Privacy Policy - Highbury Movers

This Privacy Policy explains how Highbury Movers collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing moving, storage, packing, and related services. It applies to all Highbury Movers customers in the area, including prospective customers, residential customers, business customers, and anyone who interacts with us in connection with a quote, booking, survey, delivery, or complaint.

Highbury Movers is committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We only process personal data where we have a valid legal basis and only for purposes that are necessary, proportionate, and relevant to the services we provide.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

Identity details: name, title, and, where relevant, business name.
Contact details: postal address, email address, and telephone number.
Service details: moving dates, property access information, inventory details, packing preferences, and service instructions.
Payment and billing information: payment status, invoice records, and limited financial details necessary to process transactions.
Communication records: emails, call notes, complaint details, and correspondence relating to quotes, bookings, and customer support.
Operational information: delivery notes, job progress records, photographs taken for inventory or damage reporting where appropriate, and service logs.
Technical information: limited website or device data such as IP address, browser type, and usage data if you interact with us digitally.

We generally collect data directly from you when you request a quote, book a service, complete forms, communicate with us, or otherwise provide information during the customer journey. In some cases, we may receive data from third parties, such as estate agents, landlords, solicitors, insurers, or business partners, where this is necessary to deliver the service.

2. How We Use Your Personal Data

Highbury Movers uses personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes and assess service requirements;
to arrange, manage, and deliver moving or related services;
to communicate about bookings, schedules, access, and delivery matters;
to process payments, issue invoices, and manage accounts;
to respond to enquiries, complaints, and claims;
to maintain internal records and improve service quality;
to meet legal, accounting, tax, and regulatory obligations;
to protect against fraud, misuse, or security risks;
to exercise or defend legal claims where needed.

We will only use your data for purposes that are compatible with the original reason for collection unless we have a lawful basis to use it otherwise.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal data only where one or more lawful bases under UK GDPR applies. These bases may include:

Contract: where processing is necessary to take steps at your request before entering into a contract or to perform our contract with you, such as managing your move, confirming arrangements, or issuing invoices.
Legal obligation: where processing is required to comply with legal duties, including tax, accounting, record-keeping, or regulatory requirements.
Legitimate interests: where processing is necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as running our operations, improving services, managing risk, preventing fraud, or handling customer service matters, provided your interests and rights do not override those interests.
Consent: where we rely on your consent for optional activities, and you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing already carried out.

We do not rely on consent where another lawful basis is more appropriate, and we do not process special category data unless strictly necessary and permitted by law.

4. Sharing Your Personal Data and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties where necessary to operate our business and deliver services. These third parties act either as processors or, in some cases, as independent controllers.

Processors

Processors are organisations that handle personal data on our behalf under written agreements and only according to our instructions. These may include:

payment service providers;
IT hosting and software providers;
email, messaging, and customer management platforms;
accounting and invoicing systems;
archiving and document storage providers;
survey, logistics, or operational support contractors where applicable.

We require processors to implement appropriate technical and organisational security measures and to keep personal data confidential.

Other recipients

We may also share limited data with:

professional advisers such as lawyers, insurers, or accountants;
public authorities, regulators, or law enforcement where required by law;
property professionals or building managers where needed to complete a move;
subcontractors or partner carriers involved in delivering a service.

We do not sell personal data. If personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure appropriate safeguards are in place, such as an adequacy decision or approved contractual protections.

5. Data Retention

Highbury Movers keeps personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and to satisfy legal, accounting, insurance, or contractual requirements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and the reason for processing.

Quote and booking records may be retained for a reasonable period after the service ends in case of follow-up queries or disputes.
Financial and invoicing records are retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Complaint, claim, and incident records may be retained longer where needed to resolve issues or defend legal claims.
Unused or outdated data is securely deleted, anonymised, or archived when it is no longer needed.

We regularly review retention needs to ensure we do not keep personal data longer than necessary.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate organisational and technical safeguards to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and restricted sharing on a need-to-know basis.

Although we take reasonable steps to protect data, no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure. If a data breach occurs that is likely to result in a risk to your rights and freedoms, we will take action in line with applicable law.

7. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you may have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

Right of access: to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: to request deletion of your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restriction: to ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to data portability: to receive certain data in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
Right to object: to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to withdraw consent: where processing is based on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

We may need to verify your identity before responding to a rights request. Some rights are subject to legal exceptions and may not apply in every situation. You will not be subject to automated decision-making that produces legal or similarly significant effects without appropriate safeguards.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are not directed to children, and we do not intentionally collect personal data from individuals under 16 unless it is necessary for a service and provided lawfully by an adult with authority to do so.

9. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legal requirements, business practices, or service arrangements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published or otherwise communicated.

By using Highbury Movers services, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy and how your personal data may be processed.