Privacy Policy - House Removals

This Privacy Policy explains how House Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all House Removals customers in area, including prospective customers, household members, property owners, occupiers, and any other individual whose personal data is processed in connection with our moving services. We are committed to handling personal information in a lawful, fair, and transparent way in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

House Removals provides domestic moving services, including packing, loading, transport, unloading, and related support services. In doing so, we process personal data to manage enquiries, prepare quotations, arrange bookings, deliver services, and meet legal and operational obligations. This policy describes the types of personal data we collect and how we use it.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the personal data that is necessary for the services we provide. The categories of information may include:

Identity details such as name and title.
Contact details such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service information such as move date, property details, inventory lists, access instructions, and special handling requirements.
Payment and billing information where required for invoicing and payment processing.
Communication records including emails, call notes, and service-related correspondence.
Technical information if you interact with our digital systems, such as IP address, device details, and usage logs.
Special category data only where necessary and with appropriate safeguards, for example where access needs, health-related handling requirements, or mobility concerns are disclosed to support a move.

We do not intentionally collect more personal data than is needed. If you provide information about other people, such as family members, tenants, or authorised representatives, you should ensure that 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 respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To verify identity and confirm service arrangements.
To plan and carry out removal services safely and efficiently.
To manage access, logistics, delivery routes, and scheduling.
To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.
To communicate updates, delays, service changes, or post-service follow-up.
To maintain internal records, improve service quality, and resolve complaints or disputes.
To comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.

We may also use personal data to protect our legitimate business interests, such as preventing fraud, safeguarding property, managing claims, and ensuring the security of staff, vehicles, and customer belongings.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the context, House Removals relies on the following lawful bases:

Contract ??? processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract and to perform our removal services under the contract.
Legal obligation ??? processing is necessary to comply with laws relating to accounting, taxation, insurance, and record keeping.
Legitimate interests ??? processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This may include service administration, security, quality assurance, and dispute handling.
Consent ??? where required, we will ask for your consent before processing special category data or for certain optional communications. You may withdraw consent at any time.

Where special category data is processed, we will only do so when a valid condition under data protection law applies and when appropriate safeguards are in place.

5. Sharing Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who act as processors or independent controllers, only where necessary for the purposes described in this policy. These may include:

Payment service providers who process transactions securely.
IT and cloud service providers who host systems, storage, and communications tools.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who help manage financial records.
Insurance providers, assessors, or claims handlers where required to manage incidents or claims.
Professional advisers such as legal or tax advisers.
Subcontracted operational partners where they assist in delivering the removal service.

We require processors to handle personal data only on our instructions, to keep it secure, and to use it only for the agreed purpose. We do not sell personal data. We do not share data for unrelated marketing purposes without a lawful basis.

6. International Transfers

If any processor stores or accesses personal data outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place before the transfer occurs. These safeguards may include approved contractual protections and, where required, assessments of the destination country???s data protection standards.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, including the requirements of law, accounting, and dispute resolution. Retention periods depend on the type of information and the reason it was collected.

Quotation and enquiry records are retained for a limited period to manage follow-up and customer service.
Contract and service records are retained for the duration of the service relationship and for an appropriate period afterwards.
Financial records are retained in line with statutory accounting and tax requirements.
Claims, complaints, and legal records may be retained longer where necessary to defend or pursue legal claims.

When personal data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or archive it in accordance with our retention practices and applicable law.

8. Data Security

We use reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and limiting access to those who need the information to perform their duties. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to reduce risks and respond appropriately to any suspected personal data incident.

9. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights under data protection law. Subject to applicable legal conditions and exemptions, you may have the right to:

Access the personal data we hold about you.
Rectification of inaccurate or incomplete data.
Erasure of your data in certain circumstances.
Restriction of processing in certain situations.
Object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Data portability for information you provided to us in a structured, commonly used format, where applicable.
Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond within the time limits required by law. We may need to verify your identity before acting on your request.

10. Children???s Data

Our services are intended for adults arranging household moves. We do not knowingly collect children???s personal data unless it is incidental to the service and necessary for household arrangements. Where children???s information is included, it will be handled with care and only as required for the move.

11. Automated Decision-Making

We do not carry out decisions based solely on automated processing that produce legal effects or similarly significant effects on individuals. If this changes, we will update this policy and provide the required information about the logic involved and your rights.

12. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, business practices, or services. Any updates will take effect when published in the revised version. We encourage customers to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their data is handled.

13. Summary of Key Principles

Transparency

We explain clearly what data we collect and why we use it.

Purpose limitation

We use personal data only for legitimate moving-related and compliance purposes.

Data minimisation

We collect only the information needed to provide the service.

Accuracy

We take reasonable steps to keep personal data accurate and up to date.

Security and retention

We protect personal data and keep it only as long as necessary.

House Removals is committed to respecting privacy and processing personal data responsibly. By using our services, you acknowledge that your personal data may be processed as described in this Privacy Policy, subject always to your rights and the protections required by law.