Privacy Policy - Westkensington Removals

This Privacy Policy explains how Westkensington Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data in connection with our removal, packing, storage, and related services. It applies to all Westkensington Removals customers in area, including individuals, families, landlords, tenants, and businesses who use our services or communicate with us in relation to a move.

We are committed to handling personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We aim to be transparent about what we do with your information and to respect your privacy rights.

1. Who We Are

Westkensington Removals provides removals and associated logistics services. In the course of arranging and carrying out these services, we may need to process personal data about customers, recipients, property occupants, business contacts, and other individuals connected to a booking.

For the purposes of data protection law, Westkensington Removals acts as the data controller for the personal data we collect and use for our own business purposes.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is relevant and necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting our legal obligations. The categories of information we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name, title, and, where relevant, company name.
Contact details such as address, telephone number, and email address.
Move and service information such as collection and delivery addresses, move dates, property access details, inventories, item descriptions, and special handling instructions.
Payment and billing information such as payment status, transaction records, invoices, and account references. We do not intentionally store full card details where payment is processed securely by a third party.
Communications such as enquiries, complaints, estimates, instructions, and correspondence relating to your booking.
Operational records such as job sheets, quotations, risk notes, staff allocation records, and service completion notes.
Technical information such as basic device and usage data if you interact with our digital services, for example IP address, browser type, and timestamps.

In limited situations, we may also process special category data if it is voluntarily provided and necessary for the service, for example health or access needs relating to safe moving arrangements. Where this happens, we apply additional safeguards and only process such information when a lawful basis and a special category condition are met.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We may collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quote or make a booking;
complete forms or provide move details;
communicate with us by phone, email, or other channels;
make a payment or request an invoice;
provide feedback or raise a concern;
use our services as a customer, recipient, or authorised representative.

We may also receive data from third parties where necessary, such as property managers, solicitors, estate agents, landlords, tenants, business partners, or payment processors. Where we receive information about you from another person, we expect them to have a lawful basis to share it.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only when we have a valid lawful basis under data protection law. Depending on the circumstance, our lawful bases include:

Contract: to provide a quote, enter into a service agreement, arrange the move, complete the service, and manage related billing or customer support.
Legal obligation: to comply with tax, accounting, insurance, health and safety, and other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests: to manage and improve our business, keep records, prevent fraud, handle complaints, train staff, and protect our operations, provided our interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms.
Consent: where required, for example for certain marketing communications or optional use of particularly sensitive information.
Vital interests: in rare cases where processing is necessary to protect someone???s life or physical safety.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and limit the processing to what is necessary and proportionate.

5. How We Use Your Information

We may use your personal data to:

provide quotations and confirm bookings;
plan, carry out, and complete removal services;
communicate with you about your move;
manage payments, invoices, and accounts;
respond to queries, complaints, and claims;
maintain records and service history;
improve our services and internal operations;
meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations;
send marketing messages where permitted by law and, where required, with consent.

We will not use your data for purposes that are incompatible with the reason it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

6. Sharing Your Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to deliver our services or run our business. These third parties act as processors when they handle data on our behalf, or as independent controllers where they determine their own purposes.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors who handle secure card or electronic payments;
IT and cloud service providers who store systems, backups, and communications;
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who support financial administration;
Customer management or scheduling systems used to organise bookings and service records;
Professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, auditors, or consultants where necessary;
Subcontracted service providers assisting with transport, storage, packing, or logistics.

We require processors to protect personal data, use it only for authorised purposes, and implement appropriate security measures. We may also disclose data where required by law, court order, or competent authority, or to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims.

7. International Transfers

Where any processor or service provider is located outside the United Kingdom, we will take appropriate steps to ensure your personal data is protected to a standard consistent with UK GDPR. This may include the use of UK adequacy regulations, approved contractual clauses, or other lawful safeguards.

8. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, insurance, and dispute-resolution purposes. The exact retention period depends on the type of record and the reason for keeping it.

In general, we may retain:

Quotation and booking records for a period needed to manage the service and any follow-up queries;
Invoice, payment, and tax records for the period required by law;
Complaints and claims records for a period needed to investigate and defend legal matters;
Operational records for a reasonable period to support business administration and service quality;
Marketing records until you opt out or withdraw consent, where applicable.

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

9. Data Security

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

Although no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to reduce risks and to respond appropriately if a data incident occurs.

10. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. Subject to legal limits and exemptions, 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 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 to direct marketing.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

You also have the right to complain to the relevant supervisory authority if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed. We encourage you to raise concerns with us first so we can try to resolve them promptly.

11. Automated Decision-Making

Westkensington Removals does not normally rely on fully automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects about you. If this changes, we will provide appropriate information and any rights required by law.

12. Children???s Data

Our services are not directed at children, and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children except where it is incidentally necessary for a household move and provided by an adult responsible for the booking. Where we become aware that data has been collected inappropriately, we will take suitable steps to delete or protect it.

13. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or our data handling practices. The latest version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated. We recommend reviewing it periodically so you remain informed about how we use personal data.

14. Summary of Our Commitment

Westkensington Removals is committed to processing personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently. We collect only the data needed to provide our services, use it for clear and legitimate purposes, retain it only for as long as necessary, and protect it with appropriate safeguards. We also respect your rights and aim to handle all personal information with care and accountability.