Privacy Policy - Pratts Bottom Carpet Cleaners

This Privacy Policy explains how Pratts Bottom Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, shares, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Pratts Bottom Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including individuals who enquire about services, request quotations, book appointments, receive services at a property, or otherwise interact with us in connection with our work. We are committed to handling personal information lawfully, fairly, and transparently in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We only collect personal data that is necessary for the operation of our services, customer support, record keeping, and legal compliance. Depending on the way you interact with us, the information we may collect includes:

Identity details: your name and, where relevant, the name of a business or property manager.
Contact details: address, telephone number, and email address.
Service details: information about the type of carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, stain treatment, or related service requested.
Property and access information: details needed to carry out the service safely and effectively, such as access instructions, parking notes, or property features.
Billing and payment information: records needed to process payments, issue invoices, and keep financial records.
Communication records: messages, call notes, complaints, feedback, and service history.
Technical information: limited website or device information, if you contact us electronically, such as the date and time of a submission.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is necessary and you choose to provide it, for example if it is relevant to access arrangements or health and safety concerns. In such cases, we handle it with extra care and only where permitted by law.

2. How We Use Your Data

Your personal data is used for legitimate business and legal purposes connected with our services. This includes:

responding to enquiries and providing quotations;
arranging appointments and delivering cleaning services;
managing customer relationships and service records;
processing payments and maintaining accounting records;
handling complaints, queries, or follow-up requests;
ensuring safety, security, and operational efficiency;
meeting legal, tax, and insurance obligations;
improving our services and internal business practices.

We use only the data needed for the relevant purpose and do not use it in ways that are incompatible with the original reason it was collected.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must identify a lawful basis for each type of processing. Pratts Bottom Carpet Cleaners relies on the following bases:

Contract

We process personal data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, confirming bookings, carrying out cleaning services, and managing payment arrangements.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain certain information where required to comply with tax law, accounting rules, insurance requirements, or other legal obligations.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for our legitimate business interests where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Examples include service administration, record keeping, improving customer experience, and preventing fraud or misuse.

Consent

In limited situations, we may rely on your consent, for example where you voluntarily provide information not strictly necessary for the service. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. Sharing Your Personal Data

We do not sell your personal data. We may share it only when necessary and only with trusted third parties who help us operate our business. These may include:

Payment processors that securely handle card or electronic payments;
Accounting or bookkeeping providers who assist with financial administration;
IT and system support providers who maintain secure data storage or communications tools;
Subcontractors or service partners who help deliver services on our behalf, where applicable;
Professional advisers such as insurers, legal advisers, or auditors;
Public authorities where disclosure is required by law.

Where processors act on our behalf, they are required to handle personal data only according to our instructions, to keep it secure, and to comply with applicable data protection law. We remain responsible for ensuring your information is protected when processed by these providers.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purpose for which it was collected, including for legal, accounting, and reporting requirements. The retention period depends on the type of data and the reason it is held. For example:

customer and service records may be kept for the duration of the business relationship and a reasonable period after completion;
invoice and tax records may be kept for the period required by law;
enquiry records may be kept for a shorter period if no service is booked;
complaint or incident records may be retained longer if needed to resolve disputes or meet legal obligations.

When personal data is no longer needed, it is securely deleted, destroyed, or anonymised.

6. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, limited internal access, and safe handling procedures for paper and electronic records.

Although no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to reduce risks and to deal promptly with any suspected data incident. Security is an ongoing responsibility, and we regularly review our practices to maintain appropriate safeguards.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have rights regarding your personal information. Subject to legal conditions and exemptions, these rights may include:

Right of access: you can request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification: you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure: you can request deletion of certain data where there is no valid reason for us to keep it.
Right to restriction: you can ask us to limit the way we use your data in specific circumstances.
Right to object: you can object to processing based on legitimate interests in certain situations.
Right to data portability: you can ask for data you provided to us in a structured, commonly used format where applicable.
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 accordance with data protection law. We may need to verify your identity before processing a request. In some cases, we may not be able to comply fully if retaining the data is required by law or necessary for legitimate purposes.

8. Complaints and Further Rights

If you are concerned about how we handle your personal data, you have the right to raise a complaint with the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We would, however, appreciate the opportunity to address concerns first where appropriate.

We encourage all customers to contact us promptly if they believe any information is inaccurate, outdated, or being used incorrectly, so that we can review and, where needed, correct our records.

9. 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 handling practices. Any updated version will apply from the date it is published. We recommend reviewing this policy periodically to stay informed about how we protect your personal data.

10. Summary of Our Commitment

Pratts Bottom Carpet Cleaners is committed to processing personal data lawfully, securely, and fairly. We collect only what we need, use it for clear business and legal purposes, keep it only as long as necessary, and share it only with trusted processors or where required by law. Our aim is to respect your privacy while providing reliable carpet cleaning services to all customers in the area.

This Privacy Policy applies to all Pratts Bottom Carpet Cleaners customers in the area.