Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Wallington

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Wallington collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data relating to customers, prospective customers, suppliers, and website or enquiry users in the Wallington area. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Wallington customers in the area, including anyone who requests a quote, makes an enquiry, books a site visit, purchases services, or otherwise interacts with our business.

1. Who We Are

Tree Surgeons Wallington provides tree surgery and related outdoor services for domestic and commercial customers in and around Wallington. For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, we act as the data controller for the personal data we collect and process in connection with our services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way. We only collect information that is relevant and necessary for the provision of our services, business administration, legal compliance, and customer support.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

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

Identity details: name, title, and any business or organisation name provided.
Contact details: address, email address, telephone number, and preferred contact method.
Property and service information: details about the site, trees, access requirements, job specifications, and photographs relevant to the work.
Communication records: messages, call notes, emails, quotes, complaints, and feedback.
Payment and billing information: invoice details, payment status, and transaction records.
Technical information: limited information such as device or browser data if collected through digital enquiry systems.
Legal and compliance records: permits, consents, risk assessments, job records, and insurance-related documents where required.

We do not intentionally collect special category personal data unless it is voluntarily provided and is necessary for a specific lawful purpose. If such data is received, it will be handled with extra care and only where permitted by data protection law.

3. How We Collect Your Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you:

request a quotation or assessment;
book or use our services;
correspond with us by phone, email, message, or in person;
provide access or property details;
make a payment or receive an invoice;
submit a complaint, review, or service-related enquiry.

We may also receive information from third parties where appropriate, such as property managers, landlords, insurers, local authorities, or subcontractors involved in carrying out the work. In such cases, we ensure that the information is used only for legitimate business purposes and in line with applicable law.

4. Why We Use Your Personal Data

We process personal data for the following purposes:

to provide quotes, inspections, and tree surgery services;
to communicate with you about bookings, work schedules, and service updates;
to prepare invoices, record payments, and manage accounts;
to maintain safety, quality, and operational records;
to comply with legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations;
to manage customer queries, disputes, and complaints;
to improve our services and customer experience;
to protect our business, staff, customers, and property.

We will only use your data in ways that are compatible with the reasons for which it was collected, unless we reasonably determine that another lawful basis applies.

5. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we rely on one or more of the following lawful bases when processing personal data:

Contract

We process your data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you, such as providing a quotation, carrying out tree surgery, issuing invoices, or managing aftercare.

Legal Obligation

We may be required to process and retain certain information to meet legal obligations, including tax, accounting, insurance, health and safety, and record-keeping requirements.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. This includes responding to enquiries, managing our operations, preventing fraud, improving services, and maintaining security.

Consent

In limited cases, we may rely on your consent, for example where you agree to a specific type of communication or optional use of information. You can withdraw consent at any time where consent is the lawful basis.

6. How We Share Personal Data

We do not sell personal data. We only share information where necessary and appropriate for legitimate business purposes, legal compliance, or service delivery. This may include sharing data with:

service providers and processors who support invoicing, administration, IT systems, secure data storage, or communication tools;
subcontractors or specialists involved in carrying out tree surgery work;
professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers;
public authorities or regulators where required by law;
payment providers where needed to complete transactions.

When a third party processes data on our behalf, they are required to act under our instructions, keep information secure, and only use it for the agreed purpose.

7. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason it is held.

As a general rule:

quotation and enquiry records may be kept for a limited period to manage follow-up and service history;
customer and job records may be kept for the duration of the service relationship and a reasonable period afterwards;
invoice, payment, and tax records are typically retained in line with statutory accounting requirements;
complaints, risk assessments, and legal records may be retained longer where necessary to protect our rights or meet obligations.

When data is no longer required, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you.

8. Data Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limited access on a need-to-know basis.

While we take security seriously, no system is completely risk-free. We therefore encourage customers to provide only the information needed for the relevant service and to contact us promptly if they believe their information has been compromised.

9. Your Rights Under Data Protection Law

You have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. These rights include:

the right of access to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you;
the right to rectification to ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data;
the right to erasure in certain circumstances, sometimes called the right to be forgotten;
the right to restrict processing in certain situations;
the right to object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing;
the right to data portability for certain information processed by automated means and based on consent or contract;
the right to withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you are unhappy with how your data is handled.

We will respond to valid rights requests within the time limits required by law and may need to verify your identity before taking action.

10. Data Transfers and Storage

Where personal data is stored or processed using third-party systems, we take care to ensure appropriate safeguards are in place. If data is transferred outside the UK, we will only do so where suitable legal protections exist and the transfer is permitted by applicable data protection rules.

11. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in law, our services, or the way we process personal data. Any updated version will apply from the date it is issued. We encourage customers to review the policy periodically so they remain informed about how their information is used.

12. Summary of Our Commitment

Tree Surgeons Wallington respects your privacy and is committed to handling personal data responsibly. We collect only what is necessary, use it for clear and lawful purposes, keep it no longer than needed, share it only with appropriate parties, and respect your rights under data protection law. Our approach is designed to ensure that all customers in the Wallington area receive a service that is both professional and privacy-conscious.

This policy should be read alongside any service terms or privacy notices provided at the time of enquiry or booking.