping, accounting, fraud prevention, or responding to lawful requests from 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 service improvement, customer record management, business administration, and defence of legal claims.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily agree to receive certain types of marketing communication or where we need permission for optional processing. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

Vital Interests

In rare situations, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency where information is required to prevent serious harm.

4. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, tax, accounting, insurance, and operational requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the purpose for which it is held.

Customer and booking records are generally retained for a period necessary to manage services and resolve disputes.
Financial and invoicing records are kept for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Correspondence and complaint records may be kept longer where needed to handle claims or service issues.
Technical and security logs are retained for a limited time unless needed for investigation or legal purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it. We do not keep personal data indefinitely without a valid reason.

5. Processors and Data Sharing

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to use your data according to our instructions and must keep it secure. Examples may include:

Payment service providers that process card or electronic payments.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that help manage invoices and financial records.
IT and cloud service providers that support secure storage, email, and business systems.
Customer management tools used to organise bookings and communication.
Insurance, legal, or professional advisers where needed for claims, disputes, or compliance.

We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, regulatory request, or to protect our rights, staff, customers, or the public. If a third party receives personal data as an independent controller, they are responsible for their own privacy practices and legal compliance.

We take steps to ensure that any processor we use provides appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. These include access controls, confidentiality obligations, secure storage, and reasonable data minimisation practices.

6. Data Security

We use reasonable and appropriate security measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include restricted access, staff confidentiality obligations, secure password controls, and data handling procedures. However, no system can be guaranteed completely secure, and we encourage customers to share only the information needed for service delivery.

7. Your Rights

Depending on your circumstances, you may have the following rights under data protection law:

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

We will respond to valid requests within the time limits required by law. In some cases, we may need additional information to verify your identity before we can act on your request. Some rights may be limited where we need to comply with legal duties or establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults acting on their own behalf or for households and businesses arranging transport or moving services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service request made by an adult and only to the extent required to perform that service safely and appropriately.

9. International Transfers

Where personal data is stored or processed using systems located outside the United Kingdom, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place and that your information remains protected in line with applicable law.

10. 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 time it is made available. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is used.

11. Our Commitment

Man With A Van Mile End is committed to respecting privacy, using data responsibly, and limiting processing to what is necessary for legitimate business and service purposes. By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be handled in the ways described in this policy and in accordance with applicable data protection law.