Removal Company Kingston Upon Thames Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Removal Company Kingston Upon Thames collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in Kingston upon Thames and the surrounding area. It also describes your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This Privacy Policy applies to all customers, potential customers and individuals who interact with Removal Company Kingston Upon Thames within our service area, whether you contact us online, by post, or in person.

Who We Are and Scope of This Policy

Removal Company Kingston Upon Thames is a removals and related services provider operating in Kingston upon Thames and nearby areas. In relation to the personal data described in this Privacy Policy, we act as the data controller. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed.

This Privacy Policy covers personal data we process in connection with our household removals, commercial removals, packing, storage, and related services, as well as data processed when you visit our website or otherwise get in touch with us.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services you request. The types of data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details: name, postal address, property addresses for collection and delivery, contact preferences.

Service and contract details: details of your move or removal request, inventory or item lists you provide, service dates, special instructions relevant to the service, and records of communications about your booking or potential booking.

Billing and payment information: billing address, details of payments made and payment method used. We do not store full payment card details; these may be processed by secure payment processors acting on our behalf.

Technical and usage data: if you use our website, we may collect technical data such as IP address, browser type, and pages visited, as well as information you submit through online forms.

Correspondence and communication records: messages, enquiries, complaints or feedback you send to us, together with any responses we provide.

How We Collect Your Data

We typically collect personal data directly from you when you:

Request a quote or make an enquiry about our removal or storage services.

Enter into a contract with us for removals, packing or storage.

Communicate with us by phone, in person, by post, or using online forms.

Provide feedback, submit a review or respond to a survey.

We may also receive personal data indirectly from third parties, for example from comparison sites, letting agents, estate agents, or business partners who have your permission to share your details with us so that we can provide you with a quote or service.

Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract: To take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform the contract once it is in place. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out removals, and managing payments.

Legal obligation: To comply with legal and regulatory requirements, such as accounting, tax and record-keeping obligations, and to respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate interests: To pursue our legitimate business interests in a way that is proportionate and does not override your rights. Examples include managing and improving our services, handling enquiries and complaints, protecting our business from fraud or misuse, and maintaining accurate records.

Consent: In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes, arrange surveys and plan your removals or storage service.

To manage your booking, including confirming dates, addresses and specific requirements.

To deliver removals, packing, storage and related services safely and efficiently.

To manage billing, process payments, handle refunds, and maintain accounting records.

To respond to enquiries, complaints and service issues, and to provide aftercare.

To improve our services, including training staff and reviewing customer feedback.

To manage our website, including troubleshooting, data analysis, testing and security.

To send you information about similar services that may be of interest to you, where permitted by law and subject to your right to opt out.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with third parties when necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and in accordance with data protection law. These third parties may include:

Service providers and processors who act on our instructions, such as IT and website hosting providers, secure payment processors, document storage providers, and customer relationship management system providers.

Subcontractors or partner removal companies where required to fulfil your booking, for example for large or specialist moves, or services outside our usual operational capacity. These parties are required to handle your data securely and only for the agreed purposes.

Professional advisers such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers, where necessary for our legitimate business purposes or to meet legal obligations.

Government bodies, regulators or law enforcement agencies where we are required to do so by law or where it is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

Whenever we use data processors, we ensure there is a written agreement in place requiring them to process your personal data only in accordance with our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with data protection law.

International Transfers

Our primary operations and data storage are intended to be within the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area. If we ever need to transfer personal data to a country outside the UK or EEA that does not provide an equivalent level of data protection, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or other measures recognised by data protection law.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the nature of our relationship with you.

In general:

Quote and enquiry information is retained for a period that allows us to respond to your request, follow up where appropriate, and understand patterns in enquiries.

Contract and service records, including invoices and supporting documentation, are retained for the duration of your contract with us and for a further period required for legal, tax and accounting purposes.

Complaint and dispute records are retained for as long as reasonably necessary to resolve the issue and to protect our legal position.

Where your data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

Under the GDPR and related laws, you have several important rights in relation to your personal data. These include the right to:

Access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we process it.

Rectification: Ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Erasure: Request that we delete your personal data in certain circumstances, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no other lawful basis for retaining it.

Restriction: Ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we consider a request to rectify or erase your data.

Objection: Object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests as the lawful basis, including for direct marketing purposes.

Data portability: Request that we provide you with the personal data you have given us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and have it transmitted to another controller where this is technically feasible and where the lawful basis is consent or contract.

Withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent for processing, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing that took place before withdrawal.

You can exercise your rights by contacting us using the contact details published on our website or in our customer communications. We may need to verify your identity before responding to certain requests.

Security of Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those who need to know it for their role, using suitable security technologies, and regularly reviewing our information security procedures.

Marketing Preferences

We may contact you with information about our services that are similar to those you have previously used or enquired about, where permitted by law. You can opt out of receiving marketing communications at any time by following the instructions in the communication or by contacting us directly.

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 protection guidance. The latest version will always be available on our website and will apply to all customers and individuals in the Removal Company Kingston Upon Thames service area from the date it is posted.