Privacy Policy - Removals Westkensington

This Privacy Policy explains how Removals Westkensington collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing removal, packing, storage, and related moving services. It applies to all Removals Westkensington customers in area, including anyone who makes an enquiry, requests a quote, books a service, or otherwise interacts with our services. We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who this policy applies to

This policy applies to:

individual customers using our removal services;
business clients arranging office or commercial moves;
people who ask for quotations or availability;
anyone whose personal data is provided to us in connection with a move, delivery, collection, or storage service.

Where we process personal data on behalf of another organisation, we do so under their instructions and in line with applicable data protection law.

2. Personal data we collect

We only collect data that is necessary for planning, delivering, managing, and improving our services. The categories of data we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name, title, and company name where relevant;
Contact details such as telephone number, email address, and postal address;
Service details such as collection and delivery addresses, move dates, property access information, inventory details, and special handling requirements;
Payment and billing data such as invoicing information, payment status, and transaction records;
Communication records including enquiries, booking notes, complaints, and service updates;
Technical data when you interact with digital systems we use, such as IP address, browser type, and basic usage logs;
Optional sensitive information only where necessary for the service, such as accessibility needs, health-related access requirements, or details needed to protect fragile items.

We do not seek to collect special category data unless it is genuinely necessary for the service or you choose to provide it. If such data is provided, we handle it with additional care and only for a valid purpose.

3. How we collect your data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or book a move;
communicate with us by phone, email, form, or in writing;
provide instructions, inventories, or access details;
make a payment or raise an enquiry;
submit feedback or a complaint.

We may also receive information from third parties where it is necessary for the service, for example from estate agents, landlords, solicitors, insurers, storage providers, payment processors, or other authorised representatives acting on your behalf.

4. Why we use your data and lawful basis

We process personal data only when we have a valid lawful basis under the UK GDPR. Our main purposes and bases are set out below.

4.1 Performance of a contract

We use your data where it is necessary to take steps before entering into a contract or to perform the contract we have with you. This includes preparing quotes, arranging removals, coordinating access, handling payments, and completing the agreed service.

4.2 Legal obligation

We may process data where necessary to comply with legal obligations, including accounting, tax, record-keeping, insurance, fraud prevention, and responding to lawful requests from public authorities.

4.3 Legitimate interests

We may use personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service management, internal administration, quality control, training, customer support, and improving our operations. When relying on legitimate interests, we consider the impact on your privacy and limit the data used to what is reasonable and proportionate.

4.4 Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you choose to receive certain types of marketing or provide optional information that is not required for the service. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of previous processing.

4.5 Vital interests

In rare emergency situations, we may process personal data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as health or safety, where this is necessary and proportionate.

5. How we use personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations and service planning;
to manage bookings and delivery schedules;
to communicate with customers and authorised contacts;
to assess access needs and protect goods during transit;
to issue invoices, receive payments, and maintain records;
to deal with complaints, claims, or disputes;
to comply with legal and regulatory requirements;
to improve service quality, training, and operational efficiency;
to prevent fraud, misuse, and security incidents.

We will not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

6. Sharing personal data and processors

We may share your personal data only where necessary and on a need-to-know basis. Some recipients act as processors, meaning they handle data on our instructions and must protect it under contract. Others may act as independent controllers where they determine their own purposes for processing.

Examples of processors or service providers may include:

IT and cloud hosting providers;
booking, scheduling, and administration systems;
payment and invoicing service providers;
storage and logistics partners working on our behalf;
customer communications and document management providers;
professional advisers assisting with legal, accounting, or insurance matters.

Where processors are used, we require appropriate security, confidentiality, and data protection commitments. We do not sell personal data.

7. Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it is held.

Quotation and enquiry records: retained for a reasonable period to manage follow-up and business records;
Contract and service records: retained for the duration of the service and for a period afterwards to handle queries or claims;
Financial and tax records: retained for the period required by law;
Complaint or dispute records: retained until the matter is resolved and for an appropriate period after closure;
Marketing preferences: retained until you withdraw consent or object, where applicable.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or otherwise disposed of in a controlled manner.

8. International transfers

If any of our processors or systems involve transfers of personal data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. These may include adequacy decisions, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent lawful transfer mechanisms. We only permit such transfers where suitable protections exist.

9. Security of your data

We take the security of personal data seriously and use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect it from unauthorised access, loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and limited permissions. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to reduce risks and respond promptly to any suspected incident.

10. Your rights

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

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 data in certain circumstances;
Right to restriction – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases;
Right to data portability – you can request certain data in a structured, commonly used format;
Right to object – you can 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;
Right to complain – you may raise a concern with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data rights have been infringed.

To help protect your privacy, we may need to verify your identity before responding to a request. We aim to deal with requests within the required legal timeframe.

11. Children’s data

Our services are intended for adults arranging removals and related services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental to a household move and necessary for the service, and only to the extent permitted by law.

12. 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 communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

13. Summary of our approach

In summary, Removals Westkensington collects only the personal data needed to deliver a professional moving service, uses it on a clear lawful basis, shares it only with trusted processors or where legally required, and keeps it only for as long as necessary. We aim to treat all information with care, confidentiality, and respect, and to support your rights under data protection law.