Bermondsey Removals Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Bermondsey Removals collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data when providing removal and related services. It applies to all Bermondsey Removals customers and prospective customers within our service area, including anyone who contacts us to request information, a quotation, or to book a service.

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different categories of personal data to provide our services and manage our relationship with you. The types of data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details such as your full name, postal address, collection and delivery addresses, and any other contact address you provide, as well as information you choose to share to help identify you when communicating with us.

Communication details and preferences such as the content of your messages to us, your communication preferences, and records of your contact with us, including notes from phone calls and any correspondence you send to us or we send to you.

Service and booking information such as details of the removal or related services you request, dates and times of bookings, property access details you choose to provide, inventory or item descriptions when relevant, and any relevant instructions or notes linked to your move.

Payment and transaction information such as amounts charged, payment method type, and transaction records necessary for accounts and tax purposes. We do not store full payment card details when payments are processed through secure third-party payment processors.

Technical and usage information such as basic technical information provided by your device or browser when you visit our online channels, for example pages visited and time spent, collected through essential or analytics tools where used in a compliant manner.

How We Collect Your Data

We may collect your personal data in various ways, including when you contact us directly to request information or a quotation, when you make a booking for our services, when you interact with our team before, during, or after your move, or when you use our website or other online channels where we operate.

We may also receive personal data about you from third parties when it is necessary for the performance of our services, for example if a letting agent, landlord, or another service provider liaises with us in relation to your move and has your permission to share relevant details with us.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We rely on different lawful bases under data protection law depending on the specific processing activity.

Contract: We process your personal data when it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform our contract with you. This includes providing quotations, confirming bookings, delivering removal services, handling payments, and managing related customer service.

Legal obligation: We process personal data where we are required to do so by law, such as retaining certain financial and transactional records for tax, accounting, or regulatory purposes, and responding to lawful requests from competent authorities.

Legitimate interests: We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests or those of a third party, and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. Legitimate interests may include managing and improving our services, handling queries and complaints, maintaining appropriate business records, and ensuring the security of our operations.

Consent: In limited situations, we may rely on your explicit consent, for example where we send certain forms of direct marketing by electronic means or where consent is required for a particular type of data use. Where we rely on consent, you are free to withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data only for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. These purposes may include providing quotations, planning and carrying out your removals or related services, communicating with you about your booking and any changes or queries, handling invoicing, payments, refunds, or debt recovery where necessary, managing customer service, responding to complaints, and improving the quality and efficiency of our services.

We may also use data for internal reporting, accounting, and administrative purposes, to comply with legal obligations, and to protect our rights, property, or safety and those of our staff, customers, or third parties.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share your data with carefully selected third parties when necessary for the purposes explained in this Privacy Policy.

Service providers and data processors may assist us in delivering our services and operating our business. These may include secure payment processors, accounting and bookkeeping providers, information technology and hosting providers, communication platforms, and other professional advisers such as legal or insurance professionals where needed. These third parties process personal data on our instructions and are required to keep it secure and confidential.

We may also share personal data with third parties where required by law, where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims, or where you have given your consent to such sharing.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Booking and service records are generally kept for a period that allows us to manage our relationship with you, address any queries or disputes, and meet our legal obligations, including tax and financial reporting. After the relevant retention period expires, we will securely delete or anonymise your personal data.

Where we rely on your consent for specific processing and you withdraw that consent, we will stop that processing and, where appropriate, delete the relevant data unless we are required or permitted to retain it for another lawful basis.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or access. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those staff and processors who need it for their work, using secure methods of storage and transmission where appropriate, and maintaining procedures designed to reduce the risk of data incidents.

While we strive to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. If we identify a data breach that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take steps to mitigate the impact and, where required by law, notify you and the relevant supervisory authority.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a customer or prospective customer of Bermondsey Removals within our service area, you have a number of rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and exemptions.

Right of access: You have the right to request confirmation as to whether we process your personal data and, if so, to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you, along with certain information about how it is used.

Right to rectification: You have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data concerning you.

Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you may ask us to delete your personal data. This right is not absolute and may not apply where we still need the data for lawful purposes such as compliance with a legal obligation.

Right to restriction: You have the right to request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example where you contest its accuracy or object to our processing.

Right to object: You may object to processing that is based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop the processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds which override your interests, rights, and freedoms or the processing is needed for legal claims.

Right to data portability: Where technically feasible and where the law requires, you may request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format or transmit it to another controller.

Right to withdraw consent: Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

Updates to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our internal practices. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform you. The current version will always apply to the personal data we hold about you.