Privacy Policy - Tree Surgeons Croydon

This Privacy Policy explains how Tree Surgeons Croydon collects, uses, stores, shares, and protects personal data when providing tree surgery and related arboricultural services. It applies to all Tree Surgeons Croydon customers in the area, including individuals, households, landlords, businesses, and property managers who request or receive our services.

We are committed to handling personal data in a lawful, fair, and transparent way, in accordance with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We only collect personal data that is necessary for our services and we aim to keep it accurate, secure, and retained only for as long as needed.

1. Information We Collect

We may collect and process different types of personal data depending on how you interact with us and the services requested. This may include:

Identity details such as your name and title.
Contact details such as phone number, email address, and postal address.
Property information such as the location of trees, site access details, and relevant ownership or occupancy information.
Service details such as quotations requested, services booked, completed work, and customer preferences.
Payment and invoicing information such as billing records and transaction history.
Correspondence including emails, messages, notes from calls, and complaint records.
Technical data such as basic website or device information if you submit an enquiry online.
Safety and access information where necessary for carrying out work securely and lawfully.

We do not intentionally collect special category data unless it is relevant and necessary for a specific legal or operational purpose. If such information is ever required, it will only be processed where a valid legal condition applies.

2. How We Use Your Data

We use personal data to deliver and manage our services effectively. This may include:

Responding to enquiries and providing quotations.
Arranging site visits, surveys, and service appointments.
Carrying out tree surgery, maintenance, and related work.
Managing customer accounts, records, and invoices.
Processing payments and dealing with account administration.
Communicating about service updates, changes, or follow-up matters.
Handling complaints, disputes, and quality assurance.
Meeting legal, tax, insurance, and regulatory obligations.
Keeping records for operational planning, safety, and service improvement.

We only use your personal data where we have a lawful basis to do so and where the processing is necessary for a legitimate and specific purpose.

3. Lawful Basis for Processing

Under data protection law, we must have a lawful basis before processing personal data. Tree Surgeons Croydon may rely on the following lawful bases:

Contract

We process data when it is necessary to provide a quote, accept a booking, carry out services, issue invoices, and fulfil our obligations to you under a contract or pre-contractual request.

Legal Obligation

We may process and retain information where required to comply with laws and regulations, including accounting, tax, health and safety, insurance, and record-keeping duties.

Legitimate Interests

We may process data for legitimate business purposes, such as managing customer relationships, maintaining service records, improving operations, preventing fraud, and ensuring the security of our services. Where we rely on legitimate interests, we consider whether your rights and freedoms override those interests.

Consent

In some situations, we may ask for your consent, for example where optional marketing or non-essential communications are involved. If consent is used as the basis, you may withdraw it at any time.

4. 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 independent controllers depending on the service they provide. We only share data where necessary and only with appropriate safeguards in place.

IT and hosting providers who store or support our systems.
Accounting and bookkeeping providers who help with invoicing and financial records.
Payment service providers who process transactions securely.
Scheduling, communication, or admin tools used to manage service delivery.
Professional advisers such as accountants, insurers, or legal advisers where necessary.
Public authorities or regulators where disclosure is required by law.

Where processors handle data on our behalf, they are required to process it only under our instructions, protect it appropriately, and comply with data protection obligations. We do not sell personal data.

5. Retention of Personal Data

We keep personal data only for as long as needed for the purpose for which it was collected, or as required by law. Retention periods may vary depending on the type of information and the reason for processing. In general:

Enquiry and quotation records are kept for a reasonable period to manage follow-up and business administration.
Customer service and contract records are kept for the duration of the service relationship and for a further period where necessary.
Financial and tax records are retained for the periods required by law.
Safety, incident, and legal records may be kept longer if needed for claims, disputes, or compliance purposes.

When personal data is no longer required, we will securely delete, destroy, or anonymise it.

6. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access, disclosure, alteration, or destruction. These measures may include access controls, secure storage, password protection, and limiting access to authorised personnel only.

While no system can be guaranteed to be completely secure, we work to maintain a level of protection appropriate to the nature of the data we hold and the risks involved.

7. Your Rights

As a data subject under UK GDPR, you have several rights in relation to your personal data. These include:

Right of access – you may request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
Right to rectification – you may ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete information.
Right to erasure – in certain circumstances, you may request that we delete your data.
Right to restrict processing – you may ask us to limit how we use your data in certain situations.
Right to object – you may object to processing based on legitimate interests or direct marketing.
Right to data portability – where applicable, you may request that your data be provided in a structured, commonly used 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 will respond in accordance with legal requirements. Some rights may be limited where we must retain information for legal, contractual, or public interest reasons.

8. Complaints and Supervisory Authority

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal data, you have the right to raise a concern with us and to seek further review by the UK supervisory authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). We encourage you to raise any data protection concerns so we can address them promptly and fairly.

9. Children’s Data

Our services are generally intended for adults, property owners, landlords, and business customers. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children unless it is necessary in connection with a service request involving a household or property and a lawful basis applies.

10. Changes to This Privacy Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time to reflect changes in the law, our services, or how we process personal data. Any revised version will apply from the date it is made available. We encourage customers to review it periodically to stay informed about how their information is handled.

11. Summary of Our Commitments

In summary, Tree Surgeons Croydon collects only the personal data needed to provide safe, efficient, and lawful tree surgery services. We use it on a valid legal basis, keep it for no longer than necessary, share it only with appropriate processors or where required by law, and respect the rights of every customer in the area.

Your privacy matters to us, and we are committed to using personal data responsibly and transparently in every stage of our service.