Privacy Policy

This privacy policy explains how Lima Surveys Ltd ("we", "us", "our") collects, uses and protects your personal information when you visit our website at www.limasurveys.co.uk, contact us or use our surveying services. It applies only to our website and services. It does not cover other websites or social media platforms, even if you reach them through a link on our site.

Who We Are

Lima Surveys Ltd is the data controller for the personal information we hold about you. We are a company registered in England and Wales (Company No. 13556609), with our registered office at C/O Kingsley House, 22-24 Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, SS9 1SN.

If you have any questions about this policy or how we handle your information, email info@limasurveys.co.uk or call 07375 390466.

Information We Collect

We collect information you give us when you contact us through our website, by phone, email, WhatsApp or post, or when you instruct us. This may include:

• Contact details, such as your name, email address and phone number
• Details of the property to be surveyed, such as its address, type and age, and anything you tell us about it
• Details of the estate agent, seller, landlord, tenant or solicitor involved, where you provide them
• Messages you send us by email, phone, WhatsApp or our website form
• Records of the services we provide, including terms of engagement, inspection notes, photographs and reports
• Invoicing and payment records (we do not store card details)

We also collect some information automatically when you use our website, including your IP address, the dates, times and frequency of your visits, and how you use and interact with the site. Some of this is collected through cookies, depending on your cookie choices and browser settings (see Cookies below).

How We Use Your Information

• To respond to your enquiry and send you a quote
• To arrange access to the property with the estate agent, seller or occupier
• To carry out the survey and prepare your report
• To talk you through the findings
• To issue invoices and credit notes and keep financial records
• To keep internal records and meet our professional, regulatory and insurance obligations
• To keep our website working, improve its content and navigation, and provide a better service

We do not use your information for marketing, and we never sell it.

Our Lawful Basis for Using It

We use your information because it is needed to provide the services you ask for, or to take steps at your request before you instruct us; because we have legal and regulatory obligations to keep certain records; and because we have a legitimate interest in running our business, improving our website and responding to enquiries. You can object to us using your information on the basis of our legitimate interests in certain circumstances. Where we rely on your consent, such as for non-essential cookies, you can withdraw it at any time.

Who We Share It With

• Estate agents, sellers, landlords or occupiers, only as needed to arrange access to the property
• Our employees, agents and professional advisers, where needed to provide our services, prepare invoices or credit notes, or obtain professional advice
• Our professional indemnity insurers, where required
• Our professional bodies, RICS and the RPSA, if needed to deal with a complaint or regulatory matter
• Service providers who help us run our business, such as our email, IT, website, report-writing software and accounting providers
• A prospective buyer or new owner of our business, or part of it, who would be bound by the terms of this policy
• Anyone we are legally required to share it with

Your survey report is prepared for you. We will not share it with anyone else unless you ask us to or we are legally required to.

How Long We Keep It

We only keep your information for as long as we need it for the purposes above, or until you ask us to delete it, unless the law requires us to keep it for longer.

If you make an enquiry but don't go on to instruct us, we keep your details for up to 12 months. If you do instruct us, we keep your records, including the report, inspection notes and photographs, for as long as we may need them to answer questions or deal with claims about our work, which is normally up to 15 years after the survey. Financial records are kept for at least 6 years, as required by law.

Even after information has been deleted, it may remain on backup or archive systems for legal, tax or regulatory purposes.

Keeping Your Information Safe

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your information from loss, misuse and unauthorised access. These include password-protected accounts with unique usernames, secure servers and procedures for dealing with any suspected data breach. Only people who need your information to provide our services can access it.

If you suspect any misuse, loss or unauthorised access to your personal information, please let us know straight away at info@limasurveys.co.uk.

Your Rights

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

• Ask for a copy of the information we hold about you
• Ask us to correct information that is wrong or incomplete
• Ask us to delete your information, where we no longer need to keep it
• Ask us to restrict how we use your information
• Object to how we use your information, including where we rely on our legitimate interests
• Ask for your information to be moved, copied or transferred in a format you can take elsewhere
• Withdraw your consent, where we rely on it

To use any of these rights, email info@limasurveys.co.uk. We will respond within one month. There is usually no charge, although we may charge a reasonable fee or refuse a request that is clearly unfounded or excessive. If we can't do what you've asked, we'll explain why.

Cookies

Cookies are small files placed on your device when you visit a website. We use them to make our website work and to understand how it is used so we can improve it. When you first visit our site, a cookie banner asks for your consent before any non-essential cookies are set. If you choose not to accept some cookies, parts of the website may not work as well.

Our website may use the following types of cookies:

• Functional (strictly necessary): needed for the website to work and to provide services you request
• Preferences: remember choices you make, such as your settings
• Statistics: help us count visitors and see how they move around the site, used only for anonymous statistics
• Marketing: used to build profiles for advertising or to track visitors across websites

You can change your cookie choices at any time using the cookie settings on our website, or through your browser settings. Deleting or blocking cookies may affect how the website works. You can find out more about cookies and how to manage them at aboutcookies.org.

Links to Other Websites

Our website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the content or privacy practices of those websites, so please read their privacy policies before sharing any information with them.

Complaints

If you're unhappy with how we've handled your information, please contact us first so we can put it right. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at ico.org.uk or on 0303 123 1113.

General

You may not transfer any of your rights under this policy to anyone else. We may transfer our rights under this policy where we reasonably believe your rights will not be affected. If any part of this policy is found to be invalid, the rest will remain in effect. If we delay in exercising any of our rights, this does not mean we have waived them. This policy is governed by the law of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute.

Changes to This Policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The latest version will always be on this page, and by continuing to use our website after a change is published you accept the updated policy.