Skip links

Precision Repairs. Proven Turnaround.

Book Your Assessment
Grand Auto Body

Privacy Policy

 

1. Who we are

Grand Auto Body (“GAB”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is a motor-body repair business operating from:

Physical address: 847 Richards Drive, Halfway House, Midrand, South Africa
Website: https://grandautobody.co.za
Email: admin@grandautobody.co.za
Telephone: 011 312 8472
WhatsApp: +27 82 086 7733

Grand Auto Body is the responsible party for personal information processed as described in this Privacy Policy.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share and protect personal information when customers and other users interact with our website, WhatsApp service, vehicle-assessment service or repair-related services.

We process personal information in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013 (“POPIA”) and other applicable South African laws.

2. Personal information we may collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

  • Your name and surname;

  • Telephone and WhatsApp numbers;

  • Email address;

  • Physical or billing address;

  • Vehicle registration number;

  • Vehicle identification number (“VIN”), where required;

  • Vehicle make, model, year, colour and mileage;

  • Details of an accident, incident or vehicle damage;

  • Photographs and videos of the vehicle and visible damage;

  • Voice notes, messages, documents and other information sent to us;

  • Insurance company, broker, claim number and claim-related information;

  • Quotation, assessment, repair, invoice and payment information;

  • Booking and vehicle collection information;

  • Communications between you and Grand Auto Body;

  • Website usage information, including IP address, browser type, device information and cookies; and

  • Any other information that you voluntarily provide to us.

Please avoid sending identity documents, bank-card information, medical information, photographs of people or unrelated personal information unless Grand Auto Body specifically requests it and it is necessary for your assessment, claim or repair.

If another person’s information appears in a document, photograph or message that you send to us, you confirm that you are authorised to provide that information where authorisation is required.

3. How we collect personal information

We may collect personal information:

  • Directly from you through WhatsApp, telephone calls, email, website forms or in-person interactions;

  • When you request a quotation, assessment, inspection or repair;

  • When you upload or send photographs, videos or documents;

  • From an insurer, broker, assessor, fleet operator or other person authorised to deal with the vehicle or claim;

  • From service providers involved in the assessment or repair process;

  • Automatically when you use our website, through essential cookies and similar technology; and

  • From publicly available sources where this is lawful and relevant.

4. Why we process personal information

We may process personal information to:

  • Identify and communicate with you;

  • Identify the relevant vehicle and claim;

  • Review visible vehicle damage;

  • Prepare a preliminary assessment or quotation;

  • Decide whether a physical inspection is required;

  • Arrange an inspection, booking, towing service, repair or vehicle collection;

  • Communicate about the progress of an assessment or repair;

  • Obtain or verify parts availability and pricing;

  • Communicate with insurers, brokers, assessors, suppliers and repair-related service providers;

  • Process quotations, authorisations, invoices and payments;

  • Maintain repair, warranty, insurance, audit and legal records;

  • Improve our customer service, systems and business processes;

  • Protect our systems, customers, employees and business from misuse or fraud;

  • Respond to legal, regulatory or law-enforcement requirements; and

  • Send repair-related updates or marketing communications where permitted.

We process personal information where you have consented, where processing is necessary to provide a requested service or perform a contract, where processing is required by law, or where Grand Auto Body or another party has a legitimate interest that does not unjustifiably prejudice your rights.

You may withdraw consent where processing is based on consent. Withdrawal does not affect processing that occurred lawfully before consent was withdrawn and may affect our ability to provide the requested service.

5. WhatsApp and vehicle-assessment information

When you contact Grand Auto Body through WhatsApp, we may collect your name, telephone number, vehicle registration number, vehicle make and model, accident or damage description, insurance information, photographs, videos, voice notes, documents and other information that you voluntarily provide.

We use this information to:

  • Identify the vehicle;

  • Review visible damage;

  • Prepare a preliminary repair assessment;

  • Request additional photographs or information;

  • Communicate with you;

  • Arrange a physical inspection or booking;

  • Provide repair-related services; and

  • Maintain appropriate business, insurance and legal records.

WhatsApp communications are processed through the WhatsApp Business Platform operated by Meta and are also subject to WhatsApp’s and Meta’s applicable privacy terms.

Sending information through WhatsApp is voluntary. However, if you do not provide the information reasonably required for an assessment, we may be unable to prepare an assessment or quotation.

You may request assistance from a human staff member at any time.

6. AI-assisted preliminary assessments

Photographs, messages and vehicle information submitted through WhatsApp may be processed using automated or artificial-intelligence tools to identify visible damage, organise the information received and prepare a preliminary assessment for review.

The automated process may consider information such as:

  • The apparent location and extent of visible damage;

  • Panels or visible components that may require inspection;

  • Whether further photographs are required;

  • Whether repair or replacement may require consideration; and

  • Whether a physical inspection appears necessary.

Automated or AI-generated results are preliminary only. They are not:

  • A final quotation;

  • A final repair method;

  • An engineering or structural opinion;

  • A guarantee that all damage has been identified;

  • An insurer authorisation;

  • A repair authorisation; or

  • A promise that a vehicle can safely be driven.

A suitably authorised Grand Auto Body estimator must review and approve the assessment before final pricing or repair commitments are communicated.

Where photographs are incomplete, or where hidden, structural, mechanical, electrical, high-voltage, airbag, advanced driver-assistance system or other safety-related damage may exist, a physical inspection and appropriate diagnostic procedures will be required.

Grand Auto Body will not rely solely on an automated assessment to make a final decision that has a legal or similarly significant effect on a customer.

7. Human review and estimator teams

Preliminary assessments may be sent to authorised Grand Auto Body estimator teams for review, pricing verification, parts checks and approval.

Only employees or service providers who require the information to perform their authorised duties should have access to it.

A customer will receive a confirmed quotation or repair proposal only after the required human review has been completed. Quotations remain subject to their stated terms, physical inspection, dismantling findings, parts availability, insurer approval where applicable and the discovery of hidden damage.

8. Sharing of personal information

We may share relevant personal information with:

  • Authorised Grand Auto Body employees and estimators;

  • Meta and WhatsApp, for providing WhatsApp messaging services;

  • Google services used for authorised workflow automation, data storage and business administration;

  • Approved technology, hosting, cloud-storage and artificial-intelligence service providers;

  • Insurers, brokers, claims administrators and assessors;

  • Vehicle manufacturers or authorised repair networks where necessary;

  • Parts suppliers and repair-related service providers;

  • Towing, recovery and vehicle-transport providers;

  • Auditors, accountants, attorneys and professional advisers;

  • Regulatory authorities, courts or law-enforcement bodies where required by law; and

  • Other parties where you have requested or authorised the disclosure.

We only share information that is reasonably required for the relevant purpose.

Grand Auto Body does not sell customers’ personal information.

Service providers acting on our behalf are expected to process personal information only for authorised purposes and to apply appropriate confidentiality and security measures.

9. Processing or storage outside South Africa

Some technology and communication service providers, including Meta, WhatsApp, Google, cloud-service providers and artificial-intelligence providers, may process or store information outside South Africa.

Where personal information is transferred outside South Africa, Grand Auto Body will take reasonably practicable steps to ensure that the transfer is permitted under POPIA and that the information receives an appropriate level of protection through applicable laws, contractual safeguards, consent or another lawful basis.

10. Website forms, cookies and technical information

Our website may use essential cookies and similar technology to operate properly, maintain security, remember user preferences and understand website performance.

Cookies are small files stored on your device. You can restrict or delete cookies through your browser settings. Disabling essential cookies may affect how parts of the website operate.

If analytics, advertising or remarketing services are used, those providers may collect information such as:

  • IP address;

  • Browser and device type;

  • Pages visited;

  • Time spent on the website;

  • Approximate location; and

  • Actions taken on the website, such as selecting a telephone or WhatsApp link.

Where required, non-essential cookies should only be used after the appropriate consent has been obtained.

Our website may contain links to external websites. Grand Auto Body is not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of external websites.

11. Direct marketing

Where permitted by law, Grand Auto Body may use contact information to send relevant service information, follow-ups or marketing communications.

You may opt out of direct marketing at any time by:

  • Following the unsubscribe instruction in the communication;

  • Replying “STOP” to an applicable WhatsApp or text message; or

  • Contacting us at admin@grandautobody.co.za.

Opting out of marketing will not prevent us from sending necessary communications about an existing assessment, quotation, booking, claim, repair, invoice or other service you requested.

12. Information security

Grand Auto Body takes reasonable technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against:

  • Loss or damage;

  • Unauthorised access;

  • Unlawful processing;

  • Accidental deletion;

  • Misuse; and

  • Unauthorised alteration or disclosure.

These measures may include access controls, restricted permissions, password protection, staff confidentiality duties, system monitoring and controlled storage.

No internet, messaging or electronic-storage system is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security, but we will take reasonable steps required by applicable law if a security compromise affecting personal information occurs.

13. Retention of information

We retain personal information only for as long as reasonably necessary to:

  • Complete an assessment, quotation or repair;

  • Manage a claim, dispute, warranty or customer query;

  • Comply with legal, tax, insurance, manufacturer, contractual or audit requirements;

  • Maintain appropriate business and repair records; or

  • Establish, exercise or defend legal rights.

Retention periods may differ depending on whether an enquiry became a quotation, claim, authorised repair or completed repair.

When information is no longer reasonably required, it will be deleted, destroyed, de-identified or securely archived, subject to applicable legal and operational requirements.

Backup copies may remain for a limited period until they are securely overwritten or deleted as part of normal system processes.

14. Your rights

Subject to POPIA and any lawful limitations, you may request that Grand Auto Body:

  • Confirm whether we hold personal information about you;

  • Provide access to your personal information;

  • Correct or update inaccurate or incomplete information;

  • Delete or destroy information that we are no longer authorised to retain;

  • Stop or restrict certain processing;

  • Record an objection to processing;

  • Stop direct-marketing communications; or

  • Explain how your information has been used or shared.

We may request reasonable proof of identity before processing a request. This protects customers against unauthorised access to their information.

A deletion request does not automatically require us to delete records that must be retained for legal, tax, contractual, insurance, repair, manufacturer, warranty, safety, fraud-prevention, audit or dispute-resolution purposes.

15. WhatsApp and Meta data-deletion requests

To request deletion of information submitted through the Grand Auto Body WhatsApp assessment service, email:

admin@grandautobody.co.za

Use the subject line:

WhatsApp Data Deletion Request

Please include:

  • Your full name;

  • The WhatsApp number used to contact us;

  • The vehicle registration number, if applicable; and

  • A description of the information you want deleted.

Do not send passwords, access tokens, bank-card details or copies of identity documents unless we specifically request appropriate proof of identity.

We will verify the request and delete or de-identify information that we are no longer legally or operationally required to retain. Where information cannot be deleted, we will explain the applicable reason, subject to any legal restrictions.

16. Complaints

If you have a concern about how Grand Auto Body processes personal information, please contact us first so that we can investigate and respond.

You also have the right to submit a complaint to the Information Regulator of South Africa.

17. Contacting Grand Auto Body

Privacy, access, correction, objection and deletion requests may be submitted to:

Grand Auto Body – Information Officer
Email: admin@grandautobody.co.za
Telephone: 011 312 8472
Physical address: 847 Richards Drive, Halfway House, Midrand, South Africa
Website: https://grandautobody.co.za

18. Changes to this Privacy Policy

Grand Auto Body may update this Privacy Policy when its services, technology, legal obligations or business processes change.

The current version will be published on our website with the latest revision date.

Last updated: 21 September 2026

Material changes may also be communicated through the website, WhatsApp or another appropriate channel.