Data protection complaints notice: Earl VA Services

How to raise a concern with us about your personal data

Published by: Earl VA Services | Last reviewed: 28 May 2026

About this notice

We take the privacy and security of your personal data seriously. If you have a concern about how we have collected, used, shared or stored your personal information - or about how we have handled a request you made - we want to hear from you.

This notice explains what counts as a data protection complaint, how to raise one with us, what will happen when you do, and what your options are if you are not satisfied with our response.

Who we are and who to contact

Data protection at Earl VA Services is the responsibility of:

Responsible person

Yolanda Earl – Owner

Email

yolanda@earlvaservices.co.uk

Phone

07763 361198

Post

Not available by post. Please contact us by email.

Online form

You can also get in touch via our website contact form: https://www.earlvaservices.co.uk/contact

You do not need to use a particular form or follow a set format to make a complaint. You can contact us by email, by phone, in writing or through our online contact form.

What counts as a data protection complaint

A data protection complaint is any concern you raise about how we have handled your personal data. This is broad - it covers a wide range of situations, not just formal data breaches.

Examples of the types of concern we can look into

We did not respond to a data subject access request (a request to see what information we hold about you) within the required time, or the response was incomplete.
We shared your personal data with someone we should not have, or without a lawful reason to do so.
We did not action a request to delete your personal data when we were required to.
We did not correct personal data that was inaccurate when you asked us to.
You continued to receive marketing from us after you had opted out.
Our privacy notice was unclear, incomplete or did not accurately describe how we use your data.
We kept your personal data for longer than we should have.
A data breach or security incident affected your personal data and we did not handle it correctly.

What we cannot investigate through this process

General customer service complaints that do not involve the handling of your personal data.
Complaints about the outcome of a data subject access request that was handled correctly and on time.
Employment or HR grievances - these follow a separate process.

If you are not sure whether your concern counts as a data protection complaint, please contact us and we will help you work it out.

There are no formal requirements for how you raise a complaint. You can contact us verbally, in writing or through any of the channels listed above.

How to raise a complaint with us

To help us look into your concern as quickly as possible, it helps if you can tell us:

Your name and contact details.
A description of your concern - what happened, when it happened, and who was involved.
What you would like us to do about it.
Any relevant reference numbers, dates or other details that might help us investigate.

You do not need to provide all of this to make a valid complaint. If you are not sure what to include, just get in touch and we will help you from there.

What happens when we receive your complaint

Here is what you can expect from us, step by step:

Step 1 - Acknowledgement

We will send you a written acknowledgement within 30 calendar days of receiving your complaint. Day one of that period is the day after we receive it.

Our acknowledgement will confirm:

That we have received your complaint and the date we received it.
The name of the person who will be handling it.
What happens next and an expected timescale.

Step 2 – Investigation

We will look into your complaint fairly and thoroughly. This means reviewing the relevant information, speaking to the right people internally, and assessing what happened against our data protection obligations.

We aim to complete our investigation and send you an outcome within three months of receiving your complaint. For straightforward complaints this will often be sooner. For more complex matters it may take longer - if so, we will keep you updated and explain why.

Step 3 - Keeping you informed

We will not go silent while we are investigating. If we need more time, or if anything changes, we will contact you to let you know and give you a revised timescale.

If we need any further information from you to complete our investigation, we will get in touch to ask.

Step 4 - Our outcome

We will send you a written outcome that explains:

What we investigated and how.
What we found.
What we decided, and the reasons for our decision.
What action (if any) we have taken or will take as a result.
Your right to take your complaint to the ICO if you are not satisfied with our response.

If you are not satisfied with our response

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your complaint, or with the outcome we have given you, you have the right to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) - the UK's independent data protection regulator.

You can contact the ICO at any time. You do not have to wait for us to complete our process before going to the ICO, and you are not required to raise your concern with us first - though we would always appreciate the opportunity to try to put things right.

ICO website

ico.org.uk

Helpline

0303 123 1113 (Monday to Friday, 9am to 4:30pm)

Live chat

Available at ico.org.uk

Post

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Our ICO registration

Earl VA Services is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office under registration number ZA377574. You can verify this at ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/what-we-do/register-of-fee-payers/.

Accessibility

We want this process to be accessible to everyone. If you need this notice in a different format - for example, in large print, or if you would like to speak to someone directly rather than communicate in writing - please let us know and we will do our best to help.

This notice was last reviewed in May 2026. We review it at least once a year and update it whenever our contact details or processes change. If you have questions about this notice, please contact us at yolanda@earlvaservices.co.uk.