House Clearance Lewisham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how House Clearance Lewisham collects, uses, stores and shares personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers in the Lewisham area. It is intended to help you understand your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018, and how to exercise those rights.

This Privacy Policy applies to all individual customers, prospective customers and website users who live in, book services in, or otherwise engage House Clearance Lewisham for work in the Lewisham area. By contacting us, requesting a quote, or using our services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Data Controller Details

House Clearance Lewisham is the data controller responsible for deciding how and why your personal data is used in connection with our services. We determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data and are responsible for complying with applicable data protection laws.

You can contact us using the contact details provided on our main service communications or invoices if you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data.

Personal Data We Collect

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

Identification and contact details: name, address, telephone number, email address and any other contact information you provide to us when you request a quote or book a service.

Service and property information: property address for the clearance, access details, parking arrangements, descriptions of items and waste to be removed, photographs or videos of the property or items where needed for quotes or records, and any special instructions you provide.

Contract and transaction data: details of services requested, quotes provided, booking dates and times, invoices, payment amounts, payment status, communications relating to your booking, and records of services performed.

Payment data: we may process limited payment-related information such as payment method, partial card details or transaction references, depending on how you pay. Where we use payment processors, they will process your card or bank details directly, and we will not store full card numbers or security codes.

Communication data: records of your communications with us by telephone, email, text message, online forms or other channels, including any feedback, complaints or enquiries you submit.

Technical and usage data: when you visit our website, we may collect technical data such as your IP address, browser type and version, device identifiers, and information about how you use our site, such as pages visited and time spent. This may be collected using cookies or similar technologies, as described below.

How We Collect Your Data

We typically collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by telephone, email, online form or through any enquiry channel to request information, a quote or to book our services. We may also collect data during site visits, when you provide further information in person, or when we carry out the clearance work.

In some cases we may receive your details from third parties if, for example, a landlord, letting agent, solicitor, or family member provides your contact details to arrange a clearance at your property or on your behalf. Where this occurs, we will inform you as soon as reasonably possible, unless this would be impossible or involve disproportionate effort.

Technical and usage data may be collected automatically as you browse or interact with our website.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so under the UK GDPR. The main lawful bases we rely on are:

Contract: we process your data where it is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract, or to perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, responding to booking enquiries, delivering house clearance services, and managing payments and invoices.

Legitimate interests: we may process your data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This includes managing our business operations, improving our services, keeping appropriate records, handling queries and complaints, and protecting our rights.

Legal obligation: we process certain data to comply with our legal obligations, such as record-keeping for tax, accounting or waste disposal regulations, and responding to lawful requests from authorities.

Consent: if we rely on your consent for specific processing activities, such as sending you certain types of marketing communications, we will clearly ask for your consent and explain what it covers. You can withdraw your consent at any time using the contact details in our communications.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes:

To provide and manage our services, including assessing clearance requirements, preparing and issuing quotes, booking appointments, performing clearances, and managing follow-up work.

To communicate with you before, during and after a booking, including confirmations, reminders, updates, and responding to your enquiries or complaints.

To manage payments, invoices, receipts, refunds and debt recovery where necessary.

To maintain internal records and manage our business operations, such as planning resources, training staff, monitoring service quality and analysing service performance.

To comply with legal and regulatory obligations, such as waste disposal documentation, accounting, and responding to requests from regulators or law enforcement where required by law.

To protect and enforce our legal rights, for example in the event of disputes or legal claims.

Where you have agreed, to send you information about our services, offers or updates that may be relevant to you. You can opt out of marketing at any time.

Data Processors and Sharing of Personal Data

We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors can include payment service providers, accounting or bookkeeping service providers, IT and hosting providers, communication and messaging platforms, and waste management partners who process waste in accordance with regulations.

These third parties are only permitted to use your personal data following our instructions and for the purposes described in this Privacy Policy. We require them to implement appropriate security measures to protect your data and to treat it confidentially.

We may also share your personal data with professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers or accountants where necessary to obtain professional advice or manage legal claims.

We will disclose personal data to law enforcement agencies, regulators, courts or other public authorities if we are legally required to do so or if disclosure is necessary to protect our rights or the safety of others.

We do not sell your personal data to third parties.

International Transfers

Where any of our service providers or systems are located outside the United Kingdom, or where data is accessed from outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place. This may include relying on adequacy regulations, using standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities, or other lawful transfer mechanisms designed to protect your data.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as is necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including for satisfying any legal, accounting or reporting requirements.

In general, we retain customer records, including contact details, service information and transaction data, for a period aligned with our legal obligations and limitation periods for claims. After the relevant retention period expires, we will securely delete, anonymise or otherwise dispose of your data so that it can no longer be associated with you.

The specific retention period may vary depending on the type of data and the legal or operational requirements that apply. If you require detailed information about specific retention periods for your data, you can contact us using the details provided in our communications.

Your Data Protection Rights

As a data subject, you have several rights under the UK GDPR in relation to your personal data. These rights apply to all customers and individuals whose data we process in connection with our services in the Lewisham area.

Right of access: you have the right to request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and to receive a copy of the personal data we hold about you, along with certain additional information.

Right to rectification: you have the right to request that we correct any inaccurate personal data about you and complete any incomplete data.

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

Right to restrict processing: you may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, such as while we verify the accuracy of the data or assess an objection you have raised.

Right to object: you can object to processing based on our legitimate interests, including profiling, and we will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue. You always have the right to object to direct marketing.

Right to data portability: where we process your personal data by automated means and based on your consent or a contract, you may request that we provide your data to you in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format or that we transfer it to another controller, where technically feasible.

Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on your consent, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time. This will not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before it was withdrawn.

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the contact details provided in our usual service correspondence. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data from unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, secure storage, staff training, and contractual obligations on our processors. While we strive to protect your data, no transmission or storage system can be guaranteed as completely secure.

Complaints and Contact

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise your rights, you can contact us using the details in our communications or invoices.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner s Office if you are unhappy with how we have used your data. We would, however, appreciate the chance to address your concerns before you contact the supervisory authority, so please contact us in the first instance if possible.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements or operational needs. When we make significant changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform you, such as updating the version on our website or including information in our communications. The date of the latest update will be indicated in the policy text or accompanying notices.

By continuing to use our services after any updates, you acknowledge the revised Privacy Policy. We encourage you to review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.