Lewisham Removals Privacy Policy
This Privacy Policy explains how Lewisham Removals collects, uses, stores and shares personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in the Lewisham area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018 and how you can exercise those rights.
This Privacy Policy applies to all Lewisham Removals customers and individuals who contact or interact with Lewisham Removals in connection with our removal, packing, storage, logistics and related services within the Lewisham area, whether as private individuals or on behalf of a business.
Who we are and our role as data controller
Lewisham Removals is the organisation responsible for deciding how and why your personal data is used. For the purposes of data protection law, Lewisham Removals is the data controller in relation to the personal data described in this Privacy Policy.
References to we, us or our in this Privacy Policy refer to Lewisham Removals as the data controller.
What personal data we collect
We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you contact us, request a quotation, enter into a contract with us, or use our services:
Identification and contact details: name, address, previous and new addresses, email address, and other contact details you choose to provide when communicating with us.
Service and booking information: details of your move or service request, inventory lists or information about items to be moved, preferred dates and times, access details for properties, special handling instructions, and service history with Lewisham Removals.
Contract and payment details: records of quotations, agreements and contracts, payment status, and basic payment-related information such as the date and amount of payments. We do not store full payment card details on our own systems where payment is processed through a secure payment provider.
Communication records: emails, messages, call notes and other correspondence with you, including any feedback, complaints or queries you submit to us.
Technical and usage information: where relevant, limited technical information about your use of our online content, such as the device or browser you use, your approximate location, and information derived from cookies or similar technologies where applicable and permitted by law.
How we collect your personal data
We collect personal data directly from you when you contact Lewisham Removals, request a quote, make a booking, or communicate with us in relation to our services. This may be through telephone calls, online forms, written correspondence, or in-person interactions.
We may also receive personal data about you indirectly, for example where another person arranges a removal service on your behalf, where a business customer provides your contact details as a point of contact, or where a third party such as an estate agent, landlord or relocation company provides your details so that we can deliver removal or related services.
Lawful bases for processing your personal data
We only use your personal data when we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Depending on the context, we may rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:
Performance of a contract: to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, to provide quotations, and to perform our contract with you for removal and related services.
Legal obligations: to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, for example record-keeping, taxation, accounting and responding to lawful requests from authorities.
Legitimate interests: to pursue our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. These interests may include managing our business, improving our services, handling complaints, preventing and detecting fraud or misuse of our services, and ensuring the safety and security of our staff and customers.
Consent: in limited circumstances where we rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional marketing communications, we will only process your data in this way if you have clearly agreed. You can withdraw your consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis.
How we use your personal data
We may use your personal data for the following purposes:
To provide quotations, estimates and advice about removal and related services that you have requested.
To plan, manage and deliver our removal, packing, storage and logistics services, including arranging access, scheduling staff and vehicles, and keeping you informed about the progress of your booking.
To manage our relationship with you, including handling enquiries, responding to your communications, and dealing with compliments, feedback or complaints.
To issue invoices, process payments and maintain accurate financial and service records.
To manage risk, prevent fraud and protect our business, staff and customers, including through the secure management of bookings and service records.
To comply with our legal and regulatory responsibilities, including tax, accounting and audit obligations.
Where permitted, to send you information about our services that we believe may be of interest to you, and to manage your marketing preferences.
Data sharing and processors
We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties where this is necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, always in accordance with data protection law.
Service providers and processors: we may share personal data with third party suppliers who provide services to us, such as IT hosting and support providers, secure payment processors, customer relationship management systems, communications providers and professional advisers. These organisations act as data processors on our behalf and are only permitted to use your personal data in accordance with our instructions and for the purposes we specify, and they must protect your data appropriately.
Operational partners: where necessary to deliver our services, we may share data with subcontracted removal teams, storage facilities or logistics partners operating under our direction and control.
Legal and regulatory recipients: we may disclose personal data to regulators, law enforcement bodies, courts or other public authorities where we are required or permitted to do so by law.
We do not sell your personal data to third parties.
International transfers
Our primary data processing activities are carried out within the United Kingdom. If in the future we need to transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data in accordance with data protection law, such as standard contractual clauses or an adequacy decision.
Data retention
We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.
In general, we will retain basic customer and contract information for a period necessary to deal with queries, complaints or potential legal claims relating to our services and to meet tax and accounting obligations. Factors that influence retention periods include the type of data, the nature of our relationship with you, and relevant legal and regulatory requirements.
When personal data is no longer required, we will either delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with an identifiable individual.
How we protect your personal data
We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include internal policies, staff training, access controls, secure storage and, where appropriate, encryption or pseudonymisation of data.
While we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no system can be completely secure. You are responsible for keeping any communication channels you use with us secure and for notifying us of any suspected unauthorised use of your personal data in connection with our services.
Your data protection rights
Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data held by Lewisham Removals. These rights may be subject to certain conditions and legal exemptions. Your rights include:
Right of access: you have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and to obtain information about how we use it.
Right to rectification: you have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.
Right to erasure: in certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete or remove your personal data where there is no good reason for us to continue processing it.
Right to restrict processing: you have the right to request that we suspend the processing of your personal data in certain situations, for example while we verify its accuracy or our reasons for processing it.
Right to data portability: in some cases, you may have the right to obtain personal data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format and to transmit it to another organisation.
Right to object: you have the right to object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis, including profiling related to those interests. You also have an absolute right to object to direct marketing.
Rights in relation to automated decision-making: you have the right not to be subject to a decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal or similarly significant effects on you, except in certain limited circumstances.
Exercising your rights and contacting us
If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights or have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, you can contact Lewisham Removals using the contact details available on our customer materials or through our usual communication channels.
When you make a request, we may need to ask you for specific information to help us confirm your identity and ensure your right to access your personal data or to exercise any other rights. This is a security measure to ensure that personal data is not disclosed to any person who has no right to receive it.
You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office if you are concerned about how we have handled 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 services, our internal processes or applicable data protection law. Any updated version will apply from the time it is made available. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.
