Privacy Policy - Biggin Hill Carpet Cleaners

Effective for all customers of Biggin Hill Carpet Cleaners in the local area, this Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. It applies to all individuals who use our carpet, upholstery, and related cleaning services within the Biggin Hill area and surrounding locations served by our business.

1. Introduction

Biggin Hill Carpet Cleaners is committed to handling personal data fairly, lawfully, and transparently. We understand that privacy matters, and we aim to keep the information we hold secure and limited to what is necessary for providing our services, managing our business, and meeting legal obligations.

This Privacy Policy explains what personal data we may collect, why we collect it, the lawful basis we rely on, how long we keep it, who may process it on our behalf, and the rights available to you under data protection law.

2. Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data depending on your interaction with us:

Identity information: name, title, and any relevant household or business contact name.
Contact information: address, phone number, and email address.
Service information: details of the cleaning services requested, property access notes, service preferences, and job history.
Payment information: payment status, billing details, and transaction records. We do not usually store full card details where payment is handled by a secure payment provider.
Communication records: enquiries, messages, quotes, complaints, feedback, and appointment-related correspondence.
Technical and usage data: limited information such as website or email interactions if relevant to our communication systems, though we aim to keep this minimal.
Special category data: we do not intentionally collect special category data. If such information is provided to us incidentally, for example in a note about access needs or household circumstances, we will only process it where necessary and with appropriate safeguards.

We only collect personal data that is relevant and proportionate to the services we provide.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

to respond to enquiries and provide quotations;
to schedule, deliver, and manage cleaning services;
to communicate about bookings, access, changes, and service updates;
to issue invoices, process payments, and maintain financial records;
to handle complaints, disputes, and service-related questions;
to improve our services and customer experience;
to meet legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations;
to prevent fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access to our systems and records.

We do not sell personal data and we do not use it for unrelated marketing without the appropriate lawful basis and required consent where applicable.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis before processing your personal data. Biggin Hill Carpet Cleaners relies on the following lawful bases depending on the activity involved:

a) Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, delivering cleaning services, managing appointments, and processing payments.

b) Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your rights and freedoms do not override those interests. This may include managing customer records, preventing fraud, improving service quality, and maintaining internal administration. When relying on legitimate interests, we assess the impact on your privacy and keep the processing proportionate.

c) Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information to comply with legal requirements, such as tax rules, accounting obligations, insurance requirements, and record-keeping duties.

d) Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, for example for certain optional communications or where specific processing requires permission. Where consent is used, you can withdraw it at any time.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, and for any period required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason we hold it.

Customer and service records: kept for the duration of the business relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards to manage queries or disputes.
Financial records: retained for the period required by tax and accounting laws.
Communications and complaints: kept as long as needed to deal with the matter and support our legitimate business records.
General enquiries: retained only for as long as needed to respond and maintain a record of our communications.

When data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, anonymised, or destroyed in line with our retention practices.

6. Processors and Third Parties

We may share personal data with trusted third-party service providers who act as processors on our behalf. These parties only process personal data in line with our instructions and are required to protect it appropriately.

IT and cloud service providers: used for data storage, email, scheduling, and business administration.
Payment processors: used to handle card or electronic payments securely.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers: used to maintain financial records and meet tax obligations.
Customer management or communication tools: used to manage enquiries, appointments, and service records.

We may also share data where required by law, court order, or lawful request from a public authority. We may disclose limited information to insurers, legal advisers, or regulatory bodies when necessary to protect our rights, defend claims, or comply with legal obligations.

We do not permit our processors to use your data for their own purposes.

7. International Transfers

If any of our processors store or access data outside the UK, we will only do so where appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information in line with UK GDPR requirements. These safeguards may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or equivalent legal measures.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure passwords, restricted sharing, and careful handling of physical and digital records.

Although we work hard to safeguard your information, no system is completely risk-free. We therefore review our procedures regularly and aim to reduce privacy risks wherever possible.

9. Your Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights regarding your personal data. These rights may apply depending on the circumstances and any legal exceptions that may limit them.

Right of access: you can ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to erasure: you can ask us to delete your data in certain circumstances.
Right to restrict processing: you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing, where applicable.
Right to data portability: you can ask for certain data to be provided in a structured, commonly used format where technically feasible.
Right to withdraw consent: where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you wish to exercise any of these rights, we will respond in line with data protection law and within the relevant timeframes.

10. Children’s Data

Our services are intended for adults and households arranging cleaning services. We do not knowingly collect personal data directly from children. If information relating to a child is provided incidentally, it will be handled carefully and only where necessary for service delivery or safety.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, legal requirements, or service arrangements. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers in the Biggin Hill area to review this policy periodically so they remain informed about how their personal data is handled.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Biggin Hill Carpet Cleaners is committed to respecting privacy and protecting personal data. We collect only what we need, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it only as long as necessary, and limit access to trusted processors who support our business operations. We also recognise and uphold your rights under UK GDPR.

This policy applies to all Biggin Hill Carpet Cleaners customers in the area we serve.