Privacy Policy - Man And Van Crystal Palace

Man And Van Crystal Palace is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all customers, prospects, and service users in the Crystal Palace area. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal information in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy applies to all Man And Van Crystal Palace customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quotation, books a move, communicates with us, or otherwise uses our services.

We aim to keep this policy clear, transparent, and easy to understand. Please read it carefully to learn what data we collect, why we collect it, the lawful basis we rely on, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and what rights you have over your personal information.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us. The information we collect is limited to what is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations.

Information you provide directly

Identity information such as your name.
Contact information such as address details, telephone number, and email address.
Service details including move date, pickup and delivery locations, property access details, inventory information, and any special handling requirements.
Payment-related information needed to process transactions or confirm bookings.
Communications such as enquiries, complaints, feedback, and correspondence with our team.
Identification or verification information where required for fraud prevention, security, or contract administration.

Information collected automatically

When you interact with our website, email systems, or digital services, we may collect limited technical information such as device type, browser type, IP address, and usage patterns. This helps us keep our services secure, improve performance, and understand how people use our services.

Information from third parties

We may receive data from third parties where necessary to arrange or deliver a service, verify details, process a payment, or manage a customer relationship. This may include landlords, letting agents, business partners, or subcontracted service providers acting on your behalf.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data only for legitimate business and operational purposes. These include:

providing quotes and managing bookings;
planning, carrying out, and completing removals and related services;
communicating with customers about schedules, access arrangements, and service updates;
processing payments and handling accounts;
responding to enquiries, disputes, and complaints;
meeting legal, tax, accounting, and insurance requirements;
protecting our business, staff, and customers from fraud, misuse, and unlawful activity;
improving our services, operations, and customer experience.

We do not use personal data for purposes that are incompatible with those stated above unless we are legally permitted to do so or we obtain your consent where required.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under the UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. Depending on the circumstances, we rely on one or more of the following:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, arranging removals, and delivering requested services.

Legal obligation

We may process data to comply with legal requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory obligations.

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 business administration, service improvement, fraud prevention, and record keeping.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain direct communications or optional processing activities. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. However, we may share it with trusted third parties where necessary to provide our services, manage our operations, or comply with the law.

Processors acting on our behalf

We may use third-party service providers, known as processors, who handle personal data according to our instructions and under appropriate contractual safeguards. These may include:

payment service providers;
IT and cloud storage providers;
email and communication platforms;
accounting and bookkeeping providers;
customer management and scheduling tools;
subcontracted operational support providers.

These processors are only permitted to use personal data for the agreed purposes and must keep it secure and confidential.

Other recipients

We may also share data with professional advisers, insurers, legal representatives, regulators, law enforcement agencies, or other parties where required by law or necessary to protect our rights, customers, or operations.

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in line with applicable data protection law.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, or as long as required by law. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Customer and booking records are usually retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards for administration, dispute handling, and service history.
Financial and accounting records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Correspondence and complaint records may be kept for as long as necessary to resolve issues and maintain evidence of communications.
Technical and security logs are retained for a limited period unless a longer period is required for security, investigation, or legal reasons.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable person.

6. How We Protect Your Data

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and data minimisation practices. While no system can be guaranteed 100% secure, we take data protection seriously and review our safeguards regularly.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights may be subject to conditions and exemptions under the law.

Your rights include:

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 data.
Right to erasure – you can request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing – 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 or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you can request that certain data be provided to you or another controller in a structured format.
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 Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so that we can try to resolve the issue promptly.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and business or household customers arranging removals. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service arrangement and is provided by an adult customer or authorised representative.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal obligations, or operational needs. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise made available. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect personal data.

Summary: This policy explains how Man And Van Crystal Palace collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects customer data, the lawful basis used, retention periods, processors, and your GDPR rights.