Privacy Policy - Removal Company Tooting

This Privacy Policy explains how Removal Company Tooting collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Removal Company Tooting customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quote, books a service, receives a service, communicates with us, or otherwise interacts with us in connection with removals, packing, storage coordination, or related services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We only process personal data where we have a valid legal reason to do so, and we keep it only for as long as necessary.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Removal Company Tooting is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. This means we decide how and why your information is used. We take our responsibilities seriously and ensure that data is managed securely and responsibly.

This policy applies when you:

request a quotation or make an enquiry;
book a removal or related service;
communicate with us by phone, email, text, or other means;
use our services as a customer, recipient, or business contact;
interact with us in relation to payment, scheduling, complaints, or service updates.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Information you provide directly

Identity details such as your name and title;
Contact details such as address, email address, and phone number;
Service details including pick-up and delivery locations, access information, property type, inventory notes, preferred dates, and special instructions;
Payment and billing details where needed for invoicing, refunds, or account management;
Communications such as messages, complaints, feedback, or service requests;
Identification information if required for fraud prevention, contract checks, or legal compliance.

Information collected automatically

When you contact us or use our services, we may also collect limited technical and operational information, such as:

the date and time of communications;
service history and booking records;
device or browser information where relevant to online forms;
log data used for security and system maintenance.

We do not intentionally collect more data than is required for the operation of our services. We do not seek to obtain unnecessary information about you.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for specific and legitimate purposes, including:

providing quotations and processing bookings;
planning and delivering removal services;
communicating with you before, during, and after a service;
handling invoices, payments, refunds, and account administration;
responding to questions, complaints, or service issues;
maintaining business records and proving what services were provided;
protecting our operations, property, staff, and customers;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
improving the quality, efficiency, and safety of our services.

We will only use your data in ways that are compatible with the reasons it was collected. If we need to use your information for a new purpose that is not compatible, we will explain the legal basis before doing so.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each use of personal data. We rely on the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes preparing quotes, arranging bookings, and providing removal services.

Legal obligation

We process data where needed to comply with legal requirements, such as tax rules, accounting duties, record keeping, fraud prevention, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate interests

We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing our business, securing our systems, improving service delivery, handling complaints, and maintaining operational records. We always consider the impact on your privacy and apply safeguards where appropriate.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for certain optional communications or specific uses not covered by another lawful basis. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only where necessary and proportionate. These may include:

Service providers that support administration, scheduling, payment processing, IT, or secure storage;
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, auditors, or legal advisers;
Subcontractors or operational partners who help deliver parts of the service under our instructions;
Regulatory, law enforcement, or public authorities where disclosure is required by law;
Debt recovery or fraud prevention providers where necessary and lawful.

We require processors and other recipients to protect your data and to use it only for authorised purposes. We do not sell your personal data.

6. Data Processors

Where we use third-party processors, they act on our instructions and are contractually bound to keep personal data secure and confidential. Examples of processing activities may include:

secure hosting of business records;
email and communication services;
cloud-based scheduling or invoicing tools;
payment and accounting support;
IT maintenance and data backup services.

We select processors carefully and expect them to apply appropriate technical and organisational measures. If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place to protect it.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, tax, or insurance obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason for processing.

In general:

quotation and booking records may be kept for a reasonable period to manage the customer relationship and handle follow-up queries;
invoice, payment, and tax-related records are retained for the period required by law;
service correspondence and complaint records may be retained where needed to resolve disputes or maintain evidence of service delivery;
data that is no longer needed is securely deleted or anonymised.

We regularly review the data we hold and dispose of it safely when retention is no longer justified. Keeping information longer than necessary is not part of our practice.

8. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have rights under UK GDPR. Depending on the circumstances, these may include:

Right of access - to ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
Right to rectification - to request correction of 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;
Right to complain - to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your data has not been handled properly.

We will respond to valid rights requests within the time limits set by law. To protect your information, we may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

9. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our procedures.

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to reduce risk and handle incidents responsibly. Where required, we will notify affected individuals and relevant authorities of personal data breaches in line with legal obligations.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are directed to adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary for a lawful and specific service-related purpose. If we become aware that we have unintentionally collected data from a child without proper justification, we will take appropriate steps to delete or protect it.

11. 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. The updated 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 used.

12. Summary of Our Commitments

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage our services.
We process personal data on lawful bases such as contract, legal obligation, consent, and legitimate interests.
We share data only with trusted processors or where required by law.
We keep data only for as long as necessary and dispose of it securely when no longer needed.
We respect your rights and aim to handle personal data with care, transparency, and accountability.

Removal Company Tooting is committed to maintaining privacy, trust, and compliance for every customer in the area. This policy is intended to give you clear information about how we handle your data and the choices available to you.