Acton Removals Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Acton Removals collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Acton Removals customers and users of our services within our operating area, regardless of the service channel used, such as telephone, website contact forms, written correspondence or in-person enquiries.

Who We Are

Acton Removals is a removals and related services provider. In the context of applicable data protection laws, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and, where relevant, the EU General Data Protection Regulation, Acton Removals acts as a data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed.

Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data when you contact us, request a quotation, make a booking or use our services:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, previous and new address for removals, and preferred contact details including postal address or other contact methods you choose to provide.

Service and contract details, such as information about the property you are moving from or to, access details, inventory lists, dates and times of moves, and any specific instructions or preferences related to your move or storage.

Payment and billing information, such as billing address and details necessary to process payments. Card or bank details are handled securely by our payment service providers and are not retained by us beyond what is necessary for processing and compliance.

Communication records, such as emails, written correspondence, and notes of calls or in-person discussions related to quotations, bookings, complaints or feedback.

Website and technical data, where applicable, such as basic technical information your browser provides when you visit our website, and limited usage data used for security, performance and service improvement purposes.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you request a quotation, ask us to carry out a survey, make a booking, use our services, submit a contact form, or otherwise communicate with us. We may also receive data from third parties where you have authorised them to share information with us, for example an estate agent, relocation company or comparison or marketplace service.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We only process your personal data where we have a valid legal basis under data protection law. Depending on the context, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

Contract: We process personal data that is necessary to provide quotations, enter into a contract with you and perform our contract for removal, storage or related services. This includes handling your booking, carrying out your move, processing payments and communicating with you about your service.

Legal obligation: We may process certain data to comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax, accounting, insurance and record-keeping requirements, as well as obligations relating to the prevention and detection of fraud or other unlawful activity.

Legitimate interests: We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include using data to manage and improve our services, handle enquiries, maintain security, defend or exercise legal claims and maintain appropriate business records.

Consent: In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where we choose to send you certain types of marketing communications that require consent under applicable law. Where 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 quotations and recommendations for removal or storage services, including arranging and conducting surveys and preparing service proposals tailored to your needs.

To set up, manage and fulfil your booking and contract with us, including planning and carrying out your move, coordinating with you and any necessary third parties, and providing aftercare.

To communicate with you regarding enquiries, quotations, bookings, service updates, changes to our terms or policies, and any issues or complaints you raise.

To process payments, manage invoices and carry out accounting, audit and internal administration tasks.

To comply with applicable laws, regulatory requirements and requests from competent authorities, and to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

To improve our services, for example by reviewing feedback and internal records to enhance efficiency, safety and customer experience.

Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and in line with applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

In general, we keep records of quotations, bookings, contracts and related correspondence for a period that allows us to respond to queries, handle complaints, comply with tax and accounting rules and address potential legal claims. After this period, data will either be securely deleted, anonymised so that it can no longer identify you, or archived with appropriate technical and organisational safeguards where continued retention is required by law.

The specific retention period may vary depending on the type of data, the nature of our relationship with you and our legal obligations. We periodically review the data we hold and securely remove information that is no longer needed.

Data Sharing and Processors

We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, where required by law, or where you have requested or consented to such sharing.

Service providers and processors: We may share data with carefully selected third party service providers acting under our instructions, such as IT and hosting providers, payment processors, document storage providers, communications service providers and other operational support services. These providers are bound by contractual obligations to protect personal data and process it only in accordance with our instructions and applicable law.

Professional and business partners: Where required, we may share information with professional advisers such as accountants, legal advisers, insurers and auditors, and, where relevant to your move, with partners such as storage facilities, specialist contractors or other logistics partners assisting with the delivery of your service.

Authorities and legal compliance: We may disclose your personal data to law enforcement agencies, regulatory bodies, courts or other public authorities where we are legally required to do so, or where it is necessary to protect our rights, your safety or the rights and safety of others.

We do not sell your personal data. If we are involved in a business sale, merger or reorganisation, your data may be transferred to the new owner or entity, subject to confidentiality and data protection obligations and, where required, appropriate information being provided to you.

International Transfers

Our main operations are carried out within the United Kingdom. If in the course of providing our services or using certain service providers it becomes necessary to transfer your personal data outside the UK or European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, such as reliance on adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses or other lawful transfer mechanisms.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, secure storage, staff training and procedures designed to ensure that personal data is handled responsibly and only accessed when necessary. While no system can guarantee absolute security, we regularly review our security measures to maintain an appropriate level of protection.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection laws, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exemptions. These include:

Right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and ask for a copy of the data we hold about you.

Right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or complete inaccurate or incomplete personal data.

Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you can request that we delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected, or where you withdraw consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict our processing of your data in certain situations, such as while we investigate a concern about accuracy or the lawfulness of processing.

Right to data portability: Where processing is based on consent or contract and 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 request that it is transferred to another controller where technically feasible.

Right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where it is based on our legitimate interests, including profiling based on those interests. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue or the processing is related to legal claims.

Rights relating to consent: Where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time. Withdrawal of consent will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before consent was withdrawn.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority if you believe your rights have been infringed. We encourage you to contact us first so we can address your concerns directly where possible.

Children

Our services are not directed at children and we do not knowingly collect personal data from children. If you believe that a child has provided us with personal data, please contact us so that we can delete the information where appropriate.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, applicable laws or data protection practices. Any updates will be made available through our usual communication channels. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.