Privacy Policy - Man With Van Dulwich

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Dulwich collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, van hire, removals, and related services. It applies to all Man With Van Dulwich customers in the Dulwich area, including individuals and businesses that enquire about, book, or receive our services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect personal data directly from you, from third parties involved in arranging your move, or automatically through our systems when you communicate with us. The categories of data we collect may include:

Identity data: name, title, and any business or company name you provide.
Contact data: address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details: move dates, collection and delivery addresses, property access information, item lists, special handling needs, and service preferences.
Payment and transaction data: records of payments, invoices, quotes, and billing history.
Communication data: messages, call notes, complaint details, and feedback.
Technical data: basic device and usage information collected through our digital systems, where applicable, such as IP address, browser type, and timestamps.
Safety and risk information: details needed to plan a safe move, such as heavy items, limited access, or parking restrictions.

We do not collect more data than is necessary for the purposes described in this policy. Where special category data is not required, we do not intentionally seek to collect it.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use your personal data only where there is a valid reason to do so. The main purposes for processing are:

to provide quotations and respond to service enquiries;
to plan, schedule, and complete removal or van services;
to manage customer accounts, bookings, invoices, and payments;
to communicate important service updates or changes;
to record complaints, queries, and service feedback;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to protect our business, staff, customers, and property;
to improve our operations, service quality, and customer experience;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will always aim to ensure that any use of personal information is necessary, proportionate, and reasonable.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under GDPR, we must identify a lawful basis for each type of processing. Depending on the activity, Man With Van Dulwich relies on one or more of the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, arranging moves, processing payments, and delivering the services you request.

Legal Obligation

We process certain data to comply with legal duties, including accounting records, tax requirements, and responses to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is in our legitimate interests to run and improve our business, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights. Examples include service administration, record keeping, business security, and handling customer enquiries. We carefully assess such processing to ensure it is balanced and respectful of your privacy.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, such as where it is appropriate for optional communications or certain marketing-related activities. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our services. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on their role. When processors are used, they are required to protect personal data and only process it on our instructions, subject to appropriate confidentiality and security obligations.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

payment service providers;
accounting and invoicing systems;
IT, hosting, and data storage providers;
email and communications platforms;
customer management and booking tools;
professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where needed.

We may also disclose information if required by law, to enforce our terms, or to protect the rights, safety, and property of our customers, staff, or business. We do not sell personal data.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and for as long as required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing.

Booking and service records are typically retained for the duration needed to manage the customer relationship and resolve any queries or disputes.
Financial and tax records are generally kept for the period required under accounting and tax law.
Communication records may be retained for a reasonable period to support service quality and complaint handling.
Security-related records are kept only for as long as needed for protection, investigation, or compliance purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy, or anonymise it.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to help protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and procedural safeguards. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risk and protect your information.

7. International Transfers

If any personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place in accordance with applicable data protection law. This may include use of approved contractual protections or transfers to countries with adequate protection standards.

8. 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 information.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we use 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 structured, commonly used format where applicable.
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 believe your data rights have been infringed. We encourage you to raise concerns with us first so we can try to resolve them promptly.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging removals and transport services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children for direct service purposes. If we become aware that we have collected children’s data without an appropriate basis, we will take steps to delete it where required.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practices, or service arrangements. Any revised version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

We respect your privacy and are committed to processing personal information responsibly. Man With Van Dulwich only collects data that is relevant to delivering our services, uses it for clear and lawful purposes, retains it for appropriate periods, and works with processors that are expected to safeguard it. We also recognise and support your rights under GDPR and will handle any request in a fair and lawful way. This policy applies to all customers in the Dulwich area who use or enquire about our services.

Privacy-first approach: We aim to keep your data safe, necessary, and used only for the purpose of providing reliable moving services.