Privacy Policy - Guildford Removals

Guildford Removals is committed to protecting your personal data and respecting your privacy. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, share, store, and protect information relating to our customers, prospective customers, and website or service users. It applies to all Guildford Removals customers in the area, including anyone who contacts us for a quote, books a service, or uses our removals, packing, storage, or related services.

1. Who we are

This Privacy Policy applies to Guildford Removals as the data controller for the personal data we handle in connection with our services. We determine the purposes and means of processing personal data when you engage us for removals and associated services. We are committed to processing personal data in a lawful, fair, transparent, and secure manner in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

2. Personal data we collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services you request. The categories of data we collect may include:

Identity information, such as your name, title, and any relevant business name.
Contact details, such as your address, telephone number, and email address.
Service details, including property addresses, access instructions, moving dates, inventory details, and information about items to be moved or stored.
Billing and payment information, such as invoicing details, payment status, and transaction records.
Communication records, including emails, notes from phone calls, messages, complaints, and feedback.
Technical information, where applicable, such as limited information about how you access our online services, device type, browser type, and IP-related logs.
Special category data only where necessary and lawfully permitted, for example if you voluntarily share information relevant to access arrangements, health, mobility, or vulnerability so we can safely deliver our services.

We do not intentionally collect more personal data than is necessary for the purposes explained in this policy. If you choose not to provide certain information, we may be unable to provide some or all of our services safely or effectively.

3. How we use your personal data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotations and assess the scope of work.
To schedule, manage, and deliver removals, packing, storage, and related services.
To communicate with you about bookings, changes, delays, service requirements, and post-service matters.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
To respond to enquiries, complaints, and requests.
To maintain internal records, service history, and operational quality.
To improve our services, training, planning, safety, and customer experience.
To comply with legal obligations and respond to lawful requests from public authorities.
To protect our business, staff, customers, and property, including preventing fraud or misuse.

We only process personal data for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes. We will not use your data for purposes that are incompatible with those originally stated unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

4. Lawful basis for processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the situation, we may 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 preparing quotes at your request, arranging your move, coordinating delivery, and managing related customer service.

Legal obligation

We may process certain information to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, including accounting, tax, insurance, dispute handling, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include business administration, service improvement, fraud prevention, security, and maintaining accurate customer records.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications or where special category data is involved and consent is the appropriate lawful basis. Where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Vital interests

In rare situations, we may process data to protect someone’s vital interests, such as in an emergency during a move or at a property where immediate safety concerns arise.

5. Sharing your information and processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to deliver our services, manage our business, or comply with legal obligations. These third parties may act as processors or, in some cases, as separate controllers.

Processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers that support secure storage, email, scheduling, or system administration.
Payment processors that handle card or electronic payments.
Accountants and bookkeeping providers for financial administration and tax compliance.
Insurance providers or claims handlers where required for coverage, claims, or incident management.
Subcontracted service providers assisting with removals, packing, storage, or specialist handling.
Professional advisers such as lawyers or auditors, where necessary.

Where processors act on our behalf, they are only permitted to process personal data according to our instructions and must implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures. We require processors to handle information confidentially and to use it only for the agreed purpose.

We may also share information where required by law, to enforce our terms, to protect our rights, or to prevent harm, fraud, or unlawful activity. We do not sell your personal data.

6. International transfers

In some cases, our processors may store or access data outside the UK. Where this happens, we take steps to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place so that your personal data remains protected to a standard consistent with UK data protection requirements.

7. Data retention

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

As a general rule:

Customer service records and communications are retained for a period needed to manage the service relationship and resolve any later queries.
Financial and tax-related records are retained for the period required by law.
Incident, claims, and complaint records may be retained longer where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.
Where data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it as appropriate.

We review retention needs regularly and ensure that personal data is not kept indefinitely without justification.

8. Data security

We use appropriate organisational and technical measures to safeguard personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, alteration, disclosure, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and restricted use of customer information.

Although we take security seriously, no method of transmission or storage is completely risk-free. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we work continuously to reduce risks and protect your information.

9. Your rights under data protection law

Depending on the circumstances and the legal basis for processing, you may have the following rights in relation to 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 cases.
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.
Right to withdraw consent – where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You will not normally have to pay a fee to exercise your rights. We may need to verify your identity before responding. We aim to respond within one month, unless the request is complex or numerous, in which case we may extend the response period in line with data protection law.

10. Complaints and supervisory authority

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, you may raise the issue with us so we can review and address it. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office or another relevant supervisory authority.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our data handling practices. 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 we process personal data.

12. Summary of our approach

Guildford Removals handles personal data only when necessary, uses it for clear business and legal purposes, shares it carefully with trusted processors, and keeps it only as long as required. We aim to process all customer information fairly, securely, and transparently, while respecting your rights and maintaining compliance with applicable GDPR requirements.