Privacy Policy - Maidavale Removals

This Privacy Policy explains how Maidavale Removals collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data in connection with our removal, packing, storage, and related services. It applies to all Maidavale Removals customers in the area, including prospective customers, household customers, commercial clients, and anyone else whose personal data we process while delivering or arranging our services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way 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 we do with your data, why we do it, and what rights you have.

1. Data We Collect

We collect only the information needed to provide and manage our services, maintain records, and meet legal and operational obligations. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identity details such as your name, title, and the names of household members or authorised representatives.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information including moving dates, property addresses, inventory details, access requirements, and service preferences.
Payment and billing details such as payment status, invoicing records, and transaction references.
Communications including enquiries, quotations, complaints, feedback, and correspondence related to your move.
Operational records such as job sheets, delivery notes, storage records, claims information, and scheduling data.
Technical data where relevant, such as website or device information if you interact with our digital systems, though we aim to keep such collection minimal.

In some cases, we may also process special category data if it is provided to us by you or is necessary to support a service arrangement. For example, this may occur where access needs, health-related considerations, or vulnerability-related support must be taken into account during a move. Where such data is processed, we apply additional safeguards and only do so where lawful and necessary.

2. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To provide quotes, assess service requirements, and arrange removals or related services.
To manage bookings, planning, route coordination, and scheduling.
To carry out packing, transport, delivery, and storage services safely and efficiently.
To communicate with you about your booking, service changes, payment matters, or important updates.
To handle complaints, claims, insurance matters, and customer support requests.
To maintain business records, accounting records, and operational logs.
To meet legal, regulatory, tax, and insurance obligations.
To protect our staff, property, customers, and systems from fraud, misuse, and other risks.

We will only use your personal data for the purpose for which it was collected, unless we reasonably believe we need to use it for a compatible purpose or where the law requires or permits otherwise.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for each processing activity. Depending on the circumstances, Maidavale Removals may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract – where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing removals services, issuing invoices, or coordinating delivery.
Legal obligation – where we must process data to comply with legal or regulatory requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping duties.
Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service improvement, business administration, fraud prevention, and internal record management.
Consent – where we ask for your permission, for example in limited situations involving optional marketing communications or certain categories of sensitive data.
Vital interests – in rare cases where processing is needed to protect someone’s life.

When we rely on legitimate interests, we make sure we have considered the impact on your privacy and that our interests do not unfairly override your rights.

4. Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell personal data. We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary for the operation of our business and the delivery of services. These third parties act as either independent data controllers or processors acting on our instructions.

Examples of processors and service partners

IT and cloud storage providers that host our records and communication systems.
Accounting, invoicing, and payroll service providers.
Payment processing providers where transactions are handled electronically.
Insurance providers, surveyors, or claims handlers where a claim must be assessed.
Storage or logistics partners assisting with delivery, warehousing, or route management.

Where we use processors, we ensure they are bound by written contracts requiring them to protect personal data, keep it confidential, process it only on our instructions, and apply appropriate security measures. We may also disclose personal data where required by law, by court order, or to protect our legal rights, safety, and property.

If data is transferred outside the UK, we will take appropriate steps to ensure that it remains protected to a standard recognised by data protection law, such as using approved contractual safeguards or relying on adequacy regulations where applicable.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, and operational requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason it is held.

Customer and booking records may be retained for the duration of the service relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial and invoicing records are kept for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Claims, dispute, and complaint records may be retained for longer where necessary to defend legal claims or manage insurance matters.
Operational notes and correspondence may be deleted or anonymised when they are no longer needed.

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

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from accidental loss, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, restricted permissions, staff training, and regular review of our procedures.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we take data protection seriously and work to reduce risk wherever practicable.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal exceptions, these include:

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 restrict processing – 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.
Right to data portability – to request transfer of certain data in a commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in line with applicable data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults arranging removals or related services. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidental to a household move or where necessary to support service delivery. Where children’s data is involved, we handle it with particular care and only where appropriate.

9. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, regulation, or our business practices. The most current version will apply to your use of our services. We encourage you to review it periodically so that you remain informed about how we handle personal data.

10. Contact and Complaints

If you have concerns about how we use your personal data, you have the right to raise the matter with us and, where applicable, with the relevant data protection authority. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve the issue promptly and fairly.

This Privacy Policy is intended to provide a clear explanation of our data handling practices. By using Maidavale Removals’ services, you acknowledge that personal data may be processed as described in this policy and in accordance with applicable data protection law.

Summary of key points: We collect only necessary personal data, use it under lawful bases such as contract and legitimate interests, share it with carefully selected processors, retain it only as long as needed, and respect your data protection rights.