Natwests breach of data protection??

[bellaboo1]

Hi, im new to this site. Feels like the rise of the underdog!!! HAHA ! I have already recieved my statements, worked out how much they owe me with interest(as recommended just in case I need to use it as a bartering tool ) and sent off my letter asking for my money back by recorded delivery. I sent it to my branch but not sure if that was the right place to send it.Should I send any other letters to the address in borehamwood or just carry on sending them to my branch? Something else happened the other day, I recieved someone elses statements in the post! the postman had to knock on my door to give them to me as they were so badly packaged the statements were not even in the envelope .I took them as I didnt realise they werent mine, just thought they were more back logged statements from my account. I have since taken them back to Natwest and made a complaint.Im just wondering if this would help my case to get my money back as the have broken the data protection act and I think they will want to keep this one quiet, they more or less said this at the branch when I took them back. Sorry its all a bit long winded, but any advice on this would be great!!

[hedgey06]

Welcome on board!

 

Firstly, it's wise to send prelim and LBA to the Borehamwood address - but don't worry if you've sent the prelim to the branch - they'll pass this over to Borehamwood.

 

Secondly, with regards to the breach of the DPA, they haven't actually disclosed your details to anybody - they've disclosed somebody else's to you. By all means report the breach - but I wouldn't be inclined to use this in your case. Why bring yourself down to their level?

 

Just follow the process to the letter - you'll get your charges back eventually without having to resort to anything else!

 

Good luck

[bellaboo1]

Thanks for that. Also wondering if it does come to it that I have to take them to court, would it be better to go through MCOL , was going to anyway but have just read about the warnings in doing this as you cant provide the extra info needed just wondering if it would make my case weaker.Or do I go through my local court, the only problem I have with this is that I live in Devon and my branch is in London, would that make any difference?? seeing as it all goes to borehamwood anyway

[hedgey06]

To be honest, I used N1 at my local county court. There seems to be more room for error using MCOL. My personal advice would be to use N1 as opposed to MCOL - but others may disagree!

 

Doesn't matter where your branch is - you file the N1 claim form at your local county court. Once you file your claim in the court you don't deal with Borehamwood anymore. A copy of your N1 is served on nat west's registered head office in Bishopsgate, London - and they basically pass it on to their legal representatives cobbetts. So the majority of your dealings at the court stage are with cobbetts.

[bellaboo1]

Thats great, its put my mind at rest for a while, Im hoping it wont come to that, but if it does I wont panic as Ill know what to do How do I go about filling in an N1 form though, do I have to go directly to my local court or can I do it on line ? Is there a copy on this site of this form so that I can see what info is required Thanks for all this help and advice, so nice to know there are lots of us in the same boat uniting to kick *ss

[hedgey06]

Don't worry - you'll be fine. You'll find a copy of the N1 form in the templates (I think - from memory) - you can download/save it to your pc and complete it, but you can't save the details so you need to ensure you get everything correct before printing. I'm in work at the moment - can't post links here. Have a look at Michael Browne's A-Z guide - you'll find the N1 hard copy on there along with the particulars of claim (N1) - print them off and have a good read.

[bellaboo1]

Just had a horrible thought, when I 1st started this campaign the first place I went to was martins moneyexpert.com website and on there I used the calculator to work out the amount owed in charges plus it worked out the interest it would have made.He advised to do this as you could potentially use this as a bartering tool e.g if they refused to pay up you could say ok, Ill make a deal, just pay me back my charges and Ill forget the interest. I have done all this but after reading a few of the threads on here it says dont do that or you,ll look like you dont know what your doing and will fob you off even more!! Have I done the wrong thing and if so, how do I rectify this ,as I am so determined to get my money back.This means so much.

[steven4064]

Hi bellaboo

 

A few points - I agree with hedgey, use an N1. Several people have ahad to fight against having their claims thrown out because there was not enough room on the MCOL form to give adequate details to explain teh case. You can file it at your nearest court - there are several in Devon you could use.

 

Don't worry about the interest stuff. Just stick with the tried and tested approach here and correct any errors/omissions at the letter before action stage.

 

It won't make any difference to NatWest - they don't know whether they are coming or going and don't read most of what you send them anyway as fas as i can tell.

 

keep us posted. All the best

 

Steven

 

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Any opinions are without prejudice & without liability.

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[bellaboo1]

Thanks for that, nearly had a panic on then! Your a star! One other thing I was thinking of doing was ringing Nastywest up to find out whats going on with regards to my complaint as Ive noticed a few people have done this and find they are pretty much able to sort out a deal there and then, They are told a deal is in the pipe line and there should be a" letter arriving shortly"! Do you think this a good idea , if so what no do I ring : customer services/complaints OR the telephone banking as they have on screen info about my account.

[hedgey06]

Bellaboo, at this moment in time, I'd strongly advise entereing your charges into one of the CAG spreadsheets 6. Interest calculation spreadsheets as this will calculate the correct level of 8% interest owed (as opposed to the method you've previously used).

 

You could, in theory, phone Borehamwood to see if there's an offer in the pipeline ( 0845 3030 456) however, be prepared to file at court if no offer is on the table yet.

 

Best of luck

[Monty2007]

Before you report NatWest to the information commissioner with respect to receiving someone else' statements (serious breach of the Data Protection Act) you should consider using this to bargaining chip with your bank. This happened to me and the credit card company responded by immediately offering all my charges back plus a sum in compensation. I also wrote to the person who's details were disclosed and she has been offered substantial compensation but it's all confidential as part of the deal. Mine is still ongoing.

 

I have informed the credit card company that

 

I am unable to accept the compensation offer of £**** that he has offered for the following reasons.

 

Under the Data Protection Act 1984 / 1998, as a Data Controller, you have a legal duty to ensure that all personal or financial information you hold is kept securely. You have clearly failed to do this.

 

You have additional and substantial responsibilities as a holder of a Consumer Credit License that require you to have, and operate appropriate systems in relation to personal information and how this is treated.

 

As you may appreciate, due to this experience, I have lost total confidence in your organisation in respect of the treatment of personal customer and account information.

 

As you are aware I have been trying to get access to my own for some months now as evidenced by my previous letters and telephone calls to you.

 

I am pursuing my complaint with the credit card company and their CEO is now involved. You may wish to consider keeping hold of the statements until your complaints have been addressed.

 

You have a major ace here, don't throw it away............

 

PM me if you want to discuss further.

[bellaboo1]

Thats great, Ill do asap. At what rate of interest is it on Martins website, that I have already calculated ? and do you really think it will make a difference? Dont quite understand how the different interest rates work. Help!

[bellaboo1]

Thanks for that info, just wondering how you got the info for the other account holder as I tried to get details so that I could contact them, but to no avail, think they will get away with this one and the other person will be none the wiser

[Monty2007]

Did it not have their address on the statements?

[bellaboo1]

No, it just had the name at the bottom with account number and sort code . It was a business account,the only way I knew it was,nt even in this area was by doing a google branch sort code to find the branch is in surrey.

:-?

[Monty2007]

I would write to your bank informing them of their serios breach of the data protection act and stating that you have lost total confidence in their ability to protect information as is their responsibility.

 

Ask for their complaints procedure and write to their CEO informing him of this. If you don't get a satisfactory result then report them to the ICO.

[bellaboo1]

Quick update on my claim, have recieved a letter this morning 16th July, dated 11th July, saying "Thank-you for your recent letter regarding the fees applied to your account.We are currently considering your claim.Given the work involved in assessing your claim we anticipate that we will be in a position to respond within 6-7 weeks, but will endeavour to do so sooner if we are able to . Yours sincerely Stuart Higley "

Do you think that that is a typical normal standard letter now. at least they havent said no we think our charges are fair, so sod off type of thing? Do you think I should still go ahead with my LBA or wait ?

[steven4064]

Its absolutely standard - I've got 2! Send the LBA

[bellaboo1]

I have posted my LBA with an extra kick in the balls for Natwest as I also wrote to them about my complaint that had been logged with them regarding their "breach of data protection" when they sent me someone elses statements in the post.I have told them that if both problems [charges and complaint] were not dealt with within 14 days then I will have no option left but to take my claim for the charges on my account to court and the other matter regarding my complaint/customer service issue to either the ombudsman or the information commissioners office. blah blah blah:eek: . What do you think, I dont know if it will make that extra bit of difference but Im hoping so! also was wondering if I do take my claim to my local court how much does that cost ? and do you have to pick up the N1 forms in person or would they send them ? tryed looking on FAQs link but could only find info regarding this on MCOL :-?

[tonycee]

I was wondering if I do take my claim to my local court how much does that cost ? and do you have to pick up the N1 forms in person or would they send them ? tryed looking on FAQs link but could only find info regarding this on MCOL :-?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/helpful-external-links/919-moneyclaim-hardcopy-claim-compared.html

[hedgey06]

Bellaboo........... have a look through here http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/natwest-bank/105227-nat-west-claimants-new.html for links to the N1 and particulars of claim (hard copy)........... much better (IMHO!) than MCOL!

[bellaboo1]

Hi Monty, I did what you advised and I sent an extra complaint in with my LBA hoping it will give extra clout and they might pay up quickly to shut me up without the need to go to court! Is this what you did and how long did it take to get your reply?

[Monty2007]

Hi Monty, I did what you advised and I sent an extra complaint in with my LBA hoping it will give extra clout and they might pay up quickly to shut me up without the need to go to court! Is this what you did and how long did it take to get your reply?

 

Hi Bella

 

I got a response within a week. Their main concern would relate to the Information Commissioner and potential action/fine they may incurr with respect to breaching the data protection act. I am surprised that they have not apologised and tried to resolve this quickly. There have been a few cases.

[bellaboo1]

Hi Monty, Thanks for getting back to me I sent mine on the 20th July by recorded delivery and have not heard back yet, although they have until the 4th Aug to reply because I gave them the standard 14 days deadline. Just wondering if its worth ringing them to get any info out of them , did you ever ring or did you just wait for the letters to arrive? What do you think as some people are prepared to wait the 6-7 weeks for a reply ??

[bellaboo1]

Just wondering if anyone has phoned Natwest at Borehamwood to find out whats going on with their claim and if they got anywhere????