1. Who we are
SureWay Car Recovery ("SureWay", "we", "us") provides 24/7 vehicle recovery, towing and roadside assistance across Reading and the Thames Valley. This website is operated by SureWay Car Recovery.
For the purposes of UK data protection law, SureWay Car Recovery is the data controller for the personal information described in this policy. That means we decide why and how your information is used.
You can reach us about anything in this policy by email at info@surewaycarrecovery.co.uk or by phone on +44 7443 795903.
2. Information we collect from you
When you submit the recovery request form on our Contact page, we ask you for:
- Your name — so we know who we are speaking to.
- Your phone number — so the recovery team can reach you.
- Your email address (optional) — to confirm details in writing.
- The service you need and how urgent it is.
- Vehicle details, including make and model and, if you provide it, the vehicle registration number.
- Your location — road, postcode or nearby landmark.
- Your destination (optional) — garage, home or other address.
- Your message — anything you tell us about the problem, the condition of the vehicle or safety concerns.
A vehicle registration number and a roadside location can identify a person, so we treat both as personal information.
If you call us instead, we collect the same kinds of details verbally so we can dispatch a recovery team.
Please only tell us what is needed to help you. Do not send us health information, financial details or documents through the website form.
3. Information collected automatically
This website does not run its own analytics and does not set its own cookies.
Our hosting provider keeps standard server logs, which usually include IP addresses, browser type and the pages requested. These logs are used to keep the site running and secure.
Some parts of the site are loaded from third-party providers listed in section 6. Because your browser requests those files directly, those providers receive your IP address and basic browser information.
4. Why we use your information, and our lawful basis
UK GDPR requires us to have a lawful basis for using your personal information. Ours are:
- To respond to your recovery request and provide the service — including dispatching a recovery team, quoting a price and delivering your vehicle.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract, or steps taken at your request before entering into a contract (Article 6(1)(b)).
- To contact you about your request by phone, text or email.
Lawful basis: performance of a contract (Article 6(1)(b)).
- To keep operational and safety records of recovery jobs, to handle queries, complaints or disputes, and to protect our website against misuse and spam.
Lawful basis: our legitimate interests in running a safe and accountable recovery service (Article 6(1)(f)).
- To meet accounting, tax and insurance obligations.
Lawful basis: compliance with a legal obligation (Article 6(1)(c)).
We do not send marketing emails or texts on the basis of a recovery request. If we ever introduce marketing, we will ask for your separate consent first and you will be able to withdraw it at any time.
We do not use your information for automated decision-making or profiling.
5. Who we share your information with
We share your information only where it is needed to get you help or to meet a legal duty. That may include:
- Recovery operators and drivers — including approved partner operators — who carry out the recovery.
- The garage, dealership or address you ask us to deliver the vehicle to.
- Your insurer, broker or breakdown provider, where they are arranging or paying for the recovery.
- Service providers who support our business, such as our website host and the form provider named in section 6.
- The emergency services or highway authorities, where there is a risk to safety or we are required to do so.
- Professional advisers, insurers and regulators, where necessary to establish, exercise or defend legal claims.
We do not sell your personal information, and we do not share it with third parties for their own marketing.
6. Third-party services used on this website
The following providers process information when you use this site:
- Web3Forms — delivers the recovery request form to our inbox. The details you type into the form pass through this service.
- Google Fonts — supplies the site typefaces; receives your IP address.
- unpkg — supplies the site icon library; receives your IP address.
- Tailwind CDN — supplies part of the site styling; receives your IP address.
- Our website hosting provider — stores the site and keeps server logs.
These providers act as our processors or as independent controllers for the limited technical data they receive. Each operates under its own privacy notice.
7. Where your information is stored
We aim to keep personal information within the UK or the European Economic Area. Some of the technical providers listed above operate servers outside the UK.
Where information is transferred outside the UK, we rely on UK adequacy regulations or on the International Data Transfer Agreement or Addendum approved by the Information Commissioner, so that your information keeps an equivalent level of protection.
8. How long we keep your information
We keep personal information only for as long as we need it:
- Enquiries that do not lead to a job — up to 12 months from your last contact with us.
- Completed recovery jobs — 6 years from the end of the relevant tax year, so we can meet HMRC record-keeping requirements and handle any later insurance or liability claim.
- Website server logs — for the shorter retention period operated by our hosting provider.
When a retention period ends, we delete the information or anonymise it so it can no longer identify you.
9. Your rights
Under UK data protection law you have the right to:
- Be informed about how your information is used — that is what this policy is for.
- Request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.
- Have inaccurate information corrected.
- Ask us to delete your information, where there is no longer a good reason for us to keep it.
- Ask us to restrict how we use your information while a concern is looked into.
- Object to us using your information on the basis of legitimate interests.
- Request portability — receive certain information in a machine-readable format.
- Withdraw consent at any time, where we relied on your consent.
To exercise any of these rights, email info@surewaycarrecovery.co.uk. We will respond within one month. There is normally no charge. We may need to confirm your identity before we act on a request.
10. How we protect your information
This website is served over an encrypted HTTPS connection, and the recovery request form is submitted over an encrypted connection.
We limit access to recovery request details to the people who need them to arrange your recovery, and we require our providers to keep the information secure.
No method of transmission over the internet is completely secure. If you are in immediate danger or your vehicle is in a live traffic lane, call us on +44 7443 795903 or contact the emergency services rather than using the form.
11. Cookies
SureWay does not set its own cookies on this website, and we do not use advertising or analytics cookies.
The third-party providers listed in section 6 may set cookies or store technical data when their files are loaded. You can block or delete cookies in your browser settings, though some parts of the site may then not display correctly.
If we introduce analytics or marketing cookies in the future, we will ask for your consent through a cookie banner before any non-essential cookie is set, and we will update this policy.
12. Children
Our services are aimed at drivers and are not directed at children. We do not knowingly collect personal information from anyone under 16. If you believe a child has given us their information, contact us and we will delete it.
13. Changes to this policy
We may update this policy to reflect changes in our services or in the law. The date at the top of the page shows when it was last updated. Please check back from time to time.
14. Contact us or make a complaint
If you have a question about this policy or how we handle your information, contact us first:
If you are not satisfied with our response, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK supervisory authority for data protection:
- Website: ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint
- Helpline: 0303 123 1113
- Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
You can complain to the ICO at any time, but we would appreciate the chance to put things right first.
