Privacy Policy - Man With A Van Barnet

This Privacy Policy explains how Man With A Van Barnet collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to its customers. It applies to all Man With A Van Barnet customers in the area, including individuals and businesses who request removals, deliveries, packing support, furniture transport, or related moving services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Information We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary to provide and manage our services. Depending on the nature of the booking, the information we may collect includes:

Identity details such as your name and, where relevant, company name.
Contact details such as telephone number and email address.
Address and location details including collection and delivery addresses, access notes, and parking information.
Booking and service details such as move date, item descriptions, service preferences, and special handling requirements.
Payment information such as billing details and transaction records. We do not retain more payment data than is necessary for accounting and legal purposes.
Communication records including enquiries, emails, text messages, and notes from phone calls.
Operational information such as job references, service history, and customer instructions.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is strictly necessary and you choose to provide it. If you disclose such information, we will only process it where we have an appropriate lawful basis and adequate safeguards.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal information only for legitimate business purposes connected with our moving and transport services. These purposes include:

providing quotations and confirming bookings;
planning routes, vehicle use, and staff allocation;
carrying out the requested service safely and efficiently;
communicating with customers about scheduling, access, or service updates;
processing payments, refunds, or invoices;
keeping business, tax, and accounting records;
handling customer queries, complaints, and service follow-up;
meeting legal, regulatory, and insurance obligations;
preventing fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
improving our services, processes, and customer experience.

We do not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reason it was collected. If we need to use your data for a new purpose, we will only do so where the law allows it.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. The main lawful bases we rely on are set out below:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, arranging moving services, communicating about the job, and completing the requested service.

Legal Obligation

We process some data to meet legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, record-keeping, and compliance with applicable transport or business regulations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include managing our business operations, preventing fraud, maintaining service quality, and responding to customer enquiries.

Consent

In limited cases, we may ask for your consent, for example if processing is not covered by another lawful basis. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties when necessary to provide our services, run our business, or comply with legal duties. These third parties act as processors or independent controllers depending on the service provided.

Processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers that store booking records, communications, or backups;
payment processors that handle card or electronic payment transactions;
accountants and bookkeeping providers that support financial administration;
customer management or scheduling systems used to organise bookings and service delivery;
insurance providers and claims handlers where incidents or losses must be reviewed;
professional advisers such as legal or tax advisers when required.

We only engage processors that provide sufficient guarantees regarding confidentiality, security, and compliance with data protection law. All processors are required to process personal data only on our instructions, to use appropriate security measures, and not to use the data for their own unrelated purposes.

We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, regulatory request, or where disclosure is necessary to protect our rights, property, staff, customers, or the public.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the nature of the service provided.

Booking and service records are kept for a reasonable period to support administration, aftercare, and dispute resolution.
Invoice and payment records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Correspondence and complaint records are retained for as long as needed to respond to issues and defend legal claims.
Technical or security logs are kept only for the time necessary to maintain system integrity and investigate incidents.

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of in a way that prevents unauthorised access or recovery.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from accidental loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and restricted use of customer information. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to ensure that data is handled with care and protected to a standard appropriate to the risk involved.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be limited in some cases where an exception applies, but we will always assess requests carefully and respond appropriately.

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 – you can request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests.
Right to data portability – you can request certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully. We encourage you to contact us first so we can try to resolve any issue directly.

8. Children's Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is necessary as part of a move or delivery arranged by an adult customer. Where such information is processed, it will only be used for the specific service purpose and handled with appropriate care.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect personal data.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Man With A Van Barnet is committed to processing customer data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it only for as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or when required by law. This policy applies to all Man With A Van Barnet customers in area and is designed to protect your privacy while enabling us to deliver reliable moving services.