Data Protection Act Requests

[gbd]

This is my advice - it contradicts the general advice on here, but reading threads it appears that banks' changing tactics could make this worthwhile.

 

When you make your DPA request don't ask for copy statements or make any mention of charges. Ask for FULL DISCLOSURE of all information they hold about you and enclose your £10 payment. The 40 days under the DPA begins the day they receive it.

 

If you ask for Copy Statements or charges and enclose the £10.00 it appears that some banks are returning the fee claiming that this is a free service. It's not a free service when they advertise copy-statements at £10.00 per sheet, so why are they doing this? Out of the goodness of their heart?

 

No. They are doing it to do away with your rights. Firstly, FULL DISCLOSURE is very costly to the banks - it costs them far more than the £10.00 fee. But under the DPA if you make a full request and enclose the £10.00 fee the banks have to disclose everything (including any reference to manual intervention).

 

By returning your £10.00 fee and offering a free service the request is no longer a formal DPA request and your rights under the DPA are gone.

 

The request for information about manual intervention is so that you have information before court - should your case go to court - which you can use to demonstrate to the judge that the charges are too much because there HASN'T been manual intervention - but if you have full disclosure under the DPA it's the same thing. The banks won't be able to claim manual intervention to justify tehir charges unless it is recorded in full disclosure.

 

So, my advice is this: When you send for information under the DPA don't ask for details of charges or statements but FULL DISCLOSURE - this will include statements and be far more illuminating.

[Janet-M]

How does this go against the advice of the site ? I would usually advise people to look at post counts and reputations and make their own mind up when contradictory advice is offered but seen as you are saying nothing that is all ready said on the site .

[Glenn UK]

Have to say I think that you are misunderstanding the process of submitting a SAR letter.

 

You can ask for any relevant data held on you that is right, but the bank can still tell you they will do it for free.

 

In which case they have affectivley rejected your SAR for all your data. I dont see how this shold be any different to asking for statements?

 

When they write to you effectivley rejecting your SAR you write back insisitng, using a template if thats your choice, that in fact you are exercising your rights under the DPA and they have the relevant time period to fulfill their obligations..

 

As a point for discussion i dont think it matters whether they cash your check or not. The obligation is for the subject to offer the fee which you do when you send the cheque.

 

If the data controller decides to send you the information without cashing the cheque im not sure they can then refuse your SAR on those grounds.

 

I understand that the fee is a maximum level and not a prescirbed part of the process. if it was they could legitimately hold onto your cheque for a month or two before cashing it and delaying your application.

 

Be pleased to hear some comments from the more knwledgable memebrs of the board if any are about.

 

glenn

[meagain]

The DPA itself is pretty clear on this - the right to pick and choose which information is disclosed lies solely with the subject, not the controller. If you ask for it, they must provide it. If you receive a reply which is insufficient for your purposes, you would be well within your rights to suggest the request has not been fulfilled - particularly useful if the bank engages in deliberate partial disclosure (such as providing you with statement entries which omit the all-important account balance).

[lee6370]

I know this isn't really related to this thread, but it is about SAR.

 

If you have a court date and have already turned down one offer, whilst waiting for a 2nd offer is it worth sending a SAr asking for full disclosure?

 

Would we gain an insight into any future settlement offer or what they intend to do?

[Glenn UK]

Lee

 

Disclosure and SARs are different animals i think.

 

the SAR is to get data they hold specifically about you.

 

Disclosure is about getting information they intend to use in their defence.

 

Im not sure you can force them to disclose something if they dont intend to use it in their defence. Of course if its material information, say about their costs, then failure on their behalf to use it could allow the court to infer the reasons why they wont use it.

 

Especially if it would provide aboslute proof of the defendants innocence!

 

JMHO

 

Glenn

[big matt]

Hello All Bit Of Advice Needed! Got 6 Years Worth Of Statements Im Owed £1800 Whats The Next Procedure?

[Glenn UK]

Hi matt

 

If you go to the FAQs section theres a proceudre step by step which will help explain the process.

 

Bascially if you have your statements you can send out a pre liminary letter asking for your money back.

 

There are templates on the forum so you can adjust those to suit your needs.

 

By the way its wise to start a thread up for your own claim in the relvant forum that way you can get 'bank' specific information from your fellow sufferers.

 

 

HTH

 

Glenn

[gbd]

How does this go against the advice of the site ? I would usually advise people to look at post counts and reputations and make their own mind up when contradictory advice is offered but seen as you are saying nothing that is all ready said on the site .

 

Sorry, I wasn't intending to contradict (or other) the advice on here. But reading through the various posts people are making it seems that the Banks are failing to comply - particularly with the reference to manual intervention. I was merely offering some thoughts on the process.

 

I have gone three different ways with different institutions. With one I offered them the opportunity merely to list all charges together with dates; with most I asked for copy statements; and with two I asked for ALL information. The later produced some very interesting results showing operator screens, details of comments typed on the account by call centre staff and so on.

 

Now, if in that latter one got to court and the bank said: "it did cost us X amount because of the work we had to do reviewing the account, etc, etc, etc", I can turn around and ask them why there is no record of my account having been accessed on that occasion in their Subject Access Request response. Gotcha.

 

My comments were intended more for the moderators/campaign leaders/fighters than people new to the game. I agree entirely with what mjanet says about advice - my post wasn't intended as advice to the uninitiated; but a discussion starter for the experienced. Sorry if this wasn't clear.