Hi Having received SAR's back from a couple of lender's I've had loans / credit card's with, I'm now in a position to complete and send off the FOS questionnaire. From 2001 up until 2008, I was employed but wasn't on a salary nor did I have a contract of employment - I was on piece work and was paid per unit of work that I did. Some months I could make a small fortune whilst other months, I didn't make a penny - it all depended on how much work I recieved from my client, if any. Would this be a valid reason to claim back PPI bearing in mind some months I had no income but was still employed? Also, from 2008 until end of last year, I was doing the same job but I worked for a limited company I set up - the way I was paid was exactly the same. Would this make any difference to the claim or not?

Hi Thanks for all your replies. I've posted the failed SAR off to Santander so we'll see what comes of that. Both the A & L loan and Cahoot flexi loan were taken out in 2006 and paid off 2010 so the data I'm seeking is within the last 6 years. I wouldn't mind but I still bank with Santander (ex A & L) so I'd have thought finding my details wouldn't have been much of a problem.

Thanks for your reply. Is there a different template for the failed SAR, I've done a search but can't find anything apart from the original SAR. I've been at the same address for about 16 years now so they should be able to find all my information, stalling tactics perhaps?

Hi All I have just recently sent off SAR requests to several banks / lenders giving them 40 days to comply however, I have had my SAR request and cheque returned by Santander with a covering letter stating the following: We refer to your recent correspondence. Based on the information you have provided - name, address(es) and date of birth - we regret that we cannot locate any Unsecured Personal Loan account data. In accordance with Section 7 (3) of the Data Protection Act 1998, Santander UK Plc is not obliged to comply with your request unless you have provided enough information that enables us to locate the data subject and the account data you seek. We would like to advise you that historical information can only be retained for legitimate reasons, therefore some personal data may no longer be held as it has been deleted in line with our retention policy. In circumstances where our relationship ceased with the customer more than six years ago we do not retain the documentation required, there we are not obliged to provide this information in accordance with guidelines set by the Financial Services Authority. I was unable to provide any account numbers when I sent the original SAR to Santander but gave them my name, address and DOB. I had 2 accounts which Santander are responsible for - a loan with Alliance & Leicester and a revolving loan account with Cahoot, both of which were paid off in full in 2010. I'm unsure how to proceed and what reply to send to Santander, any help & advice would be greatly appreciated.