HARNCE Website Privacy, Cookies and Complaints Policy

Effective date: 5 January 2026

This policy explains how HARNCE Heating & Plumbing handles personal information collected through our website and in the course of providing our services.

Website Privacy

1. Who we are and how to contact us

HARNCE Heating & Plumbing is a UK heating and plumbing services provider.

You can contact us using the contact details shown on the home page of our website.

If you have questions about your personal information, or you want to exercise your data protection rights, please contact us by email, telephone, or post.

2. What personal information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

• Identity and contact details such as name, address, email address, and telephone number
• Service information such as details of the issue reported, appliance details, service history, and booking information
  
• Payment and invoicing information such as invoice details and transaction references (card details are typically handled by our payment providers rather than stored by us)
• Website usage information such as IP address, device identifiers, browser type, and pages visited (see Cookie Policy)
  
• Communications such as emails, phone notes, and messages relating to enquiries and appointments

We aim to collect only what is relevant for providing our services, maintaining records, and meeting legal and compliance requirements.

3. Why we collect and use personal information

We collect and use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries and provide heating, plumbing, repair, maintenance, servicing, and installation services
• Book appointments, manage jobs, and keep customer records
• Produce quotes, invoices, and receipts, and manage payments
• Support safety and compliance obligations, including certification and record keeping
• Investigate, resolve, and learn from complaints and service issues
• Send marketing communications about similar products and services where permitted (see section 7)

4. Our lawful basis for processing under UK GDPR

Under UK GDPR, we typically rely on one or more of the following lawful bases:

• Contract: to provide services you request and to fulfil our agreement with you
• Legal obligation: where required by law or regulation, including record keeping for tax and compliance purposes
• Legitimate interests: to operate our business, manage customer relationships, improve services, work with professional advisers, and in the context of a potential sale, merger, or acquisition
• Consent: where required, for example for certain marketing activities
• Email marketing and PECR
• Where we email existing customers about similar services, we may rely on the “soft opt in” under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR). Each marketing email should include an unsubscribe link. You can object to marketing at any time.

5. What happens if you do not provide personal information

If you do not provide the personal information we request, we may not be able to provide services, respond fully to your enquiry, or meet our compliance obligations.

6. Who we may share personal information with

We may share personal information with trusted third parties where needed to deliver services or run the business. This may include:

• Payment and finance providers (for example, where you apply for finance, or where a finance arrangement is part of your purchase)
• Professional advisers such as solicitors, accountants, and compliance consultants, typically under confidentiality obligations
• Regulators and law enforcement where required, for example HMRC or relevant regulatory bodies
• Successor organisations if our business is involved in a merger, acquisition, or sale
• We aim to share the minimum information required for the relevant purpose.

7. Marketing preferences

We may contact you about services similar to those you have purchased or enquired about, where permitted by law.

You can opt out of marketing at any time by using the unsubscribe link in marketing emails or by contacting us using the details on the home page of our website.

8. How long we keep personal information

We retain personal information only for as long as needed for the purposes described in this policy. As a guide:

• Service and transactional records are typically retained for up to six years after we stop providing services to you, to support legal, tax, warranty, and compliance needs.
• Marketing contact details may be retained until you unsubscribe, withdraw consent, or ask us to stop.
• Retention periods may vary depending on the type of record and any specific legal or regulatory requirement.

9. Your rights under UK GDPR

You have rights in relation to your personal information. These include the right to:

• Access your data
• Correct inaccurate or incomplete data
• Request deletion in certain circumstances
• Restrict how we use your data in certain circumstances
• Object to processing based on legitimate interests
• Data portability for information you provided to us, where applicable
• Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent
• We aim to respond to rights requests within one month.

10. How to exercise your rights

To make a request, contact us using the details shown on the home page of our website. To help us process your request efficiently, include:

• Your name and contact details
• The nature of your request
• Any relevant reference such as a job number or invoice number

11. How to complain about our data handling

If you have a complaint about how we handle your personal information:

Contact us using the details on the home page of our website, and we will review the issue.

You can also complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

Online: ico.org.uk/concerns/

Phone: 0303 123 1113

Cookie Policy

1. What cookies are

Cookies are small text files placed on your device to help websites function and to improve user experience. Cookies may store preferences and help us understand how visitors use our website.

2. How we use cookies

Our website may use cookies to:

Improve performance and functionality

Understand website usage and improve content

Produce aggregated statistics about browsing behaviour

3. Analytics cookies

We may use analytics cookies (for example, Google Analytics) to understand how visitors engage with our website. This may include collecting technical information such as your IP address, operating system, browser type, and page interactions.

This information is typically used in aggregated form and is not intended to identify you directly.

4. Managing cookies

You can manage cookies via your browser settings. Disabling some cookies may affect how the site functions.

If analytics tools are used, you may be able to opt out using the relevant provider’s opt out mechanism.

Complaints Policy

Your views matter to us. If we fall short of the standards you expect, or something has not gone to plan, we want to know. We aim to investigate complaints promptly and use feedback to improve our service.

Step 1. Getting in touch

To make a complaint, please contact us by post, telephone, or email using the details on the home page of our website.

Please provide:

• Your full name, address, and telephone number
• Any reference number or previous correspondence
• A clear description of the issue or concern
• If you need us to communicate in a different format, please let us know and we may be able to accommodate this.

Step 2. Acknowledgement and resolution

We aim to resolve complaints as quickly as possible.

If we cannot resolve your complaint straightaway, we aim to write to you within three business days to confirm:

• Why the complaint has not yet been resolved
• Who is dealing with your complaint
• When you can expect to hear from us again
• We aim to keep you updated. If you want an update, please contact us and ask to speak to the person handling your complaint.
• If we cannot agree a solution within eight weeks of receiving your complaint, we aim to send either:
• A letter explaining the reasons for delay and when we expect to provide a final response, or
• A final response letter explaining our position

Step 3. Finance related complaints, where applicable

If we do not issue a final response within eight weeks, or if you are not satisfied with the outcome or progress of the complaint, you have the right to refer your complaint to the credit provider/s and/or the Financial Ombudsman Service.

On the rare occasion that we do receive a complaint, we take it very seriously.

If you have an issue with a product purchased via finance and we have been unable to resolve your issue, please contact TradeHelp Ltd using the following details:

• Write: Marchwiel Centre, Bryn Lane, Wrexham Ind Est, LL13 9UT

• Telephone: 01978 666887

• E-mail: info@tradehelp.co.uk

If your complaint relates to the finance linked to your purchase you can still let us know about this, but we will forward it on to your credit provider. Your credit provider will acknowledge your complaint and investigate it thoroughly and issue their response within eight weeks.

What to do if you can’t reach an agreement:

If you are not satisfied with the broker’s/lender’s response to your complaint relating to the finance agreement, you may be able to refer the matter to the Financial Ombudsman Service.

You must contact them within six months of the date of the lender’s final response letter to you.

They can be contacted in the following ways:

• Write: Financial Ombudsman Service, Exchange Tower, London, E14 9SR
• Telephone: 0300 123 9 123
• E-mail: complaint.info@financial-ombudsman.org.uk

Further details can be found on the Financial Ombudsman Service website: www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk