Privacy Policy - Man And Van Elephant And Castle

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

By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal information may be processed as described in this policy. We only collect information that is necessary for service delivery, administration, legal compliance, and legitimate business purposes.

1. Data We Collect

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

Identity details, such as name and title.
Contact details, such as telephone number and email address.
Address information, including pickup and delivery locations, billing addresses, and property access details.
Service information, such as booking dates, inventory lists, requested services, and special instructions.
Payment-related information, such as transaction records and payment confirmations.
Communication records, including enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence.
Technical data, such as basic website or device information if you contact us through digital channels.
Operational data, such as job notes, delivery status, and service history.

We may also process limited sensitive information where necessary, for example details relating to access needs, health and safety concerns, or fragile items that require special handling. Such information is only used where it is relevant to providing a safe and effective service.

2. How We Collect Personal Data

We collect data directly from you when you:

request a quotation or make a booking;
communicate with us by phone, email, or message;
provide delivery or property access instructions;
submit feedback, complaints, or service requests;
make payment or confirm an order.

We may also receive personal data from third parties when necessary for service delivery, such as property managers, business clients, payment providers, or subcontracted service partners acting on our instructions.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes and manage bookings;
to plan, deliver, and complete moving or transport services;
to communicate with customers about their bookings;
to process payments and maintain records;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and support requests;
to improve service quality, planning, and safety;
to meet legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to protect our business, staff, customers, and property;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims where necessary.

We do not sell your personal data. We only use it for legitimate service-related purposes and where we have a proper legal basis to do so.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. We rely on the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes handling bookings, providing moving services, managing service changes, and processing payments.

Legal obligation

We process data where necessary to comply with legal duties, such as tax records, accounting requirements, insurance matters, health and safety obligations, and other 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 improving services, managing customer relations, preventing fraud, maintaining service records, and resolving disputes.

Consent

Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before processing certain data. If consent is used as the legal basis, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Vital interests and public interest

In rare cases, we may process personal data to protect someone’s vital interests or where required for public interest-related reasons, such as urgent safety circumstances.

5. Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties only when necessary and in accordance with this policy. These parties may act as processors on our behalf or as independent controllers in some situations.

Examples of processors and service partners include:

payment service providers who handle secure transactions;
IT and cloud service providers that store or support business systems;
customer communication tools used for booking and service updates;
accountants or bookkeeping providers who assist with financial records;
subcontracted movers or logistics partners where required to complete a service;
professional advisers, including legal or insurance advisers, when necessary.

All processors are expected to handle personal data securely, act only on our instructions, and use appropriate technical and organisational safeguards. We do not permit processors to use your data for their own unrelated purposes.

We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, regulatory request, or to protect the rights, safety, and property of our customers, staff, or business.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Booking and service records are generally retained for a reasonable period to manage customer history, complaints, and service verification.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Correspondence and support records are kept long enough to resolve queries and maintain service accountability.
Safety-related records may be retained where needed for insurance, claims, or incident management.

When data is no longer needed, we will delete, anonymise, or securely destroy it. We regularly review retention needs to ensure data is not kept longer than necessary.

7. Security of Personal Data

We use appropriate security measures to help protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, staff confidentiality obligations, secure storage, and procedures designed to reduce the risk of accidental loss or unlawful processing.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take reasonable and proportionate steps to protect customer data and maintain confidentiality throughout our operations.

8. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it in accordance with applicable data protection law. This may include the use of approved contractual safeguards or transfers to countries recognised as providing adequate protection.

9. Your Rights

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, you have the following rights regarding 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 situations.
Right to restrict processing – to ask us to limit how your data is used in certain cases.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

If you 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.

10. Automated Decision-Making

We do not use personal data for automated decision-making that has legal or similarly significant effects on you. If this changes in the future, we will update this policy and provide appropriate information about your rights.

11. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed to children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in the context of a booking or service where a parent, guardian, or authorised adult is acting on their behalf.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. Any updates will apply from the date they are published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how personal data is handled.

13. Summary of Our Commitment

Man And Van Elephant And Castle is committed to processing personal data lawfully, securely, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it only as long as necessary, and protect customer rights at every stage. This policy applies to all customers in the Elephant and Castle area who use our services or contact us in connection with them.

By engaging our services, you confirm that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.