Housing Association Files

[littlesally]

My daughter would like to see her housing associations file about her.
She has requested it and they have said that it will take a little time as their legal team need to check through it to see what she can/can't have.

Where I work if someones requests their file, we photocopy everything except third party stuff so I don't understand a legal team being involved.

Does anyone know if this is necessary or are they playing for time?

Also, is there anyway she can get hold of the third party stuff as that is going to have most of the information she needs.

Sally x

[callumsgran]

Has she done this properly Sal? via the Data Protection Act Subject Access Request route?
If not i suggest she does, they have to comply then by law.

[littlesally]

No. So far she has rung them to say she wants her file and they said she needs to put that in writing and then their legal team will check what she can have.
Never crossed my mind to write a Subject Access Request letter.
Will she need to pay £10?
What shall I write?

Under the Data Protection Act and Subject to Access Request please foreward to me at the above address all the information that my file with you has.

Can she get hold of the third party stuff?

Sally x

[littlesally]

Is this ok?

To Whom It may Concern
Under the Data Protection Act and Subject Access Request (Subject to Access Request) please foreward to me everything that my file with you contains.
Including all complaints made about me, complaints made by me or on my behalf, any letter's you have sent to me or about me to other agencies, any letter's from other agencies concerning me and any telephone conversations, to me, from me or about me.
Yours sincerely

Is it the same with the police?
Can she get information about herself from them?
Is it a forty day thing?

Sally x

[callumsgran]

I would say yes, she should get all she requires from h/a, and within 40 days not too sure about police though
put cheque in, if its not required they can send it back!

[gizmo111]

Ok - where I work if someone reqests files we have a form to fill in and if it is a closed case then we request ID.
We then photocopy eveything and go through and contact the third aprties to get thier permission to share the information. If we cannot getthe permission, or they don't want to be identified we go through the copies with a big fat black marker pen and take out anything that may identify them. We then photocopy the whole lot again and a line manager takes the whole lot away and checks it. Sometimes our legal team are involved. Only then do we pass it on to the service user.

There is also the policy that if the info is likely to be emtionally damaging or incite physical violence then we can withold it.
The 40 days starts from each time we contact a third party so we could in theory write to them all on day 39, and the 40 days would start again them.

[littlesally]

Thank you.
It doesn't sound like she will get all she needs but hopefully there will be some stuff in there.
Gizmo I just want to say a really big thank you you have helped me with all of this with my daughter and it means a lot
Thank you to everyone

Sally xxx

[gizmo111]

You are more than welcome sally.

PS -What happened to our A-Z