Privacy Policy - Man With Van Cranford

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With Van Cranford collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with its moving and transport services. It applies to all Man With Van Cranford customers in the Cranford area, including anyone who requests a quote, makes a booking, receives a service, or communicates with us about our services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. We respect your privacy and aim to collect only the information necessary to provide and improve our services.

1. Data We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This can include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as your phone number and email address.
Service information such as pickup and delivery addresses, property access details, moving dates, inventory lists, and special handling instructions.
Payment information such as billing details and transaction records. We do not store payment card information unless this is necessary for a particular payment method and processed securely by a payment provider.
Communication records such as emails, messages, booking notes, and customer service interactions.
Technical information if you contact us through digital channels, such as device type, browser type, and basic usage data collected for security and service improvement.

In some cases, we may also collect limited additional information that is necessary to complete the work safely and effectively, such as details about fragile items, access restrictions, or parking arrangements. We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is required for a lawful reason and is strictly necessary for service delivery.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data only where it is relevant to our services or legal obligations. Typical purposes include:

providing quotations and confirming bookings;
planning and carrying out removals and transport services;
communicating with you before, during, and after a service;
processing payments and maintaining financial records;
handling complaints, claims, and customer support requests;
maintaining safety, security, and fraud prevention measures;
meeting legal and regulatory obligations;
improving service quality, internal administration, and record keeping.

We use your data in a way that is necessary and proportionate to the service you request. We do not sell personal data or use it for unrelated marketing without a lawful basis.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling quotes, arranging removals, carrying out the service, and managing payment and service-related communication.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain records where required by law, such as accounting, tax, insurance, or dispute-handling obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights do not override those interests. This may include keeping internal records, protecting our business against fraud or misuse, improving operations, and ensuring service quality. We always consider whether the processing is balanced and reasonable.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where it is required for a specific optional communication or service. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect processing that occurred before withdrawal.

4. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary to deliver our services or comply with the law. These third parties may act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the circumstances.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and hosting providers used to store and secure records;
payment processors used to handle transactions;
accounting and bookkeeping providers;
customer communication and scheduling tools;
insurance or claims handling providers where relevant.

Where a third party acts as a processor, they only process data on our instructions and must keep it secure and confidential. We require appropriate data processing agreements and safeguards. Where we share data with independent professionals or organisations, they will be responsible for their own compliance under data protection law.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, law enforcement request, or to protect the rights, property, or safety of our business, customers, staff, or others.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, insurance, or reporting obligations. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the relevant legal requirements.

In general:

quotation and booking records may be kept for a reasonable period to manage service history and customer queries;
financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law;
complaint and claims records are kept for as long as needed to resolve the issue and support legal defence;
communication records are kept only as long as necessary for customer service, contract performance, and record keeping.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. Retention is reviewed regularly to ensure we do not keep data longer than necessary.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, confidentiality obligations, and data minimisation practices. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take data security seriously and review our safeguards regularly.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain legal conditions and exceptions.

Right of access – you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – you can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability – you can request a copy of certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in line with applicable data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before fulfilling your request. We aim to handle requests promptly and within the legal timeframe.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental to a customer booking or required for service delivery with appropriate authority. If we become aware that we have collected data unlawfully, we will take steps to delete it.

9. International Transfers

Where any service provider stores or processes data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in line with applicable law. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent protections.

10. 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 handling practices. 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 data is used.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With Van Cranford is committed to respecting your privacy and protecting your personal data. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it only for as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted providers or where required by law. All Man With Van Cranford customers in the Cranford area are covered by this Privacy Policy, and we aim to process every request with care, fairness, and transparency.

This policy is designed to provide a clear and GDPR-compliant explanation of our data practices while maintaining the trust of our customers.