Privacy Policy

1. Who We Are

Exeter Electrical Services is a trading name of Stefan Douglas. We operate a booking and referral service connecting customers in Exeter and Devon with verified, NICEIC-registered electrical contractors. We are not a single electrical contracting firm — electrical work is carried out by independent vetted contractors. For the purposes of this privacy policy, references to "we", "us", and "our" refer to Exeter Electrical Services and the trading entity behind it.

We are the data controller for personal data collected through this website and through our booking processes. If you have any questions about how we handle your data, please contact us using the details in Section 8 of this policy.

2. What Data We Collect

We collect personal data that you provide to us directly when contacting us or submitting a booking enquiry. The categories of personal data we collect include:

• Name: Your first and last name, so we can address communications to you correctly.
• Phone number: A contact number so we or the contractor can confirm the booking and contact you regarding the appointment.
• Email address: An email address for sending booking confirmations, report documents, and general communications regarding your enquiry.
• Property postcode or address: The address or postcode of the property where the work is required, so we can identify an appropriate contractor in your area and confirm access arrangements.
• Service enquiry details: Information about the nature of the work you require, including the type of service, the property type, any relevant background, and any specific requirements or concerns you mention in your enquiry.

We also collect certain technical data automatically when you visit our website, including your IP address, browser type and version, the pages you visit, and the time and duration of your visit. This data is collected via standard web analytics tools and is used to understand how our website is used and how it can be improved.

We do not collect special category data (such as health data, financial data, or data revealing racial or ethnic origin) as part of our normal booking process. If you choose to share information of this type in the course of an enquiry, we will handle it with appropriate care and use it only to the extent necessary to fulfil your service request.

3. How We Use Your Data

We use the personal data you provide for the following purposes:

• To process your booking enquiry and identify a suitable NICEIC-registered contractor for your location and service type.
• To pass your contact details and service requirements to the relevant contractor so they can confirm the appointment and attend your property to carry out the work.
• To communicate with you regarding your booking — including confirmation, reminders, and follow-up after the work is complete.
• To respond to enquiries, complaints, or requests that you submit to us by email, phone, or through the contact form on our website.
• To improve our service, including using anonymised enquiry data to understand demand patterns and improve how we match enquiries to contractors.

We do not use your personal data for marketing purposes without your explicit consent. We do not share your data with third parties for advertising purposes. We do not sell your personal data.

4. Legal Basis for Processing

Under UK GDPR, we must have a lawful basis for processing your personal data. The lawful bases we rely on are:

• Contractual necessity (Article 6(1)(b)): When you submit a booking enquiry, processing your name, contact details, and property address is necessary to take steps at your request prior to entering a contract and to fulfil the service you have asked for.
• Legitimate interests (Article 6(1)(f)): We have a legitimate interest in using your contact details to follow up on your enquiry, to confirm booking arrangements, and to seek feedback after the work is complete. We balance this interest against your right to privacy and apply this basis only where we consider it appropriate and proportionate.
• Legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)): In some circumstances we may be required to retain or disclose data to comply with a legal obligation, for example in response to a lawful request from a regulatory authority.

5. Data Sharing

We share your personal data only where necessary and only with parties who have a legitimate role in fulfilling your booking.

With contractors: We share your name, contact details, property address, and service requirements with the NICEIC-registered contractor who will carry out the work. This is necessary to allow the contractor to confirm and attend the appointment. Contractors on our panel are required to handle personal data in compliance with applicable data protection legislation and to use it only for the purposes of fulfilling the booking.

With service providers: We use third-party tools and service providers to operate our website and business — for example, website hosting, email delivery, and analytics services. These providers process data on our behalf and are bound by data processing agreements that require them to protect the data and use it only as instructed by us.

We do not sell your personal data. We do not share your personal data with advertisers, data brokers, or any other third party for commercial purposes unrelated to your service enquiry.

6. Data Retention

We retain personal data for as long as is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected, and for a reasonable period afterwards to allow us to handle any queries, complaints, or follow-up matters relating to the booking.

Enquiry and booking data — including your name, contact details, property address, and service details — is retained for a period of two years from the date of the enquiry or the date the work was completed, whichever is later. After this period, personal data is securely deleted or anonymised.

Website analytics data, which is collected in anonymised or aggregated form, may be retained for longer periods for the purpose of understanding website usage trends.

If you have not proceeded with a booking following an initial enquiry, we will retain your data for a shorter period — typically no more than six months — unless you have indicated that you wish to use our services at a future date.

7. Your Rights Under UK GDPR

Under UK GDPR, you have a number of rights in relation to the personal data we hold about you. These rights include:

• Right of access: You have the right to request a copy of the personal data we hold about you. We will respond to access requests within one month.
• Right to rectification: If any personal data we hold about you is inaccurate or incomplete, you have the right to ask us to correct it.
• Right to erasure: In certain circumstances, you have the right to ask us to delete the personal data we hold about you. This right is subject to certain limitations — for example, we may not be able to delete data where we have a legal obligation to retain it.
• Right to restrict processing: You have the right to ask us to restrict how we use your data in certain circumstances.
• Right to data portability: Where we process your data on the basis of your consent or contractual necessity, and where the processing is carried out by automated means, you have the right to receive your data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
• Right to object: You have the right to object to processing based on our legitimate interests. We will consider your objection and cease processing unless we have compelling legitimate grounds to continue.

To exercise any of these rights, contact us using the details in Section 8 below. We will respond within one month. If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which is the UK supervisory authority for data protection. The ICO can be contacted at ico.org.uk.

8. Contact

If you have any questions about this privacy policy, about how we handle your personal data, or if you wish to exercise any of your rights under UK GDPR, please contact us:

Email: office@exeterelectricalservices.co.uk

Trading name: Exeter Electrical Services

We aim to respond to all data protection enquiries within one month of receipt. If your enquiry is complex or you have made multiple requests, we may take up to three months to respond, in which case we will let you know within the first month.

This policy was last updated in January 2024. We may update this policy from time to time to reflect changes in how we operate or to comply with changes in data protection law. We will post any updated version on this page and update the "last updated" date accordingly.