Privacy Policy - Removals Paddington

This Privacy Policy explains how Removals Paddington collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Removals Paddington customers in the area, including individuals and businesses who request or receive removal, moving, packing, storage, or related services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Scope of this Policy

This Policy applies when you enquire about our services, request a quotation, book a removal, communicate with us, provide delivery instructions, use our storage options, or interact with us in any way connected with our services. It also applies where we receive your information from a third party who is arranging services on your behalf, such as an estate agent, landlord, employer, solicitor, or family member.

We only collect personal data that is necessary for legitimate business purposes and to provide our services safely and efficiently.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity details such as name, title, and any business name.
Contact details including email address, telephone number, and correspondence address.
Service details such as moving date, property type, inventory information, access requirements, and special handling instructions.
Payment information such as billing details and payment records.
Communication records including emails, notes from calls, complaints, feedback, and service requests.
Identification and verification data where required for fraud prevention, access control, or legal compliance.
Technical data such as device or browsing information if you interact with us online through forms or tracking tools.
Property-related information including moving addresses, parking restrictions, access arrangements, and entry instructions.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, for example where it is relevant to access needs or other service arrangements. If such information is provided, we will handle it with additional care and only where a lawful basis applies.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations and manage bookings.
To plan, deliver, and complete removal and related services.
To communicate about schedules, access, delays, and service changes.
To process payments and manage invoices or refunds.
To respond to enquiries, complaints, and claims.
To maintain records for administration, accounting, and legal compliance.
To improve our services, train staff, and monitor service quality.
To prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access.

We do not use personal data for unrelated purposes without informing you and, where required, obtaining a valid legal basis.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, confirming bookings, planning removals, and delivering the services you have requested.

Legal obligation

We may process information where necessary to comply with legal duties, such as tax, accounting, consumer law, insurance requirements, and record-keeping obligations.

Legitimate interests

We may process data for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include improving operations, protecting our business, preventing fraud, managing risk, and resolving disputes.

Consent

Where we rely on consent, we will make that clear at the time it is requested. You can withdraw consent at any time, although this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital interests and public tasks

These bases are unlikely to apply in most cases, but may be used in exceptional circumstances where necessary to protect someone’s life or where required by law.

5. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties that help us operate our business and deliver services. These organisations act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share the minimum information necessary and require appropriate safeguards.

Processors may include:

Payment providers who process card or bank transactions.
IT and cloud service providers who host systems, email, and data storage.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records.
Customer management or booking system providers who support scheduling and administration.
Survey, claims, or insurance-related providers where necessary to manage incidents or insurance matters.
Professional advisers such as lawyers, auditors, and insurers.

We may also share data with third parties where required by law, to protect our rights, to prevent crime, or to respond to lawful requests from public authorities. We do not sell your personal data.

6. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses personal data outside the United Kingdom, we ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protection measures. We take reasonable steps to ensure your data remains protected wherever it is processed.

7. 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, insurance, and dispute-resolution requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the reason it is held.

Booking and service records are usually retained for a period needed to manage the contract and any follow-up issues.
Financial and tax-related records are kept for the period required by law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to support service management and complaint handling.
Where data is no longer required, we will delete, anonymise, or securely archive it.

We review retention regularly to ensure information is not kept longer than necessary.

8. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, loss, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and limited access on a need-to-know basis. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take data protection seriously and continually review our safeguards.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

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 data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing - to ask us to limit use of your data in certain situations.
Right to object - to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability - to receive certain data in a usable format where processing is based on consent or contract.
Right to withdraw consent - where processing is based on consent.
Right to complain - to raise concerns with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data rights have been infringed.

These rights are not absolute and may be subject to exceptions under applicable law. We will respond to valid requests within the timeframes required by law and may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults arranging removals or related services. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data unless it is provided incidentally as part of a service arrangement, in which case we will only process it where lawful and necessary.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process data. 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 information is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitments

Removals Paddington is committed to processing personal data responsibly and transparently. We only collect data needed to deliver our services, rely on lawful bases such as contract, legal obligation, legitimate interests, and consent where relevant, share data only with trusted processors under appropriate safeguards, and retain information only as long as necessary. This policy applies to all Removals Paddington customers in area.