Welcome Finance & Data Protection

Belle_de_Jour_2

Hi guys,

I Just wanted to know if anyone had dealings with the aforementioned company?

I basically took out a loan with them, lost my job and couldn't keep up with the monthly repayments. I got advice from CCCS to make token payments until i could afford to carry on with the monthly agreement, and did just that.

They still pestered me via post and phone (as expected). Today however it went to far - they sent letters to members of my family living at the same residence and put my reference number as well as a note for each member to contact them. In doing so, they disclosed my information to the caller - stating specifically that i took out a loan and was not making repayments etc.

I'm pretty sure that goes against the Data Protection Act. To top it off, the letters they actually sent were disguised as letters from Barnardos (the Children's Charity), i.e., they had each envelope stamped with the charity emblem!

I've reported this to Trading Standards, Consumer Direct, OFT and the Information Commissioners Office. All have advised on what steps to take.

What i want to know is if anyone has had this happen to them, what steps were taken, and what the outcome was...
What is the likelihood of Welcome Finance getting penalized for this? And if they do, what will the penalty be? It was bad enough dealing with them personally, but now involving my family has caused more distress than i can handle.:(


Thanks in advance

TonyMMM

Belle_de_Jour wrote: »

Hi guys,

I've reported this to Trading Standards, Consumer Direct, OFT and the Information Commissioners Office. All have advised on what steps to take.

And what did they say ?

Belle_de_Jour_2

TonyMMM wrote: »

And what did they say ?

That they'd look into the matter once they received all my correspondences. They were very willing to help and thorough but unfortunately couldn't give me more information on what the penalty would be if it all went in my favour

Apples2

I would guess that even if Welcome got in the rattle, it is not going to affect your repayments at all (or lack of).

They may be brought to task by their own Governing body but I can't see any penalty being in your benefit (someone must have given them the names of the people they have sent letters to).

Belle_de_Jour_2

I'm not in anyway hoping that this eradicates my debt. I'm willing to pay that off the proper way. I just want to know what could happen to them if it's found in my favour. i.e. will they begin to act accordingly and leave my family out of it, or is it just a slap on the wrist for them...
As for how they got my details, well it definitely wasn't from my household - i'm sure they have their ways, legal or otherwise

zppp

What if they sponsor Barnados? Or if it was on the postmark?

Common_Sense_2

To be honest after working in the industry for over a decade - i am struggling to understand this -

As Zppp says - maybe the barnados thing was part of the postmark printed on teh envelope by Royal Mail (these things happen). As for teh rest of the OP, well, i've never heard of this type of practice, and cannot believe that even Welcome would do this.

hullight

It's not a breach of the DPA to leave a company name and reference number. It gives no personal information. For all people know you might have a job interview at said company, or be a supplier or anything.

~Brock~

I received a letter today from a marketing company.

The envelope had a normal stamp on it, i.e. it had not been franked.

The Royal Mail postmark, stamped at the Gatwick mail centre at 8.40pm last night had in big writing..........."Believe in children..BARNARDO'S"

Methinks the OP should calm down a bit in respect of this particular allegation and stop jumping to silly conclusions before he/she ends up looking like a bit of a pillock.

In respect of speaking to other family members - I believe that some lenders employ the practice of asking new loan customers for the name/address of two personal references who can be contacted in such circumstances - OP are you sure that you didn't actually supply these details yourself back in the day when you were eagerly signing up to have the money in the first place?

RuthnJasper

Even if it was a Barnardos RM Postal Franking Mark, and the reference number was innocuous, I can't see how it is ethical or reasonable for Welcome to have written to family members about the loan. The only situation where I can see it might have been fair is if Belle had died and they were trying to get payment from her next of kin.

Are you able to post the contents of the letter, with the personal details edited out, here? That may help someone to know how to advise you best.

Anyway, I'm sorry to hear about this - I can understand how embarrassing it must be for you. Hope things get resolved quickly. x

zppp

~Brock~ wrote: »

I received a letter today from a marketing company.

The envelope had a normal stamp on it, i.e. it had not been franked.

The Royal Mail postmark, stamped at the Gatwick mail centre at 8.40pm last night had in big writing..........."Believe in children..BARNARDO'S"

Methinks the OP should calm down a bit in respect of this particular allegation and stop jumping to silly conclusions before he/she ends up looking like a bit of a pillock.

In respect of speaking to other family members - I believe that some lenders employ the practice of asking new loan customers for the name/address of two personal references who can be contacted in such circumstances - OP are you sure that you didn't actually supply these details yourself back in the day when you were eagerly signing up to have the money in the first place?

Ah! I had a hunch as much!!