Privacy Policy - Swiss Cottage Man And Van

This Privacy Policy explains how Swiss Cottage Man And Van collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects personal data. It applies to all Swiss Cottage Man And Van customers in the area, as well as to individuals who enquire about our services, receive a quotation, make a booking, or otherwise interact with us in connection with a removal, delivery, or transport service.

Swiss Cottage Man And Van is committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We only collect data that is necessary for the purposes described in this policy and we take reasonable steps to keep it secure.

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to customers, prospective customers, household members, business contacts, and other individuals whose information we may need to process in order to provide our services. It also applies where a customer provides details about other people, such as building access contacts, delivery recipients, or authorised representatives. If you provide information about another person, you should make sure that person is aware of this policy and that you have permission to share their information where required.

2. Personal data we collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on the service requested. The information we collect may include:

Identity data: name, title, and where relevant company name.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and preferred contact details.
Booking and service data: details of the items to be moved, collection and delivery addresses, access notes, dates, times, and service instructions.
Payment data: billing details, payment confirmation, and limited transaction records.
Communication data: messages, enquiries, complaints, feedback, and records of correspondence.
Usage and technical data: basic information relating to website or device access where applicable, such as IP address and browser information, if collected through standard security and operational tools.
Special category data: we do not normally seek to collect special category data. If such information is incidentally provided, for example in written instructions, we will only process it where a lawful basis exists and where it is necessary and appropriate to do so.

We do not intentionally collect more information than is needed to arrange and deliver our services.

3. How we use personal data

We use personal data only for legitimate business and legal purposes connected with our services. These purposes may include:

providing quotations and confirming availability;
managing bookings and scheduling services;
planning routes, access, and logistics;
communicating with customers about service updates, changes, or issues;
processing payments and maintaining financial records;
handling enquiries, complaints, and claims;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance obligations;
protecting against fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
improving service quality, training, and internal administration.

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

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the circumstances, Swiss Cottage Man And Van may rely 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 preparing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out a removal or delivery, and managing service-related communications.

Legal obligation

We may process personal data where needed to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, record-keeping, insurance, or regulatory requirements.

Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service administration, customer support, fraud prevention, security, and internal record management.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications or specific uses not covered by another lawful basis. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time, without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

We only process personal data when we have a valid reason to do so and when the processing is necessary for the stated purpose.

5. Sharing personal data and processors

We do not sell personal data. However, we may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business and provide services. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers. We only share information where it is necessary and appropriate.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

payment service providers who process transactions;
accountants or bookkeeping providers who support financial administration;
IT and cloud service providers who store or secure business records;
communication service providers who support email, phone, or messaging systems;
insurance or claims-related providers where needed for incident handling;
subcontractors or operational partners who assist in delivering a booked service.

Where we use processors, we require them to handle personal data securely and only in line with our instructions and applicable data protection law. We do not permit processors to use your data for their own unrelated purposes.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, government authority, or where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

6. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, and reporting obligations. The exact retention period depends on the type of data and the reason it was collected.

Booking and service records: retained for a reasonable period after completion of the service to deal with queries, disputes, or follow-up matters.
Payment and accounting records: retained for the period required by tax and financial laws.
Correspondence and complaint records: retained for as long as needed to respond effectively and maintain business records.
Technical and security logs: retained for a limited period unless a longer period is necessary for investigation or security purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

7. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited staff access, and operational procedures designed to protect confidentiality. However, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

If a personal data breach occurs and we are required by law to do so, we will notify the relevant supervisory authority and affected individuals in accordance with legal obligations.

8. Your rights

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

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

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the time limits required by law unless an extension is permitted. These rights are not absolute and may be subject to legal exceptions.

9. Children’s data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is necessary as part of a household move or service booking provided by an adult. If we become aware that we have collected data unlawfully from a child, we will take appropriate steps to delete it.

10. International transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that suitable safeguards are in place, such as approved contractual protections or other lawful transfer mechanisms. Any transfer will be made only where necessary and with appropriate protection for the data involved.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or the way we process personal data. The latest version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how their data is handled.

12. Summary of our commitment

Swiss Cottage Man And Van respects privacy and processes personal data responsibly. We collect only the information needed to provide our services, rely on appropriate lawful bases, retain data for no longer than necessary, and use trusted processors under suitable safeguards. Your rights matter, and we aim to support them in a clear and lawful manner.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Swiss Cottage Man And Van customers in area.