Aviva fraudulently processed my data without authorisation o

[unclebulgaria67]

I would suggest that you reject the Ombudsmans decision, on the basis that Aviva cannot evidence that you agreed any Insurance contract with them. 

 

I would dispute some of the reasoning for the decision by the Ombudsman, as they have appear to have taken the word of Aviva in regard to Aviva's processes, where the Policyholder is not present, when the policy is purchased.  The Ombudsman should have asked Aviva to provide copies of their process documents that applied at the time.

 

You might want to consider a Data Protection Act complaint to Aviva about registering any defaults on your credit record, as Aviva do not have your consent to process your data, as you never agreed to any contract with them.  If Aviva disagree about their right to register defaults, then contact the ICO.  https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Aviva have no proof of you being a willing  party to this contract and no proof you consented to them processing your data. 

 

Personally I think Aviva have made a complete mess of this and have tried to justify themselves.  The Ombudsman has taken the easiest option, withold properly holding Aviva to account. 

[unclebulgaria67]

Suggest to Aviva that they need to cancel the Insurances and write off any premiums.  No willing consent for the policies in your name and no consent under Data Protection Act to process your data.

[unclebulgaria67]

No futher debate required.

 

Just tell Aviva that the Policies they issued were issued without your willing consent and the data they have processed was and is still without your consent.

[unclebulgaria67]

DSAR  Data Protection subject access request  ( SAR)

 

Your sibling should be investigated by the Police for their behaviour.  By acting in the way they have, they have done it deliberately to cause you harm.

 

I would not worry too much about the claim in 2017.  The simple fact is that you had not consented to the Insurance or your data being processed.  

 

So reject the ombudsmans decision.  Write to Aviva telling them that you did not consent to the Insurance contract and did not consent to them processing your data.  Suggest to Aviva that they have made serious mistakes in their handling of the Insurance administration and they should write off any premiums, as no valid contract existed. 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

You don't need a strongly worded letter.

 

You are an average member of the public and as soon as you start trying to complicate matters by raising legal compliance issues, it then comes across that you are aware of how Insurance works.  Aviva are then more likely to believe you should have been aware about the Insurance being arranged in your name.

 

If you write a basic letter as suggested without coming across as having any knowledge, then it is more likely that Aviva will conclude that you would have been totally clueless about Insurance being arranged in your name.

 

Don't complicate matters, when you don't need to.

 

 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Your next steps are

 

1) reject the FOS decision

2) Send the SAR to Aviva.

 

Wait for Aviva to supply the SAR before sending any further letters.

[unclebulgaria67]

Given delays in responding to the SAR,  maybe suggest to the FOS that they need to set a new date to reject the decision.  Perhaps they should add 3 weeks.

[unclebulgaria67]

Going back quite a long time ago while working in Insurance and occasionally dealing with issues of fraud, we would have contact with Police Officers.  We would be requested to take no actions on Insurance policy records, while there was an investigation ongoing. If there was then going to be a court case, the Insurance record is then marked "do not touch, await outcome of Court process" or words to the same effect. The record is then dealt with by a team at the Insurance company who liase with Police and provide any information.

 

So once the Brother is interviewed, if the Police do decide to take forward, I think you should be asking the Police to contact the Insurance companies involved to stop them continuing to take administrative actions on the policy records including contacting you.

[unclebulgaria67]

Following Police contact with an Insurer, it can take a few days before they decide what to do.  Even with a very large Insurance company such as Aviva, the team that handles enquiries from Police will be quite small.  But they will have fairly senior stafff, who can decide what they need to do. 

 

I would say that Aviva should not be processing any data to credit reference agencies regarding any debt and if they have processed any data, they should remove this from your record.  I would suggest that you make this clear to Aviva, just in case you have not already done so.

[unclebulgaria67]

@Titchytitch
sound good. But wait to see what happens after the Police interview him.  This may or may not change how the Police are dealing with this.  

 

Cautious hopeful approach that this will be resolved is probably best, as until the Police actually charge him with offences, there is possibility this saga will keep going.

[unclebulgaria67]

@BankFodder will no doubt respond later.

 

My view is that sometimes allowing time for other people to do what they need to do is best.  If the Police are investigating and in contact with various,  see what happens with this.

 

If you wanted to respond to the Independent assessor, you could just update them to say that Police have an active investigation ongoing and you are waiting for an update from them.  Then go onto say that you will be asking the Independent assessor to complete a review in line with their operating standards. 

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

So the call handler had reservations, but went ahead based on a quick chat with their Team Leader.

 

The problem with most Insurance companies is that Team Leaders are quite often just supervisors and mostly don't have years of experience of dealing with Insurance underwriting.  So mistakes are made and risks are accepted which probably don't comply with the Insurers own underwriting guidelines.

 

The FOS process is finished so no point dwelling on this.  If you do go down the Court route later, I would ask for a copy of Avivas underwriting guidelines and process information that was in use by their staff at the time of policies being sold.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

We have 19 pages now.

 

Would be great to have a brief summary of where we are now.

 

Are you looking to sue Aviva ?  Are you wanting a compensation amount from them ?

 

Or are you preparing just in case Aviva issue a Court claim against you. ?

 

There are many Data Protection issues as Aviva appear to have breached the Data Protection Act (DPA) on many occasions.  Has a complaint under the DPA been made to Aviva, so that you can involve the ICO ?

[unclebulgaria67]

@Titchytitch

 

I would suggest that you write a list of bullet point sentences of the issues you feel are relevant.  This will help you when you start to write a fuller complaint.

 

Remember this is about the FOS handling of your complaint and not the complaint substance itself.

 

I think it might be fair to state that the complaints handler failed to collect all relevant information pertaining to your complaint.  Lack of proper inquiry to consider the complaint fully.

 

The complaint handler did not sufficiently question information provided by Aviva,.  They made presumptions about the information supplied by Aviva and did not apply the level of diligence that would be expected from an Ombudsman Service.

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

I think Bankfodders letter is good.  I will add further posts, but here is what i think so far.

 

Might be possible to add some Insurance regulatory information and also some information on domestic financial abuse.   The FOS are required to consider all relevant information and it appears that they have not done so.  FOS have to follow the FCA rules including ICOBS.

 

FOS staff should be aware of financial abuse and consider whether this was a factor.  Did the Ombdusman ask Aviva about their policies in helping their customers facing domestic financial abuse ?  Did the Ombudsman look into the FOS/FCA policies and procedures in regard to handling a complaint that involved domestic financial abuse ?

 

 

 

The hidden harm of financial abuse

WWW.FCA.ORG.UK

---

One in five women and one in seven men has suffered some form of financial abuse typically at the hands of their partner. Like all domestic abuse it is a...

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Section 3 of this link covers the rules that the FOS are required to follow.

 

https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/DISP.pdf

 

DISP 3 : Complaint handling Section 3.6 : Determination by the
procedures of the Financial Ombudsman
Ombudsman Service

3.6 Determination by the Ombudsman
Fair and reasonable.....................................................................................................
The Ombudsman will determine a complaint by reference to what is, in his
opinion, fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case.
Section 228 of the Act sets the 'fair and reasonable' test for the Compulsory
Jurisdiction (other than in relation to a “relevant complaint” within the
meaning of section 404B(3) of the Act) and n DISP 3.6.1 R extends it to the
Voluntary Jurisdiction.
Where a complainant makes complaints against more than one respondent
in respect of connected circumstances, the Ombudsman may determine that
the respondents must contribute towards the overall award in the
proportion that the Ombudsman considers appropriate.
In considering what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the
case, the Ombudsman will take into account:
(1) relevant:
(a) law and regulations;
(b) regulators' rules, guidance and standards;
(c) codes of practice; and
(2) (where appropriate) what he considers to have been good industry
practice at the relevant time

[unclebulgaria67]

The Ombudsman clearly did not dligently check and consider all of the information that was pertinent to the complaint.

 

I have not even mentioned Aviva's failure under the Data Protection Act.   They allowed a third party to arrange Insurance for someone else, without gaining any consent to process data.

 

Did the Ombudsman obtain call recordings from Aviva, so they could review how the Insurance arrangement was handled, to check that Aviva followed law and regulations ?

 

If the Ombudsman did  not apply the fair and reasonable tests when handling the complaint, they have failed to objectively consider the complaint in the way regulations require.

 

Aviva under FCA handbook Principles for Business states

 

RIN 2.1.1 R 03/01/2018 RP

The Principles

1 Integrity

A firm must conduct its business with integrity.

2 Skill, care and diligence

A firm must conduct its business with due skill, care and diligence

 

This is adding to the point in Bankfodders letter, that the Aviva Sales Advisors instinct was that they were not sure they should issue the policy as they were unsure about meeting with regulatory requirements.  The Ombudsman has then not considered properly whether they have themselves met FCA Fair and Reasonable tests,  reviewing the complaint to ensure they have taken into account

 

(1) relevant:
(a) law and regulations;
(b) regulators' rules, guidance and standards;
(c) codes of practice; and
(2) (where appropriate) what he considers to have been good industry
practice at the relevant time

[unclebulgaria67]

For 99% of general Insurances, there would be no signatures required. It would all be done remote via Internet or phone application.

 

Sounds like their defence is that you knew what they were doing arranging Insurance in your name and now you are denying you consented to this.  Trying to make it a case of one person's word against another's, hoping the Police will not be able to continue.

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Yes agree that Aviva should not have issued policies without gaining consent of the person who was going to be the policyholder.

 

Aviva staff would have been trained in data protection and fraud prevention, as well as the processes they have to follow.   They don't seem to have followed the correct legal processes.

 

 

[unclebulgaria67]

Fit within letter a question, Did the FOS really follow the FCA rules and apply them diligently ?

 

https://www.handbook.fca.org.uk/handbook/DISP.pdf

 

DISP 3 : Complaint handling Section 3.6 : Determination by the
procedures of the Financial Ombudsman
Ombudsman Service

3.6 Determination by the Ombudsman
Fair and reasonable.....................................................................................................
The Ombudsman will determine a complaint by reference to what is, in his
opinion, fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the case.
Section 228 of the Act sets the 'fair and reasonable' test for the Compulsory
Jurisdiction (other than in relation to a “relevant complaint” within the
meaning of section 404B(3) of the Act) and n DISP 3.6.1 R extends it to the
Voluntary Jurisdiction.
Where a complainant makes complaints against more than one respondent
in respect of connected circumstances, the Ombudsman may determine that
the respondents must contribute towards the overall award in the
proportion that the Ombudsman considers appropriate.
In considering what is fair and reasonable in all the circumstances of the
case, the Ombudsman will take into account:
(1) relevant:
(a) law and regulations;
(b) regulators' rules, guidance and standards;
(c) codes of practice; and
(2) (where appropriate) what he considers to have been good industry
practice at the relevant time

[unclebulgaria67]

Having had responsibilities for records management for a large Insurers, it is totally believable that no letters were received.  Data records in regards to letters being sent are not very reliable.  

 

But the crux of the matter is Aviva allowing the policies to be issued in the first place. 

[unclebulgaria67]

@Titchytitch What would be the grounds for your complaint ?

 

They have investigated and decided that they do not have enough evidence to put to prosecutors.

 

Only worth going back to the Police, if you have further evidence that they have not considered.

[unclebulgaria67]

 

If Aviva have added debts to your credit record you can contact credit reference agencies to add notes against the records that these are disputed e.g. taken out by someone else without your consent, reported to Police.

That way if anyone looks at your record they will see notes that these debts are disputed.

[unclebulgaria67]

I thought the debt information was on your credit record ?