House Clearance Earls Court Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how House Clearance Earls Court collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data relating to our customers and prospective customers. It applies to all House Clearance Earls Court customers located in the Earls Court area and to anyone who contacts us to enquire about or use our services. We are committed to handling your personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Data Controller Details

The data controller responsible for your personal data is House Clearance Earls Court. This means that we determine the purposes and means of processing your personal data. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or how we handle your personal data, you can contact us using the contact details published on our main service information materials or invoices.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data in the course of providing house clearance and related services in the Earls Court area. The categories of personal data we may collect include:

Identification and contact details, such as your name, address, phone number and email address.

Service and property details, such as the property address where the clearance is to be carried out, access instructions, parking information, and any relevant notes about items to be removed.

Communication records, including emails, text messages, call notes, and any other correspondence relating to enquiries, quotes, bookings, and after-service feedback or complaints.

Billing and payment information, such as invoices, payment confirmations, and basic transaction records. We do not normally store full payment card details, as these are handled by secure payment service providers acting as data processors on our behalf.

Technical and usage information, such as basic device and browsing information gathered when you visit our website or interact with our online content. This may include your IP address, approximate location, pages viewed, and the dates and times of access, typically collected through server logs or similar technologies for security and performance purposes.

How We Collect Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us by phone, email, contact form, or in person to request a quote, make a booking, or ask a question about our services. We may also collect information from third parties where it is relevant to the service, for example from landlords, letting agents, or family members who arrange a clearance on behalf of someone else, provided they have the authority to share that information.

Lawful Basis for Processing

We process your personal data only where we have a lawful basis to do so. Depending on the context, we rely on the following lawful bases:

Contractual necessity: We process your personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out house clearances, and managing payments.

Legitimate interests: We process certain personal data for our legitimate business interests, such as managing and improving our services, responding to enquiries, maintaining accurate records, ensuring the security of our systems, and preventing fraud. When we rely on this basis, we balance our interests against your rights and freedoms.

Legal obligations: We may need to process and retain certain personal data to comply with our legal and regulatory obligations, such as tax, accounting, and waste disposal regulations.

Consent: In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where required for specific types of optional marketing communications. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

How We Use Your Personal Data

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

To respond to your enquiries and provide quotes for house clearance services in the Earls Court area.

To schedule, manage, and carry out house clearances and related services at the agreed locations.

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

To communicate with you about your booking, including confirmations, reminders, and follow-up communication where required.

To manage customer relationships, handle feedback, and resolve complaints or disputes.

To maintain the security and integrity of our systems, business, and website.

To comply with legal and regulatory requirements and cooperate with authorised authorities if required by law.

Data Sharing and Processors

We do not sell your personal data. We may share your personal data with trusted third parties who act as data processors on our behalf, and with other recipients where necessary. These may include:

IT and hosting providers who store or manage our systems, email services, and data backups.

Payment service providers who process card or electronic payments securely.

Professional advisers, such as accountants or legal advisers, where necessary for business, legal, or compliance reasons.

Waste management and recycling partners, where required for lawful disposal of items following a house clearance and to comply with environmental regulations.

Couriers or logistics providers, where necessary to collect or deliver items connected with our services.

Regulatory bodies, law enforcement, or other authorities, where we are required to disclose information by law or to protect our rights or the rights of others.

When we use third parties to process personal data on our behalf, we ensure that appropriate contracts and safeguards are in place so that your data is handled securely and in accordance with data protection laws.

International Transfers

Our primary operations and data storage are based in the United Kingdom. If we ever need to transfer personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your data, such as standard contractual clauses approved by relevant authorities or equivalent legal mechanisms.

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 any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

In general, we retain basic customer and transaction records for a period consistent with tax and accounting obligations, typically up to seven years from the end of the financial year in which the relevant transaction took place.

Enquiry information for quotes or services that do not proceed may be kept for a shorter period, usually up to two years, to help us respond to follow-up queries or repeat requests, unless you request earlier deletion where we have no overriding reason to retain it.

We may retain certain records for longer where necessary to establish, exercise, or defend legal claims. When personal data is no longer needed, it will be securely deleted or anonymised.

Your Data Protection Rights

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

The right of access: You can request confirmation of whether we hold personal data about you and ask for a copy of that data.

The right to rectification: You can ask us to correct 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 and we are not required to retain it for legal reasons.

The right to restriction of processing: You can ask us to restrict how we use your data in certain situations, for example while we are considering a request to rectify or erase your data.

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

The right to object: You may object to our processing of your personal data where we rely on legitimate interests as our lawful basis. We will stop processing unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights, and freedoms, or where processing is needed for legal claims.

The right to withdraw consent: Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw it at any time, although this will not affect the lawfulness of processing carried out before withdrawal.

You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office if you are concerned about how we handle your personal data. We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns directly first.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, or disclosure. These measures include access controls, secure storage, and regular review of our data handling practices. While no system can be completely secure, we strive to protect your information using reasonable safeguards in line with industry standards and legal requirements.

Policy Scope and Updates

This Privacy Policy applies to all House Clearance Earls Court customers and prospective customers in the Earls Court area and to the personal data we collect in connection with our services. It does not apply to third party services that have their own privacy policies.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, our data processing practices, or legal requirements. Any changes will take effect when the updated policy is made available through our usual communication channels. You should review this Privacy Policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.