1. Who we are
Car Recovery in London ("we", "us", "our") is a vehicle recovery operator registered in England. Our registered office is at Unit 14, Mile End Industrial Estate, Tower Hamlets, London E1 4UJ. Contact: dispatch@carrecoveryinlondon.co.uk / 0800 246 8240.
For the purposes of UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, we are the data controller of any personal data you provide to us through our website, by phone, or through any other contact channel.
2. What information we collect
We collect personal data in three main contexts:
2.1 When you book a recovery service
- Your name
- Phone number
- Email address (where provided)
- Location of pickup (postcode, what3words, or live location share)
- Vehicle details (make, model, registration, condition)
- Destination address
- Payment information (processed via our card terminal - we do not store card details)
- Photo records of the vehicle at pickup and delivery (for damage documentation)
2.2 When you submit a quote request via our website
- Information you provide via the contact form (name, phone, email, vehicle details, postcode, message)
2.3 Automatically when you use our website
- IP address
- Browser type and version
- Device type
- Pages visited
- Time and date of visit
- Referring URL
- Cookie data (see our cookie policy)
3. How we use your information
We use your personal data for the following purposes:
- To provide our services: dispatching a recovery vehicle to your location, taking payment, providing a receipt, issuing VAT invoices.
- To communicate with you: confirming booking details, providing arrival ETAs, following up on quote requests.
- To process payments: via our card terminal provider (currently Worldpay) and bank transfer.
- For our legitimate business interests: training, quality control, fraud prevention, dispute resolution, and improving our service.
- To meet legal and regulatory obligations: tax records, insurance documentation, road traffic incident reporting where applicable.
- For marketing (with your consent): we may send you occasional service updates if you've opted in. We do not sell your data to third-party marketers.
4. Legal bases for processing
Under UK GDPR, we process your data on the following legal bases:
- Contract: processing necessary to deliver the recovery service you've booked.
- Legal obligation: tax records, insurance reporting, regulatory compliance.
- Legitimate interest: training, quality control, and improving service quality.
- Consent: for marketing communications and non-essential cookies (you can withdraw consent at any time).
5. Who we share your data with
We share personal data with the following parties only as necessary:
- Our drivers and technicians: they receive your name, location, vehicle details to perform the recovery.
- Payment processors: Worldpay (card payments), our bank (bank transfers).
- Insurers: if a recovery is paid by your insurer or a claim is made.
- Police and Highways Agency: where required for road traffic incident reporting.
- Auction houses: when collecting your vehicle from BCA, Copart, Manheim or similar - we share your buyer ID with the auction's gate office.
- Our IT and software providers: dispatch software, accounting systems, hosting providers - all UK or EU-based and bound by data processing agreements.
We do not sell your data to third parties. We do not share your data for advertising or marketing without explicit consent.
6. How long we keep your data
- Booking and payment records: 7 years (HMRC tax requirement).
- Vehicle photo records: 6 years (insurance dispute window + 1 year buffer).
- Email correspondence: 3 years.
- Website analytics data: 26 months.
- Marketing consent records: until you withdraw consent.
7. Your rights
Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights regarding your personal data:
- Right of access: request a copy of the personal data we hold about you.
- Right to rectification: ask us to correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
- Right to erasure ("right to be forgotten"): ask us to delete your data, subject to legal retention obligations.
- Right to restrict processing: ask us to limit how we process your data.
- Right to data portability: receive your data in a machine-readable format.
- Right to object: object to processing based on legitimate interest.
- Right to withdraw consent: for any processing based on consent.
- Right to complain: to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk.
To exercise any of these rights, email dispatch@carrecoveryinlondon.co.uk.
8. Data security
We implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your data, including encrypted storage, restricted access, and regular security audits. Card payments are handled by PCI DSS-compliant providers; we do not store card numbers on our systems.
9. International transfers
Your data is stored within the UK and EU. Some of our software providers (e.g. Google for analytics) may transfer data to the US under appropriate safeguards (Standard Contractual Clauses or equivalent). We do not transfer data to countries without adequate protection.
10. Children's data
Our services are not directed at children under 16. We do not knowingly collect personal data from children under 16. If you believe we have collected such data inadvertently, please contact us and we will delete it.
11. Changes to this policy
We may update this privacy policy from time to time. The latest version is always at this URL with the date of last update at the top.
12. Contact
If you have questions about this privacy policy or your data:
Email: dispatch@carrecoveryinlondon.co.uk
Phone: 0800 246 8240
Post: Car Recovery in London, Unit 14, Mile End Industrial Estate, Tower Hamlets, London E1 4UJ
For complaints, you may also contact the Information Commissioner's Office: ico.org.uk.