Privacy Policy

Man and a Van Swiss Cottage Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Man and a Van Swiss Cottage collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to its customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Man and a Van Swiss Cottage customers and service users in the Swiss Cottage area and any nearby areas that we serve.

Who we are

Man and a Van Swiss Cottage is a local removals and transport service provider. In the context of applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the EU General Data Protection Regulation where applicable, we act as the data controller in relation to the personal data we collect and process about you.

Personal data we collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, service address, billing address, and any alternative contact person you nominate for the service.

Contact and communication details, such as your communication preferences and the content of messages you send to us through enquiry forms, messages or correspondence.

Service and booking details, such as the date and time of your booking, collection and delivery locations, access information, details of items to be moved or transported, and any special service requirements you communicate to us.

Payment related information, such as the amount charged, payment status, and method of payment. We do not store full payment card details where payment is processed through a third party payment processor.

Technical and usage data, such as basic information about how you use our website or online booking tools, which may include the date and time you access our site and basic analytics data generated by your browser or device.

How we collect personal data

We may collect your personal data in the following ways:

When you contact us to request a quotation or make a booking for our services.

When you provide information directly to our staff, for example when confirming details of a move or delivery.

When you use our website or any online forms or tools we make available for enquiries, quotations or bookings.

When you communicate with us by telephone, message or other correspondence in relation to our services.

From third party service providers and business partners where this is necessary to provide our services to you, such as payment service providers.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We process your personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under data protection law. Depending on the situation, this may include:

Contract: We process your personal data to enter into and perform a contract with you, including handling quotations, bookings, service delivery and invoicing.

Legal obligation: We may process personal data to comply with legal obligations, for example tax, accounting and record keeping obligations.

Legitimate interests: We may process personal data for our legitimate business interests, provided that these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This can include managing our operations, improving our services, communicating with you regarding existing bookings, and handling queries and complaints.

Consent: In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where we send certain direct marketing communications or where consent is required for specific optional activities. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

How we use your personal data

We may use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide our services to you, including processing quotation requests, confirming bookings, carrying out moves and deliveries, and managing your customer account.

To communicate with you about your enquiries, bookings, service updates, changes to our terms or policies, and any issues relating to the services we provide.

To process payments, issue invoices and handle refunds or queries related to transactions.

To manage and improve our operations, service quality, customer service and website performance.

To comply with applicable laws, regulations and guidance, for example maintaining records for tax and accounting purposes.

To protect our legitimate interests, for example to prevent or detect fraud, to handle disputes and to ensure the security of our staff and customers.

Data retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and to meet legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

Booking and service records, including basic contact details and service information, are generally retained for a period consistent with legal limitation periods and tax and accounting rules. After this period, the data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

Financial records and invoices are retained for the period required by applicable tax and accounting laws.

Enquiry and communication records that do not result in a booking may be retained for a limited period for administrative purposes and to manage follow up queries, after which they are deleted or anonymised.

Where we rely on consent for processing, we will retain the relevant data until you withdraw your consent or until it is no longer necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, whichever occurs first, unless a longer retention period is required by law.

Data processors and third parties

We may engage carefully selected third party service providers to process personal data on our behalf. These data processors only process personal data according to our instructions and in compliance with applicable data protection laws.

Examples of such processors and third parties include:

Payment service providers who process payments and manage certain aspects of financial transactions on our behalf.

IT and hosting providers who supply and maintain our IT systems, website and data storage solutions.

Professional advisers, such as accountants, where access to certain personal data is reasonably necessary for the performance of their services to us.

Where we share data with processors, we ensure that appropriate contracts and safeguards are in place to protect your personal data.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. We only share personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, where required by law, or where you have provided your consent.

International transfers

Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, or where data is stored or accessed from outside these areas, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data receives an equivalent level of protection. This may include using standard contractual clauses or relying on other safeguards recognised under data protection law.

How we protect your data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include limiting access to personal data to staff and service providers who have a business need to know, using proportionate physical and electronic security, and maintaining procedures for dealing with suspected personal data breaches.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and legal exceptions. Subject to those conditions, your rights include:

Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.

Right to rectification: You have the right to ask us to correct or complete personal data that is inaccurate or incomplete.

Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you may have the right to request that we delete your personal data.

Right to restriction of processing: You may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations.

Right to data portability: You may have the right to receive the personal data you have provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, and to request that we transmit it to another controller, where technically feasible.

Right to object: You may object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling related to those interests, and you have the absolute right to object to direct marketing.

Right to withdraw consent: Where we process your personal data on the basis of your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

Exercising your rights and complaints

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, or if you have any questions or concerns about how we handle your personal data, you may contact us using the contact details provided on our main website or in your service documentation.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection supervisory authority in your country of residence or where you believe a breach of data protection law has occurred. In the United Kingdom, the supervisory authority is the Information Commissioner's Office.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or for other operational reasons. Any updated version will be made available through our usual communication channels. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we collect and use personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Man and a Van Swiss Cottage customers and service users in the Swiss Cottage area and any surrounding areas that we serve.