In short: only send information relevant to your enquiry. Your information will be used to understand your situation, communicate with you and provide the support you request. It will not be sold.
1. Who we are
Helping Hand Practical Support provides practical administrative support and assistance with correspondence. For data protection purposes, Helping Hand Practical Support is the controller of the personal information described in this policy.
You can contact Helping Hand Practical Support by email at the contact form, by WhatsApp at the number shown on the website, or through the enquiry form.
2. Information we collect
Depending on what you ask for help with, we may collect:
- your name and contact details, including email address and telephone or WhatsApp number;
- information you provide about your enquiry, circumstances and preferred outcome;
- copies of relevant letters, emails, forms, screenshots or other documents you choose to provide;
- records of communications, work completed and agreed next steps;
- payment and transaction records if you become a client; and
- limited technical information needed to operate and protect the website and enquiry form, such as the date and time a form is submitted.
Sensitive information
Some enquiries may involve health, disability, ethnicity, religion, benefit information or other sensitive personal information. Please do not provide this unless it is relevant and necessary. Where consent is the appropriate condition for using sensitive information, you can give it using the separate consent option on the enquiry form and withdraw it later.
For an initial enquiry, please do not send passwords, bank card details, complete medical records or full copies of identity documents. If more sensitive material is genuinely needed, a safer way to provide it can be discussed first.
Where information comes from
Most information comes directly from you. Information may also come from a person you have authorised to act for you, or from a company or organisation where you have asked us to communicate with them on your behalf.
3. How we use information
Personal information may be used to:
- review and respond to your enquiry;
- understand the situation and identify practical next steps;
- prepare or help with correspondence, forms, complaints and follow-ups;
- communicate with you and, where you authorise it, relevant companies or organisations;
- provide and administer the service, including keeping appropriate records and arranging payment;
- protect the service against misuse and establish, exercise or defend legal claims; and
- meet legal, tax, accounting and regulatory obligations.
Personal information is not used for automated decision-making or profiling, and it is not used for unrelated marketing without a separate choice from you.
4. Our lawful bases
The lawful basis depends on why information is being used:
- Steps at your request and contract: to answer an enquiry, discuss the support you need and provide an agreed service.
- Legitimate interests: to communicate effectively, administer and improve the service, maintain proportionate records and protect legal rights, where these interests do not override your rights.
- Legal obligation: where records or information must be kept or disclosed by law.
- Consent: where you choose to provide sensitive information and consent is the appropriate condition for using it. You may withdraw consent at any time, although this may affect the support that can be provided.
5. Who information may be shared with
Information is only shared where it is relevant and necessary. This may include:
- trusted providers, including Netlify for website hosting and secure form delivery and storage, plus any email, cloud storage, accounting or payment providers used to operate the service;
- companies, public bodies, charities or other organisations you have asked us to contact or correspond with;
- professional advisers or insurers where reasonably necessary; and
- courts, regulators, law enforcement or other authorities where disclosure is required by law.
Service providers must only process information for the agreed purpose and protect it appropriately. Personal information is not sold or rented.
International transfers
Some technology providers may store or process information outside the UK. Where this happens, providers will be selected and appropriate safeguards will be used as required by UK data protection law, such as an adequacy decision or approved contractual protections. Further details can be requested using the contact information below.
6. How long information is kept
Information is kept only for as long as reasonably needed for the reason it was collected, including to provide the service and meet legal, accounting or dispute-resolution requirements.
- Initial enquiries that do not become active matters are normally deleted within 12 months.
- Active case information is kept while support is being provided. Core records may then be retained for up to six years where needed for accounting, legal claims or record-keeping.
- Unnecessary copies of sensitive documents are removed sooner once they are no longer needed.
These periods may be shortened or extended where circumstances or legal requirements justify it. At the end of the relevant period, information is securely deleted or anonymised.
7. Keeping information secure
Reasonable technical and organisational measures are used to protect personal information against loss, misuse, unauthorised access, alteration or disclosure. These include limiting access, using reputable service providers, protecting accounts and devices, and deleting information securely when it is no longer needed.
No internet or email service can be guaranteed completely secure. Please send only what is relevant and contact us first before sending especially sensitive or extensive documents.
8. Your data protection rights
Depending on the circumstances, you may have the right to:
- ask for a copy of your personal information;
- ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected;
- ask for information to be deleted;
- ask for use of information to be restricted;
- object to certain uses based on legitimate interests;
- receive information in a portable format in certain cases; and
- withdraw consent at any time where processing relies on consent.
To exercise a right, use the contact details below. Identity may need to be confirmed before a request can be completed. There is usually no fee, and requests are normally answered within one month, subject to the rules and any permitted extension.
9. Cookies and website data
This version of the website does not use advertising cookies or behavioural analytics. It does not place non-essential cookies by default. If analytics, embedded services or other non-essential cookies are added later, this policy and the website’s consent controls will be updated before they are used.
The website host may process limited server-log information for security, reliability and troubleshooting. This can include an IP address, browser type and the time a page was requested.
10. Contact, questions and complaints
For questions about this policy, to exercise a data protection right, or to raise a concern about how information has been handled, contact Helping Hand Practical Support by email at the contact form or through the website contact section.
If you are not satisfied with the response, you can complain to the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Make a complaint on the ICO website
Changes to this policy
This policy will be reviewed regularly and updated when the way information is used changes. The effective date at the top of this page will show when the latest version took effect.