Privacy Policy - Man With A Van Cowley

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With A Van Cowley collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, collection, delivery, and related transport services. It applies to all Man With A Van Cowley customers in the area, including individuals and business customers who request quotes, make bookings, or otherwise use 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 only use personal data where we have a proper legal basis to do so.

1. Data We Collect

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

Identity data such as your name and, where relevant, company name.
Contact data such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Booking and service data including move details, collection and delivery addresses, dates, inventory information, access notes, and service preferences.
Payment and transaction data such as payment status, invoice details, and billing records.
Communication data including emails, messages, complaint details, and customer service interactions.
Technical and usage data where applicable, such as basic website or device information if you contact us online.
Special instructions you provide about your move or delivery, including entry restrictions, fragile items, or timing requirements.

We only collect the information that is necessary for arranging and carrying out our services, handling enquiries, and meeting our legal obligations.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes and manage bookings;
to plan and deliver moving, collection, and transport services;
to communicate with you about your booking or service request;
to issue invoices and process payments;
to handle complaints, disputes, and customer support queries;
to maintain business records and improve our services;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and insurance requirements;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or other unlawful activity.

We do not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only when we have a valid lawful basis under GDPR. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out removals or deliveries, and managing payments.

Legitimate Interests

We may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing our operations, responding to enquiries, improving service quality, and protecting our business from fraud or misuse.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information where required to comply with laws and regulations, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping duties.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive certain optional communications. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers used for secure storage, email, scheduling, or document management;
payment service providers used to process transactions;
accountants or bookkeeping services supporting financial administration;
customer management or communication tools that help us handle bookings and enquiries;
insurance providers where claim handling or risk management requires disclosure;
legal, regulatory, or professional advisers where necessary.

We only share the minimum amount of information needed and require processors to protect your data, use it only for specified purposes, and comply with applicable data protection requirements.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, by a court order, or to protect our legal rights, safety, or property. We do not sell your personal data.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including service delivery, record-keeping, legal compliance, and resolving disputes.

Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the legal or business need for keeping it. For example:

booking and service records may be retained for a reasonable period after completion of the job;
financial and tax records are kept for the period required by law;
communications relating to complaints, claims, or disputes may be retained until the matter is resolved and for a further period if needed for legal defence.

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

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to those who need the information for business purposes.

While we work hard to safeguard your data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will respond in line with our legal obligations.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have certain rights regarding your personal data. These may include:

the right to be informed about how your data is used;
the right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
the right to rectification if your data is inaccurate or incomplete;
the right to erasure in certain circumstances;
the right to restrict processing in certain situations;
the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests;
the right to data portability where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means;
the right to withdraw consent where we rely on consent.

You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are concerned about how your personal data is handled. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so we can try to resolve the matter.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in the context of a service arrangement and provided by an adult customer in an appropriate and lawful manner.

9. International Transfers

Where any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that your personal data is protected to a standard recognised by applicable law. This may include using approved safeguards and contractual protections.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our business practices. Any updates will apply from the date they are published or communicated to you. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so you remain informed about how we handle personal data.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With A Van Cowley is committed to treating customer information with care, only collecting what is necessary, and processing data lawfully and fairly. We aim to be transparent about how we use personal data and to respect your rights at every stage of the service.

Last updated: This Privacy Policy applies to all Man With A Van Cowley customers in area and is designed to provide clear information about our data protection practices.