How long we keep information
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it. This page sets out how long that is for each kind of record, and why.
Our approach
Each period runs from the last time the record was needed, for example the date of our last message or the end of the work. If you come back to us, your record is still in use and its period starts again.
Retention periods
| Information | How long | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Enquiries and website chat hand-offs that do not lead to a visit | 2 years after our last contact | Long enough to pick up a conversation again next season or answer a follow-up question, without keeping enquiries indefinitely. |
| Quotation visits and quotes that do not go ahead | 2 years after the visit or quote | Lets us honour or revisit a quote and answer questions about the visit. |
| Completed jobs: what was done, where, and any guarantee | 6 years after the work is finished, or until any guarantee ends if later. To be confirmed: whether to keep records longer for possible hidden defects (the law allows some claims up to 15 years). | Claims about a contract can generally be brought for 6 years (Limitation Act 1980), and guarantees must be honoured for their full term. |
| Invoices, payments and accounting records | The period tax law requires. To be confirmed: for a limited company, 6 years from the end of the accounting period; for a sole trader, at least 5 years after the 31 January tax return deadline for that year. | Required by HMRC and, for a company, the Companies Act 2006. |
| Emails and messages with you | As long as the enquiry, booking or job they are about | Messages are part of that record and are needed for the same reasons. |
| Record that you saw this Privacy Notice | As long as the record it relates to | Shows what you were told and when. |
| Anti-misuse records for our forms (scrambled internet address) | 1 day for rate-limiting; 12 months in our security log | Enough to stop and investigate misuse. |
| Staff activity log (who changed what) | 2 years | Lets us investigate mistakes or misuse of customer records. |
| Backups | Up to 35 days, then overwritten. To be confirmed: once hosting is chosen. | Deleted information disappears from backups when they expire; backups are only used to recover from a failure. |
| Website chat in your browser | Until you close the tab | Only needed while you are using the chat. You can clear it on the Cookies page. |
About these periods
These are the periods we intend to use; they are still to be confirmed. Nothing is deleted automatically yet: until the periods are confirmed and put in place, records are kept.
What happens at the end
At the end of the period we delete the information, or remove everything that identifies you so it can only be used for simple totals (such as how many visits we carried out in a year).
Asking us to delete sooner
You can ask us to delete your information at any time by emailing Ben@theloftranger.co.uk. We will, unless we must keep it, for example invoices for tax purposes; if so, we will tell you what we are keeping and why. See your rights in the Privacy Notice.