Are they being unreasonable?

[Helmetfire]

Quick bit of background....I CCA'ed my bank (don't want to say which;)one at the mo') last March and they told me that they didn't have a credit agreement but were going to pursue me anyway. Went through complaints procedure and FOS complaint (they were useless) and now the bank are sending a variety of DCA's after me...so far I have seen them all off.

 

I was advised by a Cagger to do a SAR, which I did at the end of April and about a week ago I got a letter from the bank saying that my current address didn't match what they had on their records and that they didn't have a record of my signature....strange considering they have written to me on numerous occasions at this address. They asked me to take my driving license or passport to a local branch and get it copied and certified and also to sign a slip (which they failed to enclose) to give a sample signature.

 

Now, you can probably see why I am not willing to do either of those things, the address verification is unnecessary and the sig thing is just plain dodgy, so I wrote back (using a lovely letter found on here) to tell them that they already had all the info they needed to fulfill my request and that if they did not they should not have been passing my info around to all and sundry!

 

Yesterday I got another letter from them asking if I would nominate a local branch where they could send my SAR info too and I could collect it in person. The trouble is that I am sure that they will ask for ID and possibly a signature if I went down that route and in any case, how does me picking it up in person give them any more assurance that I am who I purport to be?

 

I am thinking that I will write to them again to tell the to stop playing games and that I will make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office (Has anyone done this? is it worth bothering with?)....I think that they are just messing me about, but I am wondering if you wise folk think that their request is reasonable or not?

 

As a final note, I have sent the £10 fee for the SAR so I don't see why I should do all the legwork!

[mr.ton]

No they should send it to your home address.

The banks are no position to play silly buggers at the moment what with all the taxpayer bailouts etc...

[cerberusalert]

All you would have to show at the branch would be your passport or driving licence. If they asked you to sign for it considering they don't have your signature any old Mickey Mouse one will do.

[Undercover-Elsa]

Hi Helmetfire,

They should only demand a signature if there is any reason to doubt who you are.

Maybe you could send them a copy of the ICO guidelines on SARS HERE

and highlight the relevant section which states:

Often you will have no reason to doubt a person’s identity. For example, if a

person with whom you have regular contact sends a letter from their known

address it may be safe to assume that they are who they say they are.

 

Hope this helps,

Elsa x

[Undercover-Elsa]

Another thought which just struck me is if your passport is anything like mine it will have swirly lines under the signature, which would make it difficult to copy.

[Helmetfire]

So is the consensus that I should tell them to stop messing around and send it to me or go and collect it?

 

p.s I have already sent them the ICO info.