Privacy Policy - Southkensington Man And Van

This Privacy Policy explains how Southkensington Man And Van collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, removals, transport, and related services. It applies to all Southkensington Man And Van customers in area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, estate agents, and business clients who use our services or otherwise interact with us in connection with a booking, quotation, delivery, collection, or related support.

1. Who We Are

Southkensington Man And Van is responsible for the personal data we process in connection with our services. In this policy, references to we, us, or our mean Southkensington Man And Van acting as a data controller for the purposes of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

We are committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We only collect information that is necessary for delivering our services, managing our relationship with customers, complying with legal obligations, and protecting our legitimate business interests.

2. Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity data such as your name, title, and any details needed to identify you as a customer or contact person.
Contact data such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service and booking data such as collection and delivery addresses, moving dates, property access details, inventory details, item descriptions, and special handling instructions.
Payment and transaction data such as payment status, invoice details, and records of services purchased. We do not keep unnecessary payment information beyond what is required for accounting and legal purposes.
Communication data such as messages, email correspondence, call notes, complaints, claims, and feedback.
Technical data where relevant, such as basic device or usage information when you interact with our digital systems.
Proof and verification data such as documents or details needed to confirm identity, ownership, access rights, or instructions connected to a move.
Special category data only where strictly necessary and typically only if you choose to provide it, for example health-related information relevant to access, lifting restrictions, or vulnerable-person arrangements. Where this occurs, we apply additional safeguards and only process it when permitted by law.

We do not intentionally collect more data than we need. If you provide information about other people, such as household members, employees, or building staff, you should ensure you have the right to share that information with us.

3. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotations, confirm bookings, and deliver moving or transport services;
to plan routes, allocate vehicles and staff, and manage logistics;
to communicate about the service, including changes, updates, and completion details;
to process payments, issue invoices, and maintain financial records;
to handle customer support, complaints, and claims;
to verify identity, address, access arrangements, or service instructions where needed;
to comply with legal, tax, accounting, insurance, and regulatory obligations;
to detect, prevent, and investigate fraud, misuse, or security incidents;
to improve our services, internal processes, and operational efficiency;
to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

We only use personal data in ways that are compatible with the purpose for which it was collected unless we have a lawful basis to use it for a new purpose.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing a quotation at your request, arranging the move, completing the service, and handling related administration.

Legal Obligation

We may process data where needed to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, record-keeping, and other statutory requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. These interests include running our business efficiently, improving service quality, preventing fraud, securing our systems, and resolving disputes. When we rely on legitimate interests, we consider the potential impact on you and apply appropriate safeguards.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, particularly for optional uses or sensitive information where consent is the most appropriate lawful basis. If we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time, although this will not affect processing already carried out lawfully.

Vital Interests

In rare cases, we may process personal data where it is necessary to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency situation.

5. Sharing Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this policy. These third parties may act as processors or independent controllers, depending on the service they provide.

Processors are organisations that process data on our instructions and only for the agreed purposes. They may include:

IT and cloud service providers that host or maintain our systems;
accounting, bookkeeping, and invoicing software providers;
payment service providers that process transactions;
communication and email service providers;
customer record and scheduling tools;
insurance providers, claims handlers, and professional advisers where required;
subcontractors or operational partners assisting with deliveries, removals, or storage-related tasks.

Where a third party acts as a processor, we require them to protect personal data appropriately, keep it secure, and use it only in line with our instructions and applicable law. If a third party acts as an independent controller, they will be responsible for their own compliance and privacy obligations.

We may also disclose data if required by law, court order, regulator, or law enforcement authority, or where necessary to protect our rights, property, staff, customers, or the public.

6. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, insurance, and dispute-resolution purposes. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and the context in which it was created.

Booking and service records are usually retained for a period necessary to manage the contract and address any follow-up issues.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Complaint, claim, and dispute records may be kept for longer where needed to establish or defend legal rights.
Where data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in a controlled manner.

We do not keep personal data indefinitely. When retention is no longer justified, we take steps to remove or destroy it safely.

7. Data Security

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

Although we work to protect your information, no system can be guaranteed as completely secure. If we become aware of a personal data breach that is likely to pose a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take steps in line with applicable law.

8. International Transfers

If any processor or service provider stores or accesses data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in accordance with applicable data protection law.

9. Your Rights

Subject to legal limits and conditions, 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 ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure – to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction – to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability – to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used, machine-readable format, where legally applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You may also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data has been handled unlawfully. We encourage you to raise concerns with us first so we can try to resolve them promptly.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is necessary and appropriate in the context of a service arrangement made by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data improperly, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

11. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data handling practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically.

12. Summary

Southkensington Man And Van processes personal data to provide moving and related services, manage bookings, handle payments, comply with legal obligations, and protect legitimate business interests. We rely on contract, legal obligation, legitimate interests, consent, and in limited cases vital interests as lawful bases. We share data only when necessary with trusted processors and other relevant third parties, keep it only as long as needed, and protect it with appropriate safeguards. Customers have rights over their personal data, including access, correction, deletion, restriction, objection, and portability, subject to legal conditions.