House Clearance Kingston Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how House Clearance Kingston collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in the Kingston area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

This Privacy Policy applies to all House Clearance Kingston customers, including individuals, landlords, estate agents, businesses, and any other clients who contact us, request a quotation, or use our house clearance and related services in the Kingston area.

Who We Are

House Clearance Kingston is a business providing house clearance and related services to customers in the Kingston area. For data protection purposes, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and process in connection with our services.

As the data controller, we are responsible for deciding how and why we use your personal data, and for ensuring that any processing of your personal data is carried out in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you request. The types of personal data we may collect include:

Contact details such as your full name, telephone number, mobile number, email address, and home or business address.

Service and property information such as the address of the property to be cleared, property type, access details, parking arrangements, and any specific instructions you provide.

Communication records including emails, text messages, call notes, and other correspondence relating to enquiries, quotations, bookings, and customer service.

Billing and payment information such as your billing name, address, and details necessary to process invoices and confirm payment. We do not store full card details if payment is taken by a third-party payment processor.

Marketing preferences such as whether you wish to receive updates or offers from us, and your communication preferences.

Website and usage data such as basic technical information that may be collected when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser type, and pages viewed, to help us improve our services and security.

How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, email, contact form, or in person to request information, a quotation, or to make a booking. We may also collect data when you provide details during a site visit or when we perform the clearance service.

In some cases, we may receive your details from third parties who are arranging services on your behalf, such as landlords, letting agents, estate agents, solicitors, or family members. Where another person provides your personal data to us, we request that they confirm they have your permission to do so.

Lawful Bases For Processing

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. The lawful bases we rely on include:

Contract: We process your personal data to provide you with quotations, enter into a contract, carry out house clearance services, issue invoices, and manage your account.

Legal obligation: We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal obligations, including tax, accounting, and recordkeeping requirements.

Legitimate interests: We process personal data for our legitimate business interests, such as managing and improving our services, responding to enquiries and complaints, and maintaining business records. When relying on legitimate interests, we balance our interests against your rights and freedoms.

Consent: In some cases, such as sending certain marketing communications by email or text, we may rely on your consent. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time by contacting us using the details provided in this Privacy Policy.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to your enquiries, provide quotations, and discuss your service requirements.

To schedule and carry out house clearance and related services at the agreed property.

To issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records.

To communicate with you about your booking, including confirmations, updates, and follow-up messages.

To handle complaints, resolve disputes, and provide customer support.

To manage our business operations, including internal administration, reporting, and service improvement.

To send you marketing communications, where permitted by law and in line with your preferences.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is reasonably necessary for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

In general, we retain customer records, including contact and service information, for up to seven years after the end of our relationship with you, in line with tax and accounting rules. Communication records such as emails and messages may be retained for a similar period to address any queries or disputes that may arise.

Where we process personal data based solely on your consent for marketing purposes, we will keep this information until you withdraw your consent or we determine it is no longer needed. When data is no longer required, we will securely delete or anonymise it.

Data Sharing And Processors

We do not sell your personal data to third parties. However, we may share your personal data with trusted third parties to help us deliver our services or to comply with legal obligations.

These third parties may act as data processors on our behalf and can include:

IT and hosting providers who supply and maintain our email, website hosting, and data storage services.

Payment service providers who process payments and manage card transactions on our behalf.

Accountants and professional advisers who assist with our accounts, tax returns, and legal obligations.

Waste transfer stations and recycling partners where required to demonstrate lawful disposal of items, which may include referencing your name and property address on documentation.

Couriers or subcontractors who support us in delivering our services, where necessary for them to attend your property or collect items.

Public authorities, regulators, law enforcement, or courts where we are legally required to do so or where this is necessary to protect our rights.

Where we use third-party processors, we ensure they only process your personal data in accordance with our instructions, keep it secure, and comply with data protection law.

International Transfers

Our primary operations and data storage are based in the United Kingdom. If any of our service providers transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or European Economic Area, we will take steps to ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place, such as using standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities, or ensuring that the destination country is recognised as providing an adequate level of data protection.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data. These include:

The right of access: You can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we use it.

The right to rectification: You can ask us to correct or complete any inaccurate or incomplete personal data we hold about you.

The 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.

The right to restrict processing: You can ask us to restrict our use of your personal data in certain situations, such as while we are considering a request for rectification.

The right to object: You can object to our processing of your personal data where we are relying on legitimate interests or where we use your data for direct marketing.

The right to data portability: In some cases, you can request that we provide your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format, or transfer it to another organisation.

Where we process your personal data based on consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of any processing carried out before you withdrew your consent.

How To Exercise Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, or if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the details provided to you when you first engaged our services or by using the contact details on our website or service documentation.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request, in order to protect your privacy and security. We aim to respond to all valid requests within one month, although this may be extended in complex cases. We will inform you if an extension is necessary.

You also have the right to raise a concern about our handling of your personal data with the Information Commissioners Office, which is the UK supervisory authority for data protection. We encourage you to contact us first so that we can try to resolve any issues directly.

Security Of Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or disclosure. These measures include access controls, secure storage, and limiting personal data access to those who need it to carry out their duties.

While we take reasonable steps to safeguard your personal data, no system can be completely secure. You are also responsible for keeping any information you use to communicate with us secure and confidential.

Changes To This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, how we process personal data, or changes in law or guidance. The updated version will apply from the date it is made available. We recommend that you review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we use your personal data.