Hammersmith Removals Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Hammersmith Removals collects, uses, stores and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers. It applies to all Hammersmith Removals customers and users of our services in our operating area, whether you contact us online, by phone or in person.

Who We Are

Hammersmith Removals is a removals and related services provider. For the purposes of data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, Hammersmith Removals acts as the data controller for the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. This means we decide how and why your personal data is processed.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all personal data we process about individuals who are customers, potential customers or users of Hammersmith Removals services in our service area. It covers data collected through our website, by phone, through online enquiries, in written correspondence and in person when delivering our removals and related services.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you use. This may include the following categories of information.

Identity and contact details such as your name, title, postal addresses, and any other contact information you choose to provide when you make an enquiry or booking.

Service and booking information such as details of the properties you are moving from and to, access information, dates and times for removals, inventories, and any specific instructions relevant to the service you request.

Communication records such as information you provide when you contact us with questions or feedback, or when we communicate with you about quotes, bookings, invoices or service updates.

Payment related information such as payment status, amounts and methods. We do not store full card details if payments are processed through an external payment provider, but we may receive confirmation that a payment has been authorised or declined.

Technical and usage information when you visit our website, which may include information sent by your browser or device, such as IP address, device type, approximate location, and browsing activity on our site where this is necessary for the operation and security of the website or for basic analytics.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you request a quote, make a booking, use our removals services, contact us, or provide feedback. We may also collect data indirectly from third parties where this is necessary for providing services you have requested, such as an estate agent or landlord providing access details, or a payment provider confirming the status of a transaction.

Lawful Basis for Processing

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

Performance of a contract. We use your personal data to provide quotations, confirm bookings, deliver removals services, manage changes to your booking, and handle invoices and payments. This processing is necessary in order for us to fulfil our contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract.

Compliance with legal obligations. We may process certain information to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax, accounting and record keeping rules, and to respond to lawful requests from public authorities.

Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing and improving our services, safeguarding our staff and customers, securing our systems, and keeping basic records of enquiries and quotes.

Consent. In some limited cases we may rely on your consent, for example for certain types of optional marketing communication. Where we rely on consent, you have the right to withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use the personal data we collect for the following purposes.

To provide and manage our removals and related services, including creating quotes, planning jobs, coordinating staff and vehicles, and handling follow up queries.

To communicate with you about your enquiry or booking, including confirmations, changes, service notifications and customer service messages.

To manage our business operations, such as scheduling, resource allocation, administration, training, quality monitoring and resolving disputes or complaints.

To comply with legal and regulatory duties, including maintaining appropriate financial and tax records.

To maintain the security and integrity of our systems, premises, vehicles and staff, including preventing and investigating misuse or suspicious activity.

To analyse basic trends relating to our services, for example to understand demand and improve our processes. Where possible, we use anonymised or aggregated information for this purpose.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with third parties where necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy and where there is a lawful basis to do so.

Service providers acting as data processors. We may engage third party companies to help us deliver our services, such as IT and systems support, website hosting, secure data storage, payment processing providers and companies providing communications or administration tools. These organisations only process your personal data on our instructions and are subject to contractual obligations to protect your data and keep it confidential.

Professional advisers. We may share data with accountants, auditors, legal advisers and similar professionals where necessary for the services they provide to us and for compliance with our legal obligations.

Public authorities. We may disclose information to law enforcement agencies, regulators or other authorities where required by law or where necessary to protect our legal rights or the safety of our staff and customers.

Other third parties. In limited situations, and only where lawful and appropriate, we may share data with other parties involved in facilitating your removal, such as storage providers, where this is required to fulfil the services you have requested.

International Transfers

Our general approach is to keep your personal data within the United Kingdom or European Economic Area where possible. If we use a service provider located outside these regions, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your personal data in accordance with data protection laws, such as using standard contractual clauses or relying on 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 and to meet our legal, accounting and reporting requirements. The exact retention period depends on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

In general, enquiry and quote information may be retained for a limited period after we respond, so that we can refer back to it if you contact us again or if there is a query about our response. Customer and booking records are normally kept for a number of years after the end of the contract, to comply with legal obligations and to enable us to deal with any questions or disputes that arise.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer be linked to an identifiable individual.

Your Data Protection Rights

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

Right of access. You can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and ask for a copy of that data.

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

Right to erasure. In some circumstances you can ask us to delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purpose for which it was collected, or where you have withdrawn consent and there is no other legal basis for processing.

Right to restrict processing. You can request that we restrict the processing of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we verify its accuracy.

Right to data portability. Where we process data based on your consent or on a contract and the processing is 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 transmit it to another controller.

Right to object. You can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including any direct marketing activity, and we will stop processing your data unless we have compelling legitimate reasons that override your interests and rights or we need to continue for legal claims.

Right to withdraw consent. Where we rely on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing before consent was withdrawn.

How to Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, or if you have questions or concerns about how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details made available on our website or through our usual customer communication channels. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request to protect your privacy.

You also have the right to raise a concern or lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority if you are unhappy with how we use your personal data. We would encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any issues directly.

Changes to this Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or how we process personal data. Any changes will be posted in the latest version of the Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your personal data.