Privacy Policy - Hire Man With Van

Effective date: This Privacy Policy applies to all Hire Man With Van customers in the area where our services are provided.

We are committed to protecting your privacy and handling your personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, store, and protect personal information when you use our services, make an enquiry, or otherwise interact with us. It also explains your rights under applicable data protection laws, including the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

For the purposes of data protection law, Hire Man With Van acts as the data controller in relation to the personal information we collect and use to provide and manage our services. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed.

We take data protection seriously and aim to process only the information needed to deliver our services, manage bookings, comply with legal obligations, and improve customer experience.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details: name, title, and any other information you provide that identifies you.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and service location details.
Booking and service information: details about your move, including dates, locations, items being transported, access notes, and service preferences.
Payment information: billing details and transaction records. We do not intentionally store full card details if payment is processed through a secure third-party payment provider.
Communications: emails, messages, enquiry forms, call notes, complaints, and feedback.
Technical data: IP address, device information, browser type, and basic usage data if you interact with our digital systems.
Special category data: we do not normally seek to collect sensitive personal data. If you voluntarily provide such information, we will only process it where there is a lawful basis to do so and where appropriate safeguards are in place.

We aim to keep the information we collect relevant and limited to what is necessary for the purposes described in this Policy.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data in several ways, including:

directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, or contact us;
during the course of providing moving or transport services;
from third parties involved in payment processing, referrals, or service support;
from lawful public sources where necessary to verify information or prevent fraud;
through technical systems that collect basic usage information when you communicate electronically.

Where you provide information about another person, you should ensure that you have authority to do so and, where required, that the person has been informed about this Privacy Policy.

4. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes, manage bookings, and deliver our services;
to communicate with you before, during, and after a service;
to process payments, refunds, and accounting records;
to handle complaints, disputes, and customer support requests;
to maintain internal records and improve our operations;
to comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory requirements;
to prevent fraud, misuse, and unauthorised access;
to assess and improve service quality, where permitted by law.

We will only use your data in ways that are compatible with the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine that another lawful use is permitted.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the context, we 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. This includes providing quotes, arranging services, completing bookings, and managing related communications.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data when required to comply with legal duties, such as tax, accounting, insurance, fraud prevention, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include improving our services, maintaining records, securing systems, and managing business operations. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we will assess the impact on your privacy and take appropriate safeguards.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain marketing activities or optional processing. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time, and this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including the purposes of meeting legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing.

In general:

booking and service records are retained for a period necessary to manage the customer relationship and resolve disputes;
financial and transaction records are kept for the period required by applicable tax and accounting laws;
customer communications may be retained for a reasonable period to support service history, complaints handling, and legal defence;
technical logs and security records are kept only as long as needed for operational and security purposes.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you. We do not retain personal information indefinitely.

7. Data Processors and Sharing of Information

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who process data on our behalf, known as processors. These processors only act under our instructions and must protect your data appropriately.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

payment service providers;
IT hosting, storage, and system support providers;
customer communication and email service providers;
accounting, invoicing, and bookkeeping services;
professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, or auditors;
subcontractors engaged to help deliver services, where necessary.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, to enforce our terms, to protect our rights or the safety of others, or in connection with a business reorganisation, merger, or transfer of assets.

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK or EEA, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as standard contractual clauses or equivalent protections recognised by law.

8. Your Rights

Subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to request correction of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: to request limited processing in certain situations.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection authority if you are concerned about how we handle your data. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address any concerns first.

9. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, alteration, loss, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and procedures designed to reduce the risk of data incidents.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we regularly review our safeguards and strive to maintain a level of security appropriate to the nature of the information we process. Protecting your information is a priority.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or processing practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically to remain informed about how we handle personal data.

11. Summary of Key Principles

In summary, Hire Man With Van collects only the personal data needed to provide moving and related services, uses it on a lawful basis, stores it for no longer than necessary, and shares it only with suitable processors or where required by law. We respect your rights and aim to process your information in a transparent and responsible way.

If you are a customer in the area covered by our services, this Policy applies to you whenever we collect or process your personal data in connection with our business activities.