Balham Removals Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Balham Removals collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to customers and prospective customers in our service area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy Policy applies to all Balham Removals customers in our operating area, as well as individuals who contact us for quotes, enquiries, or bookings.

Who we are and scope of this policy

Balham Removals is a removals and related services provider operating in the Balham area and surrounding locations. In the context of applicable data protection laws, we act as the data controller for the personal data that we collect and use about our customers and prospective customers.

This Privacy Policy applies to the personal data of individuals who request or use our services, visit our website, contact us by phone, post, or any other means, or otherwise interact with Balham Removals in the course of our business activities within our service area.

Personal data we collect

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

Identity and contact details: name, title, contact address, collection and delivery addresses, email address, and any other contact information you provide to us.

Service information: details relating to your removal, packing, or storage request, including property type, access details, inventory or list of items to be moved, dates and times of moves, and any special instructions you provide.

Communication data: records of communications between you and Balham Removals, including enquiries, quotes, bookings, complaints, and feedback, whether made by telephone, post, online forms, or other methods.

Billing and payment data: information necessary to prepare and send invoices, records of payments and payment status, and basic transaction details. We do not store full payment card details when payment is processed via third party providers.

Technical and usage data: to the extent permitted by law, limited technical information about your visits to our website, such as date and time of access, pages visited, and general device information, collected via standard web technologies. This is used to maintain and improve our website and services.

Optional data: any additional information you choose to provide that is relevant to the planning and delivery of our services or to your communications with us.

How we collect personal data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, make a booking, engage us to provide services, correspond with us, or otherwise interact with our team.

We may also collect personal data from third parties where this is necessary for providing our services, for example when another person books a removal on your behalf or when you are named as a contact at a property. In such cases, we will treat any personal data provided in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

Lawful bases for processing your data

We only process personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract: where processing is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing a quote, confirming a booking, planning and carrying out removals, issuing invoices, and managing your account.

Legal obligation: where we are required to comply with legal or regulatory obligations, such as tax, accounting, record keeping, or responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests and these are not overridden by your data protection rights. This may include managing and improving our services, handling customer queries and complaints, protecting our business, and maintaining appropriate records.

Consent: in limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of marketing where consent is required. When we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

How we use your personal data

We may use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide services: to respond to enquiries, prepare and send quotes, confirm bookings, plan and perform removals, packing, or storage, and communicate with you about the services you have requested.

To manage our relationship: to handle customer service interactions, manage complaints and disputes, send important updates about your booking, and maintain our business records.

To administer our business: to manage accounts and invoicing, process payments, carry out internal reporting and auditing, and comply with legal, regulatory, and insurance requirements.

To improve our services: to monitor service quality, conduct analysis and internal reporting, and improve our processes, customer experience, and operational efficiency.

To protect our rights: to prevent and detect fraud or misuse of our services, to protect the security of our systems and premises, and to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

Data sharing and processors

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties where necessary and appropriate, always under appropriate safeguards and in accordance with data protection law.

Service providers: we may engage third party processors to help us operate our business and deliver our services, for example providers of information technology, customer relationship management systems, secure data storage, accounting and bookkeeping services, and payment processing services. These parties are only permitted to process your data on our instructions and for the specified purposes.

Operational partners: where required to complete your removal or related services, we may share limited relevant information with subcontractors or partner firms, such as drivers or additional crews, who assist in delivering our services.

Professional advisers and authorities: we may share data with our professional advisers, such as legal, tax, or insurance advisers, and with law enforcement or regulatory authorities where we are legally required to do so or where it is necessary to protect our rights or the rights of others.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

International data transfers

Our primary data processing activities are carried out within the United Kingdom. If we use service providers that transfer or store personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as adequacy regulations or standard contractual clauses, to protect your data in accordance with data protection law.

Data retention

We keep personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

In general, we retain customer and booking records for a period consistent with applicable limitation periods and legal obligations. After the relevant retention period has expired, personal data will be securely deleted, anonymised, or archived in a way that restricts further use.

How we protect your data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, alteration, or disclosure. These measures include limiting access to personal data to those employees, contractors, and service providers who have a business need to know it, and requiring them to process your data only according to our instructions and subject to confidentiality obligations.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all Balham Removals customers and prospective customers in our service area, subject to certain legal conditions and exemptions.

Right of access: you have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to request a copy of that data.

Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete personal data that we hold about you.

Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you may request that we delete your personal data, for example where the data is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no other lawful basis to retain it.

Right to restriction: you may request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing.

Right to object: you can object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will then consider your objection and stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

Right to data portability: where our processing is based on consent or contract and is carried out by automated means, you may have the right to receive your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine readable format and to transmit it to another controller.

Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw it at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

Contact and complaints

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, you can contact Balham Removals using the contact details published on our website or in our customer communications.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner's Office if you are unhappy with how we handle your personal data. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve your concerns directly.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or other factors. Any changes will take effect when the revised policy is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.