Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Richmond

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Richmond collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Richmond customers in the area, including prospective customers, existing customers, and individuals who enquire about our services. We are committed to handling personal data lawfully, fairly, and transparently in accordance with the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

1. Who We Are

Tree Surgeons Richmond provides tree surgery and related arboricultural services to customers in Richmond and the surrounding area. In this policy, references to “we”, “us”, and “our” mean Tree Surgeons Richmond. References to “you” mean the individual whose personal data we process, including customers, site visitors, property owners, tenants, and other persons connected with our services.

2. Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process different categories of personal data depending on how you interact with us and which services you request. The types of information we may collect include:

Identity data such as your name, title, and, where relevant, company name.
Contact data such as your address, email address, and telephone number.
Service and property information such as site access details, property ownership or occupancy information, tree location details, and service instructions.
Communication data such as messages, enquiry details, complaints, feedback, and records of correspondence.
Transaction data such as invoices, quotes, payment status, and service history.
Technical data if you visit our online services, including IP address, device information, browser type, and usage data.
Health and safety data where required for risk assessments, site access, or safe delivery of work.

We generally do not seek to collect special category data unless it is necessary and lawful to do so. If such data is provided to us incidentally, we will only process it where a valid legal basis applies.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data for the following purposes:

To respond to enquiries and provide quotations.
To assess site conditions and plan tree surgery work safely.
To carry out services, manage bookings, and deliver customer support.
To issue invoices, process payments, and manage accounts.
To maintain service records, manage complaints, and improve our services.
To comply with legal obligations, including health and safety, tax, and record-keeping requirements.
To defend or establish legal claims where necessary.

We only process your personal data when it is relevant, proportionate, and necessary for a specific purpose. We will not use it in ways that are incompatible with the original reason for collection unless we have a lawful basis to do so.

4. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for every use of personal data. The lawful bases we rely on include:

Contract

We process personal data where it is necessary to perform a contract with you or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract. This includes preparing quotes, arranging visits, carrying out agreed work, and managing payment.

Legitimate Interests

We may process personal data where it is necessary for our legitimate interests, provided those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms. Our legitimate interests include managing our business, responding to customer enquiries, maintaining service records, improving operations, preventing fraud, and ensuring the safety and quality of our services.

Legal Obligation

We may process personal data where necessary to comply with a legal obligation, such as tax laws, accounting duties, insurance requirements, and health and safety obligations.

Consent

In limited circumstances, we may rely on your consent, particularly for certain marketing communications or other optional uses of data. Where consent is used as the lawful basis, you may withdraw it at any time.

5. Data Sharing and Processors

We may share personal data with trusted third parties who help us run our business. These organisations act as processors or, in some cases, as independent controllers. We only share the minimum data required and take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled securely and lawfully.

Processors may include:

IT and cloud service providers who store or host business records.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who assist with invoicing, tax, and financial administration.
Payment service providers who process card or bank payments.
Communication service providers who help us manage messages and customer records.
Waste disposal or subcontracted service partners where needed to complete a project safely and lawfully.

We may also disclose data to insurers, legal advisers, regulatory authorities, or law enforcement where required or permitted by law. Where a third party acts as our processor, they are only permitted to process data on our instructions and must protect it appropriately.

6. Data Retention

We keep personal data only for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected, and to meet legal, accounting, or reporting obligations. Retention periods vary depending on the type of data and the reason we hold it.

Customer and service records are typically kept for the duration of our business relationship and for a reasonable period afterwards.
Financial records are usually retained for the period required by tax and accounting law.
Health and safety records may be retained for longer where necessary to demonstrate compliance or manage risk.
Enquiry data relating to a quotation or uncompleted service may be retained for a limited period for administration, audit, or legal protection.

When data is no longer required, we will delete it securely or anonymise it so that it can no longer identify you. We do not keep personal data indefinitely.

7. International Transfers

Where personal data is transferred outside the UK, we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect it. These may include adequacy regulations, standard contractual clauses, or other lawful transfer mechanisms permitted under UK data protection law.

8. Your Rights

As a data subject, you have a number of rights under UK GDPR. These rights may be subject to legal conditions and exemptions. They 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 data.
Right to erasure – in some cases, you can ask us to delete your personal data.
Right to restrict processing – you can ask us to limit how we use your data in certain circumstances.
Right to object – you can object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – you can request that certain data be provided to you or another controller in a portable format.
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 may need to verify your identity before responding. We will usually respond within one month, unless the request is complex or numerous.

9. Security of Your Data

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data against unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration, or disclosure. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, staff confidentiality obligations, and routine review of our data handling practices. While no system can be guaranteed completely secure, we work to keep your information protected at all times.

10. Data Accuracy and Your Responsibility

We aim to keep the personal data we hold accurate and up to date. Please help us by informing us if your details change or if any information we hold is incorrect. Accurate information is important for quotes, site visits, invoices, and service delivery.

11. Complaints

If you have concerns about how we use your personal data, you can raise them with us so that we can review and address the matter. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe your data protection rights have been infringed.

12. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or the way we process personal data. Any updates will apply from the date they are published. We encourage you to review this policy periodically so that you remain informed about how we protect your information.

Tree Surgeons Richmond is committed to processing personal data responsibly, securely, and in a way that respects your privacy. This policy is intended to explain our practices clearly and to help ensure that all customers in the Richmond area understand how their data is used.