data access request

[sqwiggs]

hi, once again ive found myself a bit stuck so wondered if some of you lovely people on here might be able to help me out.

 

ive previously been on here due to several problems in regards to landlord, letting agent, tds and so on.

 

we lost our deposit due to the lettings agent lying about how long we stayed in the house (we left early due to water in the electrics because of a leaky roof, no garage key, a faulty gas fire and a central heating system which was broke) the agency said it was fine to move out as we had given the landlord three months to resolve these issues in which he hadn't.

 

they then told the tds we had moved out in july when we moved out in june, we have proof of this, utility bills, our new contract and bills etc and also calls and letters to the agency. however they never disclosed this info and the tds said we were lying and ruled in favor of the idiot landlord.

 

after this i requested a data access request of all contact with the agency as i felt we should dispute this, i sent in my cheque and a very good letter this was a month ago, i now have proof they signed for the letter a month ago yet no cheque has been cashed and no contact has been made, what next?

 

what can i do about this i feel totally cheated out of my deposit as they even said on the phone id get it back as the landlord broke his contract, now the agency seem to be just ignoring us, does anyone have any kind of advice, any would help, thankyou

[citizenB]

They have 40 days from receipt to respond to your request.

 

If they dont respond then you have two choices. You can either send a Letter Before Action, and after 7 days start your own court action against them for non compliance or you can raise a complaint with the Information Commissioners office.

 

If you have proof they signed for the letter then you can point this out to them in the Letter before Action. It might focus their minds.

[sqwiggs]

thanks for replying they've so far had roughly 20 days since they signed for it so im going to wait and see if they reply at all though correspondance isn't there strong point as they lost our letter to them previously, this time i do have a copy of the signiture of the royal mail site so i know they have got it, thanks again anyway

[citizenB]

thanks for replying they've so far had roughly 20 days since they signed for it so im going to wait and see if they reply at all though correspondance isn't there strong point as they lost our letter to them previously, this time i do have a copy of the signiture of the royal mail site so i know they have got it, thanks again anyway

 

 

Mark the date on the calendar.. and on the evening of the 40th day pop back here and we can discuss your options:D That is calendar days..

[sqwiggs]

im just here to give an update of the whole data access rubbish, its been 33 days since they received my letter and my cheque, about 5 days ago i received a letter from them saying they had past my letter onto there legal department who in turn will be in touch with me, ive been told as this is nothing to do with credit i only have to give them 28 days as its not a bank or credit what have ya, so they've sent me a letter basically putting it off so they can delay it longer, they stil haven't cashed my cheque and its starting to really frustrate me now, i know there deliberately trying to get out of not sending this data access request, obviously they've ballsed up somewhere, this is a high street agency well known and this is how they treat people its disgusting, im a bit stuck on what to do really as im sure there putting it off for a reason were also in dyer need of getting our deposit back as they told us we would get it back then lied to the tds in order for the landlord to get it, were not happy at all!

 

when can i contact them and what should i say/do as i know there not going to give me the data access request

[citizenB]

It might be worth having a word with the Information Commissioner's office.

 

As far as the DPA 1998 is concerned and the act under which you have requested this information then they have 40 calendar days. Whether or not they have cashed your cheque, they have the request and they have now confirmed this. Therefore they need to respond. They have 7 days left.

 

Your choices if they fail to comply are:

 

An official complaint to the Information Commissioner. You can complete the complaint form online.

 

Or you can start your own court action. You would need to send them a Letter before Action giving them a further amount of time.. 7/10 days is pretty reasonable. Then you would start your own non compliance claim against them, using the small claims track through the County Court.

[sqwiggs]

it is currently the 39th day today and still nothing of the lettings agency, ive decided im going to send them a letter which i found on the commissioners website, i doubt it will do much of which i will probably put in a complaint about them, i think its disgusting that a leading high street agency can do this and get away with it, i just wanted to know if they send the data access request after 40 days, should i accept that as reasonable or still put in a complaint after all they are breaking the law, and i very much doubt im going to receive the letter by tomorrow!

[citizenB]

They must comply within 40 days from receiving your request. End of.

 

If they havent then you can a) send them a Letter before action, giving them a further 7 days to comply otherwise you will take court action. or b) the longer and free route is to make a complaint to the ICO.

[sqwiggs]

so i just wanted to update you guys on this whole mess.

 

the 40 days passed and we heard nothing though we had proof they had signed for it so we knew they had the letter.

 

i also sent them a few emails reminding them how many days they had left etc, though they never replied to those either.

 

finally i sent a final letter stating if they dont contact me within 14 days i would be taken legal action, once again 14 days have passed and still no contact im starting to think there ignoring us for a reason, maybe its because they dont want to admit there wrong, anyway what steps now?

[sqwiggs]

also if i make a complaint to the information commisioners office is there chance of me getting my money back and could i take them to court aswell, i dont really have the money to take them to court or know the process or price tbh, kind of thought they would give in by now but i must be silly thinking that