Privacy Policy - Man With Van Whitton

Man With Van Whitton is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information relating to our customers, prospective customers, and other individuals whose data we process in connection with our moving, delivery, and transport services. This policy applies to all Man With Van Whitton customers in the area and to anyone who contacts us, requests a quote, books a service, or otherwise interacts with us.

We process personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We aim to keep your information safe, use it fairly, and only retain it for as long as necessary for the purposes described below.

1. Data We Collect

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

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, the names of people acting on your behalf.
Contact details such as postal address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information including pickup and delivery addresses, move dates, property access details, inventory lists, and special handling requirements.
Payment and billing information such as invoices, payment confirmations, and limited transaction records.
Communication records including messages, emails, complaint details, and notes from phone calls.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you submit an enquiry through an online form, where applicable.
Operational data such as job scheduling details, route planning, and service outcomes.

We may also collect information that you voluntarily provide about access needs, fragile items, or other instructions that help us deliver the service safely and effectively. We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, or where it is required for a lawful reason.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to operate and improve our services, communicate with you, and meet our legal obligations. In particular, we may use your information to:

provide quotes, plan jobs, and manage bookings;
carry out removals, deliveries, and related transport services;
communicate about schedules, access arrangements, delays, and updates;
issue invoices, process payments, and manage accounts;
handle customer service enquiries, feedback, and complaints;
maintain records for tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory purposes;
protect against fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
improve our operations, service quality, and internal processes.

We will only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for a compatible purpose.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, arranging bookings, moving goods, and handling payment arrangements.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, record-keeping, and other regulatory requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests do not override your rights and freedoms. This may include managing our business, preventing fraud, improving services, and handling customer support.

Consent

In limited cases, we rely on your consent, such as for optional communications or the use of particularly sensitive information that you have chosen to provide. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing Your Information

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the delivery of our services or for compliance purposes. These parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the context. They may include:

payment service providers;
accounting and bookkeeping services;
IT and cloud storage providers;
customer management or scheduling systems;
professional advisers such as insurers, lawyers, or accountants;
public authorities, regulators, or law enforcement where required by law.

When we use processors, we ensure they handle personal data only on our instructions and maintain appropriate safeguards. We do not sell your personal data.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes described in this policy, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods can vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing.

Booking and service records are generally retained for the period needed to manage the service and any follow-up issues.
Financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law.
Correspondence and complaint records may be retained for a reasonable period to evidence communications and resolve disputes.
Enquiry details may be deleted sooner if no service is booked and there is no ongoing need to retain them.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and restricting access to information on a need-to-know basis.

However, no system is completely secure. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, we cannot guarantee absolute security.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and legal basis for processing. They include:

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

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data.

8. Third-Party Processors

Where we engage processors, we require them to implement adequate safeguards and process personal data in line with data protection law. Processors may only use your information for the agreed purpose and must not use it for their own unrelated activities. We take reasonable steps to ensure contracts are in place and that security obligations are met.

Examples of processor obligations may include confidentiality, restricted access, secure deletion, and prompt notification of any data incident.

9. Marketing Communications

We will only send marketing communications where permitted by law. If you receive marketing from us, you may opt out at any time. Operational messages related to bookings, service updates, or billing are not marketing and may still be necessary even if you opt out of promotional messages.

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 processing practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we use your data.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With Van Whitton is committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only the information necessary to provide our services, use it on an appropriate lawful basis, retain it only for as long as needed, and protect it with appropriate safeguards. This policy applies to all Man With Van Whitton customers in the area and sets out the standards we follow to respect your privacy and your rights.