How can I tell if con artist agent's account is personal or business?

oneborneveryminute

An estate agent kept my tenant's deposit and is now in the process of winding up his business. He won't pay back the deposit which I've since covered with the DPS. I intend to sue the agent as an individual and as a business.

My solicitor has asked me to establish if the agent's account into which the tenant paid his deposit is a personal or business account before starting legal proceedings.

I rang Barclays bank who said that they cannot give me any information over the phone. I'm not asking them to give me private information. Just a distinction between whether the account is personal or business. I wonder if the person on the telephone was just being a little bit too cautious.

Does anyone know of a way I make this distinction as it will help me broaden my legal action? Any websites or maybe a different department in Barclays who can be more helpful?

Doozergirl

It will be determined on the sort code, the account number is irrelevant.

If it was Lloyds TSB I could probably tell you which makes me think that a Barclays employee would possibly be able to differentiate. It wouldn't be disclosing customer information to say which branch/business centre owned a sort code.

tbs624

oneborneveryminute wrote: »

An estate agent kept my tenant's deposit and is now in the process of winding up his business. He won't pay back the deposit which I've since covered with the DPS. I intend to sue the agent as an individual and as a business.

My solicitor has asked me to establish if the agent's account into which the tenant paid his deposit is a personal or business account before starting legal proceedings.

I rang Barclays bank who said that they cannot give me any information over the phone.

So *write*, formally requesting the information, and explaining why you want the info, or pay your solicitor to write a letter on your behalf.The bank cannot hide behind "data protection" on this one.

oneborneveryminute

I've repeatedly rung Barclays who say that they are not allowed to tell me whether the account is personal or business due to data protection. They said they wouldn't even accept a request from the police or my solicitor as they would need the permission of the account holder.

I've typed the sort code which is 20 32 00 into google and have established the location of the branch but I can't find any indicator of whether the account is personal or business.

g_attrill

Try the social engineering approach. Phone in a friendly way saying you need to make an urgent payment to a business colleague but he is away all day and you need to know whether the number you have is their business account or not before making the payment. However you post above indicates that they might have a hard rule that they don't ever disclose anything.

It might be that the solicitor just needs to know as a guide on which way to start working and if you are wrong it might not be a major problem, but if you find out but aren't 100% sure make sure you tell them.

Colincbayley

I have had a good 'google' and they only thing I can track down is this http://www.sanaton.org.uk/html/standing_order.html

It is an organization which uses the same sort code, hence I would take a bet that it is a business account.
( Very much a shot in the dark )

oneborneveryminute

I don't think the social engineering approach will work. I rang over a dozen Barclays numbers getting through to operators and their managers who all rejected my request for the information.

Thanks for spotting that website. I've already asked Barclays if there is anything within the sort code and account number identifying it as either personal or business. They tell me categorically that nothing in the sequence of numbers can make that distinction.

I find it difficult to accept that someone can rip me off like this and that the odds are stacked in favour of the crook because of data protection. It seems like anyone can start up a business, rip off their clients and then dissolve themselves to avoid paying back. How on earth did we evolve such a flawed system?

mynameisdave

oneborneveryminute wrote: »

They said they wouldn't even accept a request from the police or my solicitor as they would need the permission of the account holder.

Do the police need the account holders permission to investigate suspected fraudulant activities with an account?

Sounds like the person that gave that answer doesn't know the law in full.

Funny, because on more than one occasion in more than one branch I have gone into a Barclays to pay money into a friends account and asked them if this is an account belonging to "Mr ........" and they have confirmed it is.

If they can confirm the name of an account holder they can confirm if it is business or personal.

Try going into a bank and say you need to pay money into the account. You have details of his personal and business accounts but when it come to leaving the house you could only find one and you need to make sure it is, for arguments sake, the business account.

If they do you can then come up with some excuse such as 'ooops I forgot my chequebook'.

oneborneveryminute

I'll give it a go tomorrow.

Curveygirl

I think part of section 35 of the Data Protection Act maybe allows disclosure if you need the information for court action. I would get that checked tho'. There is no way you'll get it over the phone -you will have to put your request in writing. They are wrong when they tell you that they cannot disclose to anyone, you just need to find the people who know what they are talking about.

tbs624

Curveygirl wrote: »

I think part of section 35 of the Data Protection Act maybe allows disclosure if you need the information for court action. I would get that checked tho'. There is no way you'll get it over the phone -you will have to put your request in writing. They are wrong when they tell you that they cannot disclose to anyone, you just need to find the people who know what they are talking about.

See post 3. This is why I said that they cannot hide behind Data Protection on this one.

The relevant part of s35 is (2) (a) and (b)

Disclosures required by law or made in connection with legal proceedings etc .........

(2) Personal data are exempt from the non-disclosure provisions where the disclosure is necessary—
(a) for the purpose of, or in connection with, any legal proceedings (including prospective legal proceedings), or
(b) for the purpose of obtaining legal advice,or is otherwise necessary for the purposes of establishing, exercising or defending legal rights.

The OP or his solicitor have simply to make that request *in writing*, to the Branch Manager. If an inappropriate response is received from him/her then bump it up the line.