Privacy Policy - Southwark Removals

Southwark Removals is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information when we provide removal, packing, storage, and related moving services. It applies to all Southwark Removals customers in the area, including prospective customers, current customers, and individuals who contact us about our services.

This policy has been prepared to reflect the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. It should be read together with any service terms or notices we provide at the time of enquiry or booking.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations. Depending on your interaction with us, we may collect the following categories of information:

Identity details: your name, title, and any information needed to identify you or your household.
Contact details: your address, email address, phone number, and moving location details.
Booking and service information: information about the property to be moved, access arrangements, inventory details, moving dates, special handling instructions, and service preferences.
Payment information: billing details, payment confirmation, and transaction records. We do not store unnecessary payment card data where it is processed securely by a third-party payment provider.
Communications: emails, messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and any other correspondence with us.
Technical data: limited information such as IP address, device type, browser data, and website interaction data if you use our digital services.
Special category data: we do not usually seek to collect special category data. If such information is provided to us, for example where it is necessary to accommodate access or health-related needs, it will be handled with additional care and only where lawful to do so.

We may receive personal data directly from you, from someone acting on your behalf, from referring agents, or from third parties involved in the service arrangement, such as building managers, landlords, insurers, or storage facilities where relevant.

2. How We Use Your Data

We process personal data to deliver our services efficiently and lawfully. Typical uses include:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange surveys, bookings, packing, transport, and delivery;
to plan logistics and allocate suitable staff and vehicles;
to communicate service updates, changes, or access requirements;
to process payments and manage invoices;
to handle complaints, claims, and disputes;
to meet regulatory, accounting, and tax obligations;
to maintain business records and improve our services;
to protect against fraud, misuse, or security incidents.

We only use your personal data for the purposes for which it was collected unless we reasonably determine that it is compatible with the original purpose and lawful under data protection law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on one or more of the following lawful bases when processing personal data:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotations, organising removals, issuing invoices, and completing the moving service.

Legal obligation

We may process information to comply with legal obligations, such as tax, accounting, insurance, fraud prevention, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate interests

We may process information where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing operations, improving service quality, maintaining security, handling enquiries, and defending legal claims.

Consent

Where we rely on your consent, we will make this clear at the point of collection. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this will not affect processing already carried out before withdrawal.

Vital interests and public task

These bases are not generally used by Southwark Removals, but may apply in rare circumstances where necessary to protect a person’s vital interests or where required by law.

4. Sharing Your Information

We may share personal data with trusted third parties, known as processors or other recipients, where necessary to provide our services or comply with legal duties. Such sharing is limited and controlled.

Examples of recipients include:

Payment processors who securely process transactions on our behalf.
IT and cloud service providers who support our email, storage, booking, and security systems.
Accountants and professional advisers who assist with financial, tax, audit, or legal matters.
Insurance providers or claims handlers where a claim or incident requires review.
Subcontractors or operational partners involved in delivering removal or storage services.
Regulators, law enforcement, or public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

We require all processors to process personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection obligations. We do not sell personal data.

5. International Transfers

In some cases, service providers may store or process data outside the United Kingdom. If this occurs, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place so that your personal data remains protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection requirements. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other legally recognised transfer mechanisms.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, insurance, and reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the nature of the relationship.

Quotation and enquiry records: retained for a limited period after the enquiry is concluded, unless further retention is needed for follow-up or dispute handling.
Customer service and booking records: retained for the duration of the service relationship and a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records: retained in line with legal requirements.
Complaints, claims, and legal records: retained for as long as needed to resolve the matter and meet limitation periods.

When personal data is no longer needed, it will be securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed.

7. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures are designed to reflect the nature of the data and the risks involved. Access is restricted to personnel who need it for legitimate business purposes and who are subject to confidentiality obligations.

Although we work hard to protect your data, no system can be guaranteed as completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will respond in accordance with legal requirements.

8. Your 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 or exemptions.

Right of access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: in some cases, you can request that we delete your data.
Right to restriction: you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: you can request that certain data be provided to you or another controller in a structured format.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We will respond to requests within the timeframe required by law and may need to verify your identity before acting on a request.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and household or business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary and lawful in connection with a service arrangement and provided by a responsible adult.

10. Automated Decision-Making

We do not ordinarily use fully automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects. If this changes, we will provide appropriate information about the logic involved, the significance of the processing, and your rights.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect legal, operational, or service changes. The latest version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage you to review it periodically so you remain informed about how we handle personal data.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Southwark Removals is committed to using personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear purposes, keep it secure, and retain it only for as long as necessary. We rely on lawful bases including contract, legal obligation, legitimate interests, and consent where appropriate. We also ensure that any processors we use are bound by appropriate data protection safeguards.

By using our services, you acknowledge that this Privacy Policy applies to all Southwark Removals customers in the area and explains how your personal data will be handled in accordance with applicable law.