Gardeners Ham Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how Gardeners Ham collects, uses, stores, and protects personal data about our customers and prospective customers within our service area. It also explains your rights under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018. By engaging with Gardeners Ham, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this Privacy Policy.

Scope of this Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy applies to all Gardeners Ham customers and individuals who make enquiries, request quotations, or otherwise interact with Gardeners Ham within our service area. It covers personal data collected through face to face contact, telephone or video calls, posted correspondence, electronic documents, and through our online or digital services where applicable.

Data Controller

Gardeners Ham is the controller of the personal data described in this Privacy Policy. As controller, Gardeners Ham decides why and how your personal data is processed and is responsible for ensuring that such processing complies with applicable data protection law.

Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data about you when you interact with Gardeners Ham as a customer or potential customer. Identification details such as your name and any relevant title. Contact details such as your postal address, service address, and any other physical address you provide to us, as well as any digital contact channels you choose to use. Service information such as details of your garden or outdoor space, access instructions, property layout relevant to our services, photographs you provide or that we take with your agreement to plan or evidence our work, and records of services requested or delivered. Transaction and billing data such as records of quotes, invoices, payment amounts, payment methods used and related billing history. Communication records such as notes of conversations, information provided during visits, and records of complaints, feedback, or other correspondence.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you contact us, request a quote, agree a contract, or communicate with us about our services. We may also collect personal data when we visit your property for an assessment or to provide services, for example by recording relevant property or garden details required to carry out the work. On occasion, we may receive limited information about you from third parties, for example where an existing customer refers you to us and provides your name and basic contact details so that we can respond to your enquiry.

Lawful Bases for Processing

We only process your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so under data protection law. Contract. We process personal data where it is necessary to enter into or perform a contract with you. This includes providing quotes, scheduling and delivering services, managing payments, and communicating with you about our services. Legal obligation. We process certain personal data where required to comply with our legal obligations, such as keeping appropriate accounting or tax records. Legitimate interests. We process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate business interests and where your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include maintaining accurate records of our work, improving our services, managing our business operations, and handling customer queries or disputes. Consent. In limited circumstances we may rely on your consent, for example if you specifically agree to receive certain types of optional communication from us. Where we rely on consent, you can withdraw it at any time.

Purposes for Which We Use Personal Data

We use your personal data for the following purposes. To respond to enquiries and provide quotes for gardening or related services. To plan, schedule, and deliver our services at your property. To manage our relationship with you, including handling your requests, feedback, and complaints. To prepare and send invoices, process payments, and manage our accounts. To maintain accurate business and service records, including for customer care, quality assurance, and dispute resolution. To meet our legal, regulatory, and tax obligations. To protect our rights, property, and safety and, where appropriate, to assist with preventing or detecting unlawful acts.

Data Processors and Third Parties

We may share your personal data with carefully selected third parties who act as data processors on our behalf. These processors may include providers of accounting or bookkeeping software, secure digital storage or backup services, customer management tools, and professional advisers who support our business operations. These processors are only permitted to process your personal data in accordance with our instructions, for the purposes set out in this Privacy Policy, and must implement appropriate security measures. We may also share personal data with third parties where required by law, where necessary to exercise or defend legal claims, or where we have another lawful basis to do so. We do not sell your personal data.

International Transfers

Where we use service providers that store or process personal data outside the United Kingdom or the European Economic Area, we will take steps to ensure that your personal data is afforded an equivalent level of protection. This may include entering into contracts that incorporate appropriate data protection safeguards recognised under data protection law.

Data Retention

We keep your personal data only for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected and to meet any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements. In general, we will retain customer records, including contact details, service information, and billing records, for as long as you remain an active customer and for a period after our last interaction where required by law or where we may need the information to respond to queries or disputes. When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete it or anonymise it so that it can no longer be associated with you.

Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures may include controlled access to records, secure storage of physical documents, and the use of secure digital systems. While we strive to protect your personal data, no method of transmission or storage is completely secure, and you acknowledge that you provide your information at your own risk.

Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have a number of rights in relation to your personal data, subject to certain conditions and exceptions. Right of access. You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you and information about how we process it. Right to rectification. You have the right to ask us to correct or complete inaccurate or incomplete personal data about you. Right to erasure. In some circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete your personal data, for example where it is no longer needed for the purposes for which it was collected and we have no legal obligation to retain it. Right to restriction. You may ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in certain circumstances, for example while we verify its accuracy or consider an objection you have raised. Right to object. You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests, on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will stop processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds or need the data for legal claims. Right to data portability. Where we process your personal data by automated means based on consent or contract, you may have the right to receive that data in a commonly used, machine readable format and to request that it is transferred to another controller where technically feasible.

Exercising Your Rights

If you wish to exercise any of your rights or have questions about how we handle your personal data, you can contact Gardeners Ham using the usual communication channels you use with us as a customer. We may need to verify your identity before responding to your request. We aim to respond to all valid requests within the time limits set by data protection law.

Complaints

If you have concerns about how we handle your personal data, we encourage you to contact us so that we can try to resolve the issue. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority in the United Kingdom.

Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in our practices, in the law, or in the services we provide. When we make material changes, we will take reasonable steps to inform you. The version of the Privacy Policy that applies to you is the latest version made available by Gardeners Ham.