Privacy Policy

Introduction

Nottingham Surveyors ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. This policy explains what personal data we collect, how we use it, and your rights under UK data protection law, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Please read this policy carefully. By using our website or engaging our services, you confirm that you have read and understood this policy.

1. Who We Are

Nottingham Surveyors is a professional property surveying practice based in Nottingham, England. We are registered in England and Wales and regulated by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS).

Our website address is: https://www.nottinghamsurveyors.com

For the purposes of UK GDPR, we are the data controller for personal data collected through our website and surveying services.

2. What Personal Data We Collect

We may collect and process the following categories of personal data:

• Contact information: Name, email address, telephone number, and postal address provided through our contact forms or when booking a survey
• Property details: The address, type, age, and value of the property you wish to have surveyed
• Technical data: IP address, browser type and version, pages visited, time spent on pages, and referring URL (collected via cookies and analytics tools)
• Communications: Emails, form submissions, or other messages you send us
• Financial information: Payment details processed securely through our payment providers (we do not store full card details)

We do not collect any special categories of sensitive personal data (such as health information, ethnicity, or political opinions) unless specifically required and with your explicit consent.

3. How We Use Your Personal Data

We use your personal data to:

• Respond to your enquiries and provide quotations for our surveying services
• Arrange and carry out property surveys on your behalf
• Send you your survey report and related follow-up communications
• Process payments for our services
• Manage our client relationship with you via HubSpot CRM
• Improve our website and services through analytics
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations (including RICS requirements)
• Send you relevant service updates or information where you have consented

4. Legal Basis for Processing

We process your personal data on the following legal bases under UK GDPR:

• Contract performance: Processing necessary to fulfil a contract with you, or to take steps at your request before entering into a contract (e.g., providing a quote or carrying out a survey)
• Legitimate interests: Processing necessary for our legitimate business interests, such as improving our services, responding to enquiries, and managing our business — provided these interests are not overridden by your rights
• Legal obligation: Processing necessary to comply with legal or regulatory requirements (e.g., RICS professional obligations, tax and financial records)
• Consent: Where we rely on consent for specific processing activities (e.g., marketing emails), you may withdraw your consent at any time

5. How Long We Keep Your Data

We retain personal data for as long as necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations. Our standard retention periods are:

• Survey reports and client records: 7 years from the date of completion, in line with professional indemnity insurance requirements
• Financial records: 6 years from the end of the relevant tax year, as required by HMRC
• General enquiries and correspondence: 2 years from last contact, unless a survey was commissioned
• Analytics data: 26 months (Google Analytics default retention period)

After the relevant retention period has expired, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

6. Your Rights

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to your personal data:

• Right of access: Request a copy of the personal data we hold about you
• Right to rectification: Request that we correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Right to erasure: Request that we delete your data in certain circumstances (the "right to be forgotten")
• Right to restrict processing: Request that we limit how we use your data
• Right to data portability: Receive your data in a structured, machine-readable format
• Right to object: Object to processing based on legitimate interests or for direct marketing purposes
• Rights related to automated decision-making: Not to be subject to decisions made solely by automated processing that significantly affect you

To exercise any of these rights, please contact us. We will respond within one month of receiving your request.

If you are not satisfied with how we handle your data, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or by calling 0303 123 1113.

7. Third-Party Services & Data Sharing

We may share your personal data with the following third parties:

• HubSpot: We use HubSpot for contact form management and CRM. By submitting our contact forms, your data is processed by HubSpot in accordance with their privacy policy. HubSpot processes data in the USA under GDPR-compliant Standard Contractual Clauses.
• Google Analytics: We use Google Analytics to analyse website traffic. Data is anonymised and processed by Google. You can opt out by installing the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
• Professional advisors: Solicitors, accountants, or insurers where necessary to protect our business interests
• Regulatory bodies: RICS or other regulators where required by law

We do not sell your personal data to third parties and do not share it for third-party marketing purposes without your explicit consent.

8. Data Security

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data against unauthorised access, accidental loss, destruction, or damage. These measures include:

• SSL/TLS encryption for data transmitted to and from our website
• Secure access controls and password protection for internal systems
• Regular review of our data protection practices
• Training for staff who handle personal data

Whilst we take all reasonable steps to protect your data, please be aware that no transmission of data over the internet is completely secure. If you believe your personal data has been compromised, please contact us immediately.

9. Contact & Complaints

If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise your data protection rights, or want to make a complaint, please contact us:

Nottingham Surveyors
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England
Email: info@nottinghamsurveyors.com
Website: Contact form

You also have the right to make a complaint directly to the ICO, the UK's supervisory authority for data protection: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint.