Removals Acton Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Removals Acton collects, uses, stores and protects personal data when providing removal and related services. It applies to all Removals Acton customers and prospective customers in our service area, as well as individuals who contact us with enquiries or interact with our services in any way.

Removals Acton is committed to complying with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and all applicable data protection laws. We process personal data lawfully, fairly and transparently, and only for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes.

Data Controller

For the purposes of data protection law, Removals Acton is the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide why and how your personal data is processed in connection with our services.

What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data when you use our services or contact us:

Identification and contact details such as your name, address, service address, billing address and preferred contact details.

Communication data such as the content of your messages and enquiries, feedback, and any information you provide when communicating with us about quotes, bookings or after-sales support.

Service and contract data such as details of your removal requirements, inventory information you choose to provide, access details for properties, dates and times of moves, and any additional services requested.

Payment and billing information such as payment status, billing history and partial card details or transaction references where required for accounting, but not full card numbers if payments are processed through secure third-party providers.

Usage and technical data such as information about how you access and use our website or online tools, including approximate location data, device information and log data, where this is collected through cookies or similar technologies.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data in the following ways:

Directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, complete forms, speak with us by phone, or communicate via other channels.

Automatically when you visit or interact with our website, through the use of cookies and analytics tools that collect technical and usage data.

From third parties where lawful, for example from payment processors confirming payments, or from referral partners who have your permission to share your details with us.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on the following lawful bases under data protection law to process your personal data:

Performance of a contract: To take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform our contract with you, for example to provide a quote, manage your booking, deliver removal services and handle payments.

Legal obligation: To comply with our legal and regulatory duties, including tax, accounting and record-keeping requirements and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate interests: To pursue our legitimate business interests, provided that your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing and improving our services, handling customer queries, preventing fraud, ensuring security, and maintaining business records.

Consent: Where required by law, we may rely on your consent, for example in relation to certain types of marketing communications or optional cookies. When we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes, estimates and information about our removal and related services.

To set up, manage and fulfil your bookings and contracts, including planning and carrying out removals, storage and associated services.

To communicate with you about your enquiry, booking, service updates, changes to terms and conditions, and after-care support.

To process and record payments, invoices and refunds, and to manage debt recovery where necessary.

To respond to your requests, complaints or claims, and to resolve disputes.

To operate, maintain and improve our website, services and customer experience, including through analytics and service monitoring.

To protect our business, staff and customers, for example by preventing misuse of our services, detecting fraud and ensuring security.

To comply with legal obligations and cooperate with regulators and authorities where required.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These include:

IT and cloud service providers who host our systems, databases and communications tools.

Payment service providers who process payments securely.

Customer relationship and scheduling systems used to manage bookings and customer communications.

Professional advisers such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary for compliance or business management.

We require all data processors to act only on our documented instructions, to keep your data secure and confidential, and to comply with applicable data protection laws. We do not sell your personal data.

We may also share personal data where necessary with insurers, law enforcement bodies, courts or regulatory authorities, if required by law or to protect our legal rights.

International Data Transfers

Some of our service providers may process personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area. Where this occurs, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data, such as using contracts approved by data protection authorities or ensuring that the destination country has an adequate level of protection.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including meeting legal, accounting and reporting requirements.

In general, we keep customer and booking records for a period that allows us to handle queries, manage contracts and comply with tax and accounting rules. After the relevant retention period ends, personal data is securely deleted, anonymised or archived in accordance with our data retention procedures.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure. These measures include controlling access to systems, using appropriate security technologies and training staff on data protection responsibilities. While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your data, no system can be completely secure.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These include the right to:

Access: Request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and receive a copy of the data we hold about you.

Rectification: Request correction of inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Erasure: Request deletion of your personal data where there is no longer a legal basis for us to keep it, for example when it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal ground for processing.

Restriction: Request that we limit the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we are verifying the accuracy of data or considering an objection you have raised.

Objection: Object to processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds or the processing is required for legal claims.

Data portability: Request that we provide personal data you have given us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, and where technically feasible, transmit it to another controller, where the processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.

Withdraw consent: Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

Use of Cookies and Similar Technologies

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to enable core functionality, enhance your experience and help us understand how the site is used. Where required by law, we will ask for your consent before setting non-essential cookies. You may be able to control cookies through your browser settings, although disabling certain cookies may affect website functionality.

Applicability of This Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Removals Acton customers and prospective customers within our service area, and to anyone who contacts us or uses our website in relation to our services. By engaging with us, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or services. Any updated version will be made available through our usual communication channels. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.