Privacy Policy - Marylebone Removals

This Privacy Policy explains how Marylebone Removals collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing removal, packing, storage, delivery, and related services. It applies to all Marylebone Removals customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, tenants, and business clients who enquire about or use our services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy also sets out your rights as a data subject and the choices you have in relation to your information.

1. Information We Collect

We collect only the information that is reasonably necessary to provide our services, manage our business, and meet legal obligations. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Identity information such as your name, title, and, where relevant, the names of household members or authorised representatives.
Contact information including address, email address, telephone number, and alternative contact details.
Service information such as property access details, moving dates, inventory information, volume of goods, special handling instructions, and delivery requirements.
Billing and payment information including invoice details, transaction references, and payment status.
Communication records including emails, call notes, messages, complaint records, and service-related correspondence.
Technical information collected through our systems, such as IP address, device details, and usage logs where necessary for security and operational purposes.
Special category data only where you choose to provide it or where it is necessary to accommodate a service request, for example health-related access needs or mobility considerations. We will handle such information with additional safeguards.

We generally collect data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, give instructions, complete forms, communicate with us, or use our services. We may also receive information from third parties acting on your behalf, such as estate agents, solicitors, landlords, letting agents, building managers, or payment service providers, where relevant to the service.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for specific and legitimate purposes connected to our services. These include:

Providing quotations, scheduling removals, and managing bookings.
Planning and carrying out packing, transport, storage, and delivery services.
Communicating with you about your move, changes to arrangements, or service issues.
Processing payments, issuing invoices, and maintaining financial records.
Managing claims, disputes, complaints, and customer support.
Meeting legal, regulatory, tax, and accounting obligations.
Maintaining security, preventing fraud, and protecting our staff, customers, and property.
Improving our services, internal processes, and customer experience.

We will not use your personal data for purposes that are incompatible with the reasons for which it was collected, unless we have a lawful basis to do so and we inform you where required.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis to process personal data. Depending on the context, Marylebone Removals may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract - processing is necessary to prepare for and perform our contract with you, such as arranging and delivering removal services.
Legal obligation - processing is necessary to comply with laws relating to tax, accounting, insurance, health and safety, or other legal requirements.
Legitimate interests - processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as managing operations, improving services, safeguarding property, and maintaining records, provided those interests do not override your rights and freedoms.
Consent - where required, such as for certain marketing activities or the processing of special category data not otherwise justified by another lawful basis.

Where we rely on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and only process data where it is appropriate and proportionate. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

4. Sharing Your Information

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to provide our services or to meet legal obligations. These third parties may include:

Service processors who act on our instructions, such as IT support providers, cloud storage providers, invoicing systems, and customer communications tools.
Payment processors and financial institutions that handle transactions securely.
Professional advisers including accountants, insurers, legal advisers, and claims handlers.
Operational partners where subcontracting is required to deliver the service you requested, such as storage providers or specialist handling providers.
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law, regulation, court order, or to protect rights, safety, or property.

Where a third party processes data on our behalf, they are required to act under a written contract, use the data only for instructed purposes, apply appropriate security measures, and keep it confidential. We do not sell personal data.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including satisfying legal, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

In general:

Customer and service records are retained for as long as needed to complete the service and handle follow-up matters.
Financial and tax-related records are retained for the period required by applicable law.
Complaint, claim, and dispute records may be retained longer where needed to defend legal claims or manage insurance matters.
Marketing preference records are retained until you withdraw consent or object, or until they are no longer needed.

When data is no longer required, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or permanently destroyed in line with our retention procedures.

6. Security Measures

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against accidental loss, unauthorised access, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, staff training, restricted permissions, and regular review of systems and processes.

Although no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we take data security seriously and work to reduce risks to a reasonable and proportionate level.

7. Your Rights

Under data protection law, 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 processing 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 structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to withdraw consent - where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

Some rights may be subject to legal exceptions, particularly where we must keep information for compliance or defence of legal claims. We will respond to valid requests within the time limits set by law.

8. Automated Decision-Making

Marylebone Removals does not normally make decisions about you based solely on automated processing that produce legal or similarly significant effects. If this position changes, we will update this policy and provide the relevant information required by law.

9. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information and that the transfer complies with applicable data protection law. This may include standard contractual safeguards or transfers to jurisdictions with an adequacy decision.

10. 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 provided in connection with a family move or household service. If we become aware that data has been collected inappropriately, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

11. Updates to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or our internal practices. Any revised version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated to you. We encourage you to review it periodically.

12. Complaints and Further Information

If you are concerned about how your personal data has been handled, you may raise a complaint with us. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the UK data protection supervisory authority if you believe your rights have been infringed.

Summary: Marylebone Removals explains how it collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects customer data, the lawful bases relied on, retention periods, third-party processors, and your privacy rights.