Privacy Policy - Orpington Carpet Cleaners

Effective from: 2026

This Privacy Policy explains how Orpington Carpet Cleaners collects, uses, shares, stores, and protects personal data when providing carpet cleaning and related services. It applies to all Orpington Carpet Cleaners customers in the area, including prospective customers, household clients, landlords, tenants, and commercial customers who use our services or interact with us in relation to a service enquiry, booking, quotation, or completed appointment.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent manner in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy is intended to help you understand your rights and our responsibilities.

1. Personal Data We Collect

We collect only the data necessary to deliver our services, manage our business, and meet legal obligations. The information we may collect includes:

Identity data such as your name and title.
Contact data such as address, email address, and telephone number.
Service data such as property details, cleaning requirements, room sizes, fabric or carpet information, stain and damage notes, and service preferences.
Booking data such as appointment dates, job notes, quotations, attendance records, and service history.
Payment and transaction data such as payment status, billing records, and invoice details.
Communication data such as emails, messages, call notes, complaint records, and feedback.
Technical data where relevant, such as basic website or device information if you contact us electronically.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless you provide it voluntarily and it is necessary for a specific service need, for example, information about allergies relevant to cleaning products. Where this occurs, we will apply additional safeguards and only use it when appropriate and lawful.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to operate effectively and provide carpet cleaning services. This may include:

Responding to enquiries and providing quotations.
Arranging and carrying out cleaning appointments.
Managing customer accounts, records, and service history.
Processing payments and maintaining financial records.
Handling complaints, service issues, and follow-up requests.
Improving service quality, training staff, and maintaining internal records.
Meeting legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
Preventing fraud, misuse, or unauthorised access to our systems or records.

We only use your data for the purpose for which it was collected unless we reasonably believe another compatible purpose applies or we are required by law to use it differently.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. We rely on the following bases:

Contract

We process your data when it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes taking bookings, attending your property, delivering services, issuing invoices, and managing post-service support.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, provided your interests and rights do not override those interests. This can include maintaining customer records, improving services, managing business operations, and protecting against fraud or misuse. We carefully assess these interests to ensure processing is proportionate.

Legal Obligation

We may need to process and retain some information to comply with legal and regulatory requirements, including tax, accounting, insurance, and record-keeping obligations.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example if you agree to receive optional marketing communications or if you voluntarily provide sensitive information that we need to act upon. Where consent is used, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. How We Share Data and Our Processors

We do not sell personal data. We may share limited information only when necessary and only with trusted third parties who help us provide our services or operate our business. These parties may act as data processors or independent controllers depending on the service they provide.

Examples of processors and service providers may include:

Payment processors that handle card or bank-related transactions.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers that assist with invoicing, records, and tax compliance.
IT and cloud storage providers that secure and host business records.
Customer communication tools used to manage messages, emails, and appointment coordination.
Insurance providers where required to assess or manage a claim.
Professional advisers such as legal or financial advisers where necessary.

When we use processors, we require them to handle data securely, keep it confidential, and only process it on our instructions unless they are legally required to act otherwise.

We may also disclose personal data if required by law, court order, or regulatory authority, or to protect our rights, staff, customers, or property.

5. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, to meet legal obligations, and to resolve disputes or enforce agreements. Retention periods depend on the type of data and why it is held.

Customer booking and service records are typically retained for a reasonable period after the service ends for reference, warranty-related support, or complaints handling.
Financial and tax records are retained for the period required by law.
Communication records may be retained where needed to document agreements, service queries, or outcomes.
Consent-based records are kept until consent is withdrawn or the purpose ends.

When data is no longer needed, we will securely delete, anonymise, or dispose of it in line with our internal retention practices.

6. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality expectations, and limited access to records on a need-to-know basis.

While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we review our safeguards and aim to reduce privacy risks as far as reasonably possible.

7. Your Rights

You have several rights under data protection law in relation to your personal data. These include:

Right of access – you can request a copy of the data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you can ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – in certain circumstances, you can ask us to delete your data.
Right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain cases.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – where applicable, you can request that we provide your data in a reusable format.
Right to withdraw consent – where we rely on consent, you may withdraw it at any time.

If you exercise any of these rights, we may need to verify your identity before responding. We will respond within the time limits set by law unless an extension is permitted.

8. Children’s Data

Our services are generally directed to adults. We do not knowingly collect children’s personal data unless it is necessary for a service arrangement and provided by an adult customer. If we become aware that we have collected data without an appropriate basis, we will take reasonable steps to delete it.

9. International Transfers

Where any of our service providers store or process data outside the United Kingdom, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect that data in line with applicable law. We only use providers where we believe suitable data protection measures exist.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or internal processes. Any updates will take effect when published or otherwise communicated. We encourage customers in the Orpington area to review this policy periodically.

11. Summary of Our Commitment

Orpington Carpet Cleaners will only collect and use personal data when there is a valid reason to do so. We aim to keep your information accurate, secure, and retained only for as long as necessary. We use trusted processors where needed, apply lawful bases for every processing activity, and respect your rights to access, correct, restrict, object to, or delete your information where the law allows.

If you would like to understand how your data is handled, this policy sets out the key principles we follow for every customer in our service area.