..

..

Rooster Many thanks for the comments. We've tried one high street bank, and I approached my bank, but they advised me not to add onto my account as it would affect my credit rating and also the mortgage we are getting. We've been told Alliance and Leicester may accomodate him so we are going to give them a try.

..

..

..

..

Hi Milktray I totally agree re: the identity fraud! But what stuck in my throat was the fact that they banked my cheque the day they received and took 34 days to get back to me! I've just sent copies of everything again, with my original signature. Here's hoping!

Sorry, another point ! I have received a letter from Nationwide today saying my original request did not have an original signature. I thought it was a delay tactic but I sent the copy rather than the original. I am astonished that they started to process this on 22nd March and they have taken until now to get back to me, 4 days before the 40 days is up! Do they have another 40 days to comply once I send the original letter to them or is it on going? Cheers

Hi I just sent them a message back giving them another 7 days from the 40 day deadline to produce or I'll take it further!

Hi I sent my SAR letter to Nationwide (the London office) for the details for my old current account and credit card. The 40 days is up on Sunday and I have not heard a thing! I have sent two emails requesting the information be forwarded by 29.04.07 and I had not had a reply. This morning I got a secure message on the account to say : 'I can confirm that the Data Protection Act allows us forty days to comply with your request. This starts from the day we receive the fee, and sufficient information from you to process your request. Please can you confirm when the cheque was cashed. ' Is this right? I thought it was 40 days from when I sent the letter to them! Any advice would be great. Cheers wrigaj1

I have not said how comprehensive my experience is! I merely said I have not come across a company which uses it! I worked for the largest general insurer and at that time we did not use this database. Nor do we use it at my current employers!

You are incorrect in your assumption that the insurance is rated on the policyholders next birthday. If there is a couple of weeks in it, then yes it will be rated that way. If however you are 60 for instance and your 61st birthday is not for another 10 months, it will be rated on a 60 year old. The hunter database you are referring to was not put together by the insurance industry. It is a database owned and managed by Equifax and Insurers and Financial institutions can have access. It is primarily designed to check for abnormalities in application processes. I have not come across any insurance company which uses this.

If this is such an issue, why not move to another insurer?!! The market is so soft at the moment you should have no difficulty in moving to another market at a price and terms acceptable to you. Insurers do have access to various databases. However, there is a clear audit trail and individual users can be prosecuted under the DPA for misuse. I for one have access to the MID however it is audited by Experian to ensure there is no misuse. Insurers will check MIAFTR following a theft claim and can in certain circumstances undertake licence checks. This is not routine. Underwriters do require your date of birth to rate a risk. This gives an accurate assessement of your age. Car hire companies can check licence details. Is this not a good thing? At least they can ensure an individual has a valid and current driving licence prior to hiring a vehicle. One way of keeping unlicenced drivers away from vehicles! What is the Insurer Hunter database exactly?!

I know, I am an RAU dealing with Commercial Motor Insurance. Most of my Brokers intimate that the claims service from Lloyds syndicates is shocking