Data Protection Act breached by DWP?

[pezz1753]

Can someone please advise with regards to DWP phoning my 76 year old father (I gave his BT number only as a contact number if they could'nt reach me on my mobile).

 

However they phoned on Weds and instead of just leaving a contact number for me to get in touch, this indiviual started barating my elderly father about my current circumstances and telling him that unless I called at their office by 9am the next day they would 'STOP' my current housing benefit, council tax benefit and Job Seekers allowance!...

 

My father did'nt even know I'd lost my job 8 weeks ago! I did'nt tell him because he gets stressed and worried and I don't want to burden him with my problems, yet this arrogant git has now told him all my business over the phone while threatening while threatening me with stopping my benefits! This has now created a big bust up with my dad and caused me a great deal of unnessasary distress!

 

Has this person at the DWP breached the Data Protection Act:?: and if so what is my next step:?:

[ErikaPNP]

Unless your father is:

 

1.your representative and you have agreed information can be shared with him or

2. is an appointee for benefit purposes or

3. holds power of attorney or other means of legal appointeeship for you

 

they have breached the data protection act by revealing what benefits you receive. However, the DWP have no input into housing benefit or council tax benefit decisions these days, thus cannot threaten to stop this; and in any case should not be informing a third party of their intentions should you fail to respond. If they couldn't get in touch with you on your mobile or at the contact telephone number (your father's) they shouldn't leave a contact telephone number for you to call them, but should have written to you.

 

Your next step would be to put a complaint in writing to the DWP about the breach.

[privatehudson]

This is kind of a case of damned if they do or damned if they don't. I've seen more than one person on this forum very annoyed that the department will not leave messages with third parties, whereas others such as yourself look on it the other way round.

 

Looking at it from their perspective what do we have here? Someone from the jobcentre called a number which you gave as a contact point to try and inform you that they need to speak to you about your claim. The query they have can't be trivial since it could potentially stop your claim if they can't clarify the issue. They probably tried your mobile and for whatever reason didn't get through. They're not supposed to leave a message on the mobile phone either in case it is picked up by someone else (or in case the mobile is not yours but is merely a contact point). They then tried your landline and got through to your father.

 

At that point they are probably not meant to even disclose the fact that they are calling from the jobcentre. Now imagine how that conversation will go - something along the lines of "I need to speak to your son but can't say what its about or where I'm calling from". Be honest, if you had someone call you and say that you'd probably think telesales wouldn't you?

 

Not only would you not be aware the Jobcentre had tried to get in touch you would also not be aware that there is a query about your claim. They could leave a number for you to call back on but there's nothing to stop the third party ringing it themselves and finding out the call was from the jobcentre. Alternatively they could keep trying the mobile and hope they get through before time runs out. Or they could send you a letter, assuming they haven't already tried that route.

 

I appreciate that the call went badly and upset your father and by extension yourself. If the staff member operates under the same rules I have to when I conduct callbacks then they should not have disclosed where they were calling from, what the call was about or specific details about the claim. If they did this almost certainly have the right to complain through the usual channels. Most calls are recorded so they may well be able to trace what was said and whether the caller acted professionally.

 

But perhaps if the staff member had followed the usual line you'd be on here complaining that they closed your claim without making all reasonable attempts to contact you first.

 

I'm not saying the staff member did the right thing because it doesn't sound like they did (especially as Erika says in relation to HB), but I can certainly understand why occasional lapses like this do happen.

Edited March 13, 2010 by privatehudson