Privacy Policy - Hammersmith Removals

This Privacy Policy explains how Hammersmith Removals collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects personal data. It applies to all Hammersmith Removals customers in the area, including prospective customers, residential and business clients, and any individuals who interact with us in connection with our moving, packing, storage, and related services.

We are committed to handling personal data 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 written to help you understand what data we collect, why we collect it, how long we keep it, who we share it with, and what rights you have over your information.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data necessary to provide our services, manage customer relationships, fulfil legal obligations, and improve our operations. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name, title, and any business name you provide.
Contact details such as your telephone number, postal address, and email address.
Service information such as property access details, inventory lists, moving dates, preferred times, and special handling instructions.
Payment information such as billing details, transaction records, and payment confirmation. We do not normally store full card details unless required by a secure payment provider.
Communication records including enquiries, quotations, complaints, claims, and correspondence with our team.
Operational data such as delivery notes, completion records, and service history.
Technical data where you interact with digital systems, including device or browser information, if applicable.
Special category data only where necessary and only in limited circumstances, for example if you voluntarily disclose health or access needs relevant to your move. We will handle such data with additional care and only where a lawful basis exists.

We aim to keep data collection proportionate. We do not seek information that is not relevant to the services we provide.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations and assess service requirements.
To plan, schedule, and carry out removals, packing, delivery, and storage services.
To communicate with you about bookings, updates, delays, and service changes.
To process payments, issue invoices, and keep financial records.
To manage claims, disputes, complaints, and insurance-related matters.
To meet legal, tax, accounting, and regulatory obligations.
To improve service quality, training, customer support, and internal processes.
To prevent fraud, protect property, and maintain the security of our systems and operations.

We will only use your data for the purposes for which it was collected, unless we reasonably consider that it is needed for a compatible purpose or another lawful reason under data protection law.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where we have a valid legal basis under the UK GDPR. Depending on the context, the lawful basis may be one or more of the following:

Performance of a Contract

Most of the data we process is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes arranging surveys, issuing quotations, carrying out removals, and handling payments.

Legal Obligation

We may need to process and retain certain information to comply with tax law, accounting rules, business record requirements, insurance obligations, or other legal duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process some information for our legitimate business interests, provided these interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include managing enquiries, securing our operations, improving services, preventing fraud, and defending legal claims. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the necessity and impact of the processing.

Consent

In some circumstances, we may ask for your consent, for example where it is required for optional marketing or where we process certain sensitive information beyond what is strictly necessary. If we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

Vital Interests

In exceptional cases, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, for example in an emergency involving health or safety.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to deliver our services, operate our business, or comply with the law. These third parties act either as processors or independent controllers, depending on the relationship.

Processors are organisations that process data on our behalf and only under our instructions. Examples may include:

IT and cloud storage providers.
Payment processing services.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers.
Customer relationship management or booking systems.
Document management or secure archiving services.
Professional advisers such as solicitors, insurers, or auditors where they act for us.

We may also disclose data to independent third parties where required, such as:

Courts, regulators, law enforcement, or government authorities.
Insurance providers in connection with claims.
Other parties involved in fulfilling a service, where necessary and appropriate.

We require processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, and we seek contracts that ensure compliance with data protection law.

5. Data Retention

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

Customer and service records are generally retained for the duration of the relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and tax records are usually retained for the period required by law.
Claims and complaint records may be retained longer where needed to resolve disputes or defend legal claims.
Marketing data is retained until you opt out, unsubscribe, or the data is no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it, destroy it securely, or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

6. Data Security

We take the security of personal data seriously and use suitable safeguards to protect it against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and regular review of our internal procedures.

Although we work to protect your information, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a personal data breach occurs and it is legally required, we will take appropriate steps to assess, contain, and report it.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These may include:

The right of access to obtain a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
The right to rectification to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
The right to erasure in certain circumstances, also known as the right to be forgotten.
The right to restrict processing in certain situations.
The right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
The right to data portability where processing is based on consent or contract and carried out by automated means.
The right to withdraw consent at any time, where consent is the lawful basis.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully. We encourage you to raise any concerns with us first so that we can try to resolve them promptly.

8. International Transfers

If any of our processors or service providers store or access data outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place before any transfer occurs. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms permitted by law.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and businesses. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is incidentally provided in the course of a move or service arrangement and only where necessary. If we learn that we have collected data from a child without an appropriate basis, we will take steps to delete it.

10. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal obligations, or data protection practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle personal data.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Hammersmith Removals is committed to protecting your personal information and using it responsibly. We collect only the data we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it no longer than necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or when legally required. We also respect your rights and will respond to requests in accordance with applicable data protection law.