Privacy Policy - Merton Man And Van

Effective date: This Privacy Policy applies to all Merton Man And Van customers in the area we serve.

We are committed to protecting your personal data and handling it in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Introduction

This Privacy Policy explains how Merton Man And Van collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when you enquire about, book, or use our removals, delivery, packing, and related services. It also explains your rights over your personal data and how you can exercise them. By using our services, you acknowledge that your information may be processed in accordance with this policy.

We only collect and use personal data where we have a valid legal reason to do so.

2. Personal data we collect

We may collect the following categories of personal data depending on the service you request:

Identity details: name, title, and any information you provide when making an enquiry or booking.
Contact details: address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details: moving dates, pickup and delivery addresses, property access notes, inventory information, and special handling instructions.
Payment details: billing information and limited transaction records. We do not intentionally store full payment card details where these are processed by a third-party payment provider.
Communication records: emails, text messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and correspondence with us.
Technical data: device and browser information, IP address, and general usage data where collected through standard website tools or analytics.
Special category data: in limited circumstances, you may voluntarily provide information that reveals health or access needs, for example if you request assistance with fragile items or specific lifting requirements. We will only process such data where necessary and with appropriate safeguards.

We aim to keep the information we collect to what is necessary for our operations. We do not seek to collect excessive or unrelated data.

3. How we use your data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to confirm and manage bookings;
to deliver removals and related services;
to communicate about schedules, access, changes, delays, or service updates;
to process payments and manage accounts;
to handle complaints, disputes, and claims;
to maintain records for legal, tax, accounting, and insurance purposes;
to improve our services, training, and internal operations;
to meet our legal and regulatory obligations.

We may also use anonymised or aggregated data for internal analysis and service improvement. Such data does not identify you directly.

4. Lawful basis for processing

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

4.1 Contract

We process data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out the move, and managing related communications and payments.

4.2 Legitimate interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include service administration, fraud prevention, quality assurance, record keeping, and internal business improvement.

4.3 Legal obligation

We may process and retain data where needed to comply with legal obligations, such as accounting, tax, insurance, health and safety, and record-keeping requirements.

4.4 Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, especially for optional communications or processing of information you choose to provide that is not strictly necessary for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4.5 Vital interests

In rare situations, we may process data if necessary to protect someone’s vital interests, for example in an emergency involving safety or health during a service.

5. Sharing your personal data

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for service delivery, legal compliance, or business operations. These may include:

Service providers: companies that help us with administration, payment processing, storage, IT support, communication tools, or scheduling.
Professional advisers: accountants, insurers, lawyers, and similar advisers where needed for lawful business purposes.
Subcontractors or operatives: where necessary to complete your move or related services.
Authorities: regulators, law enforcement, courts, or public bodies where required by law.

We require processors and other recipients to handle data securely and only on our instructions where appropriate. We do not sell your personal data.

6. Data processors

Where third parties process personal data on our behalf, they act as processors. We only engage processors that provide suitable guarantees regarding security, confidentiality, and GDPR compliance. Typical processor activities may include:

hosting or maintaining our systems;
storing records securely;
sending emails or SMS messages on our behalf;
processing payments;
supporting booking and customer management systems.

Processors are not allowed to use your data for their own unrelated purposes. We seek to ensure that contracts are in place to protect your information.

7. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Booking and service records: kept for a reasonable period after the service to manage queries, complaints, or claims.
Financial and tax records: kept for the period required by law.
Communication records: retained for as long as needed to resolve service issues and support business records.
Data collected with consent: kept until consent is withdrawn or the purpose ends, unless we must retain it for another lawful reason.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it where appropriate.

8. Data security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limiting access to those who need the data for their work.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take reasonable steps to reduce risks and protect your information.

9. Your 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:

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: you may request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to data portability: you may request certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object: you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Exercising these rights will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before your request.

10. International transfers

If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or standard contractual protections, so that your data receives an adequate level of protection.

11. Children’s data

Our services are intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is inadvertently included in service-related communications or necessary for a household move. Where this occurs, we will process the data only as required for the service and in line with this policy.

12. Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data handling practices. Any revised version will apply once made available. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.

13. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, you may raise them with us. You also have the right to complain to the relevant data protection authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

This Privacy Policy is designed to be clear, lawful, and practical. Merton Man And Van respects your privacy and is committed to using personal information responsibly, securely, and only where there is a valid basis to do so.