Privacy Policy

Merton Movers Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Merton Movers collects, uses, stores and shares personal data when providing removals and related services. It applies to all Merton Movers customers and prospective customers in our service area, including anyone who visits our website, makes an enquiry, requests a quote, or uses our moving or storage services.

Merton Movers acts as a data controller when it determines how and why your personal data is processed. We are committed to protecting your privacy and complying with the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable data protection laws.

Personal Data We Collect

We collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us. This may include:

Identification and contact details: name, title, postal address, moving from address and moving to address, billing address, email address, and any other contact details you provide to us.

Service and contract details: details of your move or service request, including property access information, inventory or item lists for removal or storage, dates of service, and any special instructions or notes you provide to us.

Communication data: information contained in enquiries, emails, letters, or messages you send to us, along with records of telephone or in person conversations where relevant to the performance of our services.

Billing and payment information: payment amounts, payment status, and basic transaction details. Card details or other sensitive payment information are processed by secure payment processors and are not stored in full by Merton Movers.

Website and technical data: when you visit our website, we may collect technical data such as IP address, browser type, device information, and basic usage data to help operate and improve our website. We only use cookies or similar technologies where permitted by law and where necessary for the operation or improvement of our online services.

Feedback and reviews: information you provide in feedback, reviews, surveys, or testimonials relating to our services.

Purposes and Lawful Bases for Processing

Merton Movers only processes your personal data where we have a lawful basis under data protection law. The main purposes and corresponding lawful bases are:

To provide quotes and respond to enquiries: we process identification, contact and service data to respond to your requests and to provide you with quotes for removals or related services. The lawful basis is taking steps at your request prior to entering into a contract and, in some circumstances, our legitimate interests in operating and developing our business.

To perform a contract with you: when you accept a quote or otherwise engage Merton Movers, we process your personal data to plan and carry out your move, manage bookings, communicate with you about the service, and handle payments. The lawful basis is the performance of a contract and taking steps at your request before entering into that contract.

To manage our business and records: we process data for accounting, invoicing, record keeping, and management reporting. The lawful bases are compliance with our legal obligations, such as tax and accounting rules, and our legitimate interests in running an efficient and compliant business.

To improve and develop our services: we may use anonymised or aggregated data derived from your personal data to analyse service performance, improve our processes, and train staff. Where personal data is used, the lawful basis is our legitimate interests in developing and improving our services, balanced against your rights and expectations.

To handle complaints, disputes and legal claims: we may process relevant personal data to investigate and resolve complaints, to defend or establish legal claims, and to cooperate with regulators or law enforcement where required. The lawful bases are legitimate interests and, where applicable, compliance with legal obligations.

Marketing communications: we may send you information about similar services that Merton Movers offers where you have used our services before or have requested a quote. The lawful basis is our legitimate interests in promoting our services. You can opt out of marketing at any time by following the instructions provided in the communication or by contacting us using the details on our website.

Data Retention

Merton Movers keeps personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including to meet legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of data and the context in which it was collected.

In general, enquiry and quote information is retained for a limited period to allow us to follow up and manage potential bookings, after which it is either deleted or anonymised unless you become a customer.

Customer and contract records are retained for as long as you remain a customer and for a further period to comply with legal and tax obligations and to manage any complaints or legal claims. After the relevant retention period expires, records are securely deleted or anonymised.

Technical and website usage data is kept only for as long as necessary to operate, secure and improve our online services, and is then deleted, anonymised, or aggregated.

If we anonymise your personal data so that it can no longer be associated with you, we may use this information indefinitely without further notice to you.

Sharing Personal Data and Use of Processors

Merton Movers takes care to share personal data only where necessary and with appropriate safeguards. We may share your personal data with:

Service providers and processors: third party companies that provide services to us, such as IT and hosting providers, secure payment processors, customer relationship management systems, accounting support, and document storage. These providers act as data processors and only process your data under our instructions and in accordance with data protection law.

Operational partners: carefully selected partners or subcontractors that assist in delivering moving or storage services, where necessary to fulfil your booking. They receive only the information required to perform their role.

Professional advisers: such as accountants, auditors, or legal advisers where needed for business, legal or compliance reasons.

Authorities and regulators: where we are required to share information by law or where necessary to protect our rights, property, or safety or that of our customers or others.

We do not sell your personal data. If we are involved in a business sale, merger, reorganisation or similar event, your personal data may be transferred as part of that transaction, and we will ensure that it remains protected in accordance with this Privacy Policy.

International Transfers

Where we use service providers located outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we take steps to ensure that your personal data receives an equivalent level of protection. This may include using standard contractual clauses or relying on other approved transfer mechanisms permitted under data protection law.

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. These include:

Right of access: you can request confirmation of whether we process your personal data and obtain a copy of the data we hold about you, together with certain information about how we use it.

Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete data.

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 purpose for which it was collected or where you withdraw consent and there is no other lawful basis for processing.

Right to restriction of processing: you can ask us to restrict the processing of your data in certain situations, such as where you contest the accuracy of the data or object to our processing and we are considering your request.

Right to data portability: in certain circumstances, you can request that we provide you with personal data you have given to us in a structured, commonly used and machine readable format, and you may have the right to transmit that data to another controller.

Right to object: you can object at any time to processing of your personal data based on our legitimate interests, including marketing. We will then stop processing your data for those purposes unless we can demonstrate compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms, or unless the processing is necessary for legal claims.

Rights in relation to automated decision making: Merton Movers does not carry out automated decision making or profiling that produces legal or similarly significant effects on you.

If you wish to exercise any of your rights, you can contact us using the contact details published on our website. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. There is normally no charge for exercising your rights, and we aim to respond within the time limits set by law.

Security of Your Personal Data

Merton Movers uses appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, loss, destruction or damage. These measures include access controls, secure storage, staff training and regular review of our security practices. While we take reasonable steps to protect your information, no system can be completely secure and you should take care when providing information to us.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements or data protection practices. The most recent version will always be available from Merton Movers, and the effective date will be indicated at the start or end of the policy. We encourage you to review this policy periodically to stay informed about how we handle your personal data.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Merton Movers customers and prospective customers in our service area and forms part of the terms under which we provide our services.