Privacy Policy - Southwark Removals

Last updated: This Privacy Policy explains how Southwark Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Southwark Removals customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and anyone who interacts with our services on their behalf.

1. Introduction

Southwark Removals is committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy sets out the types of personal data we may collect, the purposes for which we use it, the legal bases we rely on, how long we keep it, the categories of third parties we may share it with, and the rights available to you.

By using our services, making an enquiry, requesting a quote, or otherwise providing personal information to us, you acknowledge that your data may be processed as described in this policy.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity data: name, title, and any identifying details you provide.
Contact data: address, email address, telephone number, and moving addresses.
Service data: details about your move, property access, items to be moved, preferred dates, special handling instructions, and service requirements.
Billing and payment data: invoicing details, payment status, and transaction information.
Communication data: records of correspondence, enquiries, complaints, and service-related communications.
Technical data: limited information such as IP address, browser type, and device data where collected through digital systems used to manage enquiries or bookings.
Operational data: notes created for planning, scheduling, risk assessment, and service delivery.

We aim to collect only the data that is necessary and relevant to provide our services effectively and to meet our legal obligations.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to plan, manage, and deliver removal services;
to communicate with you about your booking, schedule, or service changes;
to prepare invoices, process payments, and manage accounts;
to maintain business records and service histories;
to handle complaints, claims, and disputes;
to improve our operations, services, and customer experience;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory requirements;
to protect our business, staff, customers, and property from fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity.

We will only process personal data where we have a valid legal basis to do so, and we will not use it in ways that are incompatible with the purposes explained in this policy.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Southwark Removals may rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, including providing quotations, arranging services, completing removals, issuing invoices, and managing service-related communication.

Legal obligation

We may process and retain personal data where necessary to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting, record-keeping, and other statutory obligations.

Legitimate interests

We may process personal 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 bookings, improving service delivery, ensuring security, maintaining operational efficiency, and defending legal claims.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example where you explicitly agree to receive certain non-essential communications. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share personal data with carefully selected third parties who help us operate our business and provide our services. These third parties act as processors or, in some cases, independent controllers.

IT and software providers: systems used for booking management, communications, document storage, and administration.
Payment service providers: organisations that help process customer payments securely.
Accountants and professional advisers: where necessary for financial, legal, or business administration purposes.
Subcontracted service providers: where required to deliver part of the removal service.
Regulators, law enforcement, and public authorities: where disclosure is required by law or necessary to protect legal rights.

We require our processors to act only on our instructions, to use appropriate security measures, and to protect personal data in line with data protection law.

6. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate safeguards to ensure your personal data remains protected. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent measures required by law.

7. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting obligations.

Typical retention periods may include:

quotation and enquiry records: retained for a reasonable period to manage follow-up and business administration;
customer service and contract records: retained for the duration of the service relationship and thereafter as needed for dispute resolution and legal protection;
invoice, payment, and tax records: retained for the period required by applicable tax and accounting laws;
complaints and claims information: retained for as long as necessary to handle the matter and defend potential claims.

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

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limiting access to those who need the information for legitimate business purposes.

No method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free, but we work to ensure that personal data is handled responsibly and securely.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

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

Some rights apply only in certain circumstances and may be subject to legal exceptions. We will respond to valid requests in accordance with applicable law.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where necessary in connection with a customer’s household or service arrangement and only to the extent permitted by law.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or operational needs. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

12. Complaints

If you have concerns about how your personal data is handled, you have the right to raise a complaint with the relevant data protection authority. We would also welcome the opportunity to address your concerns directly and resolve any issue promptly and fairly.

13. Summary of Key Points

Southwark Removals processes personal data to provide removal services, manage enquiries, fulfil contracts, and meet legal obligations. We only collect data needed for legitimate business purposes, we share it with trusted processors where necessary, and we keep it only for as long as required. You have rights over your data, including access, correction, deletion, and objection, subject to legal limits.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Southwark Removals customers in area.