Privacy Policy

1. Who we are (data controller)

Easy Car Claims is the data controller for the personal data described in this policy. We can be contacted at claims@easycarclaims.co.uk or 0208 090 8872.

2. What personal data we collect

Depending on which service you use, we may collect:

• Identity: name, date of birth, address, driving licence number, National Insurance number, photo ID, PCO/TfL licence number
• Contact: phone, email, preferred language
• Vehicle: registration, make/model, insurance details, MOT history (via DVSA), DVLA keeper information, where the law allows us to request it
• Accident details: date, time, location, description, photographs, video, dashcam footage, witness statements, police reference
• Third parties: the other driver's name, contact details, vehicle, insurer (where you provide these)
• Information about other people: we receive the other driver's and witnesses' details from you, and keeper details from DVLA where the law allows, to recover our charges. They can contact us to exercise their rights.
• Financial: bank details where you are owed money, loss-of-earnings figures, evidence (bank statements, platform earnings exports, tax returns)
• Health information: we do not collect health information.
• Technical: IP address in standard server logs; for our own page-view counter, the page path, device type, country, city and referring site

3. Why we collect it (lawful basis)

• Contract (Art. 6(1)(b)): to deliver the services you instructed us to perform: recovery, replacement vehicle, repair and documentation for our charges
• Legitimate interests (Art. 6(1)(f)): running our business safely (fraud prevention, verification checks via DVLA / DVSA, audit trails). We may check publicly available information to help prevent fraud.
• Legal obligation (Art. 6(1)(c)): retaining accounting records, complying with HMRC, complying with regulators
• Marketing: we do not send marketing. If we start, we will ask you first.
• Special category data (Art. 9): we do not collect special category data.

4. Who we share your data with

We only share personal data where it is necessary to deliver our services, fulfil a legal duty, or with your consent. Specifically:

• Solicitors who handle recovery: to recover our repair, hire and related charges from the at-fault insurer or the MIB
• The at-fault driver's insurer: to recover our repair, recovery, storage and hire charges
• Your own insurer: only where your insurer instructs us to repair your vehicle
• The Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB): where the other driver was uninsured or untraced
• Our own bodyshop: to carry out the repair
• Recovery and storage operators: to move and store your vehicle
• Our hire company (if different from us): to supply your replacement vehicle
• DVLA: for vehicle checks, and DVLA keeper information, where the law allows us to request it
• DVSA: for MOT history checks
• WhatsApp (Meta): if you choose to message us on WhatsApp
• Service providers (processors): Supabase (database hosting, EU region), Vercel (web hosting, EU/UK region), Resend (transactional email), Firecrawl (third-party web verification), Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights (cookieless website statistics)
• Regulators, courts, police: where legally required
• Successor business: in the event of a sale or restructuring, with appropriate safeguards

We do not sell your personal data to third parties for marketing.

5. International transfers

Most of our processors are based in the UK or EU. Where data must be transferred outside the UK, we rely on adequacy decisions (e.g. EU and other approved jurisdictions) or the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) with appropriate safeguards. We do not knowingly transfer personal data to jurisdictions without adequate protection.

6. How long we keep your data

Retention is tied to the type of data and any legal requirement to retain it:

• Active case file: for the duration of the case plus 7 years (statutory limitation + accounting period)
• Rejected / withdrawn enquiries: up to 24 months from last contact
• Accounting records (invoices, payment data): 6 years from end of tax year (HMRC requirement)
• Website analytics: 14 months

After the retention period expires we securely delete or anonymise the data.

7. Your rights

Under UK GDPR you have the right to:

• Access the personal data we hold about you (subject access request)
• Have inaccurate data corrected
• Request deletion of your data where there is no overriding legal basis to keep it
• Restrict our processing of your data
• Object to processing where we rely on legitimate interests
• Withdraw consent where consent is our basis (this doesn't affect prior lawful processing)
• Receive your data in a portable, machine-readable format
• Object to automated decision-making. We do not make decisions about you by automated means alone.

To exercise any of these rights, email claims@easycarclaims.co.uk with the subject "DSAR" (Data Subject Access Request). We respond within one calendar month as required by UK GDPR, extendable by a further two months for complex requests.

8. Security

We take reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect your data. Data is encrypted in transit and access is restricted to authorised staff. No system is completely secure.

9. Cookies

We use cookieless statistics (Vercel Analytics and Speed Insights and our own page-view counter). These do not set cookies and do not identify you. See our Cookie Policy for details.

10. Children

We do not knowingly collect personal data from anyone under 16. If you believe we have inadvertently done so, please contact us and we will delete it.

11. Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your personal data, please contact us first at claims@easycarclaims.co.uk so we can try to resolve it. You also have the right to complain to the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at any time:

• Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
• Helpline: 0303 123 1113
• Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF

12. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date at the top reflects the most recent change. Material changes will be notified to you in writing where practical.