Privacy Policy - Paddington Man And Van

This Privacy Policy explains how Paddington Man And Van collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Paddington Man And Van customers in area, including anyone who requests a quote, makes a booking, receives moving services, or communicates with us in connection with a removal, delivery, or related service.

We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is intended to help you understand what information we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your personal data.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the information necessary to provide our services, manage our business, and meet our legal obligations. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identity information: name, title, and any relevant business name if applicable.
Contact details: address, telephone number, and email address.
Service information: moving dates, pickup and delivery addresses, property access details, inventory details, and special instructions.
Payment and billing information: payment status, invoicing details, and records of transactions. We do not store full card information where payment is handled by a payment provider.
Communication records: emails, messages, call notes, and other correspondence relating to your enquiry or booking.
Operational information: staff notes, service preferences, complaints, claims, and records of damages or incidents where relevant.
Technical information: limited device or usage data if you interact with our online systems, such as IP address or browser type, where applicable.

We may also collect special category data only where it is necessary and where you choose to provide it, for example if information is needed to support access requirements, health-related assistance, or other reasonable adjustments connected with the service. Where special category data is collected, we apply additional safeguards.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to arrange, manage, and deliver moving and removal services;
to communicate with you before, during, and after a booking;
to process payments and issue invoices or receipts;
to maintain business records and service history;
to deal with complaints, disputes, insurance matters, or damage claims;
to improve our services, scheduling, and customer experience;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or unlawful activity;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims where required.

We will only use your personal information for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another compatible purpose and that such use is permitted by law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, Paddington Man And Van relies on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes preparing quotes, confirming bookings, providing moving services, and managing related transactions.

Legal Obligation

We process data where necessary to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, insurance, record-keeping, and other regulatory requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided that those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing customer relationships, maintaining service records, preventing fraud, and improving operational efficiency.

Consent

Where required by law, we will rely on your consent, for example for certain optional uses of special category data or for specific marketing activities. You may withdraw consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis for processing.

Vital Interests and Legal Claims

In rare circumstances, we may process personal data to protect vital interests or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it only where necessary and lawful. In some cases, we use trusted third parties acting as processors on our behalf. These processors are only permitted to process your data according to our instructions and are required to keep it secure.

Examples of processors may include:

IT and hosting providers that store or support our systems;
email and communication service providers used to send messages and maintain correspondence;
payment processors that handle card or electronic payments;
accounting and bookkeeping providers that help manage financial records;
customer management or scheduling software providers that help organise bookings;
professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or accountants where necessary.

We may also share personal data with:

law enforcement or public authorities when required by law;
courts, tribunals, or regulatory bodies;
insurance providers and claims handlers if an incident, complaint, or claim arises;
subcontractors or personnel involved in fulfilling your booking, where necessary to deliver the service.

Where data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or approved contractual protections.

5. Data Retention

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

As a general approach:

Enquiry data may be retained for a limited period if no booking is made, to allow follow-up and business administration.
Booking and service records are kept for the duration of the service and for a period afterwards for customer support, dispute resolution, and legal protection.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Claims, complaints, and incident records may be kept longer where needed to handle the matter and defend legal claims.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, anonymise, or destroy it.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and limited access to records on a need-to-know basis.

While we take data protection seriously, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will handle it in line with applicable legal obligations.

7. Your Rights

You have a number of rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits, these may include:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: to request that we limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
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 UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has not been handled in accordance with the law. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so that we can try to resolve them promptly.

8. Cookies and Online Information

If we use online tools or websites in connection with our services, we may collect limited technical information through cookies or similar technologies. These may help us operate the site, remember preferences, or understand how services are used. Where required, we will provide appropriate notice and request consent for non-essential cookies.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and businesses arranging moving services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally provided in connection with a household move and is necessary for service delivery or legal compliance.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, operational practices, or service arrangements. The latest version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

Paddington Man And Van is committed to respecting your privacy and handling your information responsibly. By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this policy, subject always to your rights under applicable data protection law.