Compensation for Breach of Data Protection Act

MKY

Hi

I just wondered if anyone has had compensation from the bank for breaching the Data Protection Act.

I have been offered £200 as the bank mixed up records belonging to me and my twin (we have similar names, same dob and address) so that she was able to see details of my accounts online as she has only recently set up to bank online. I wonder if this reflects the seriousness of the breach.

In the past they have also sent statements to the wrong twin (ie my statements came in her name and vice versa).

Also, my credit card that I have used since 2002 has apparently been associated with her account. According to their records, I have never had a credit card.

Any opinions or advice would be appreciated.

opinions4u

About four years ago (as a branch manager) I offered a customer £100 for a similar breach, involving a family member. There was no financial loss to anybody.

The customer was still unhappy and declined the offer.

I rang my head office for advice, and was told that the FOS would typcially suggest a payment in the region of £250.

I was a little shell-shocked, but went out and offered my customer £200. He accepted.

So while you may be able to crank the offer up a little bit, there probably isn't much more that you can improve it by.

YorkshireBoy

My joint account provider told my wife, in a letter addressed to both of us, that I also had a sole account in my name. I was paid £150, their 'standard' goodwill gesture for such a breach of the DPA.

However, it sounds like you two are suffering more 'distress and inconvenience' (look it up on the FOS website ) than I did. As such, I'd hold out for more and take your case to the FOS if it doesn't come. Your case will be strengthened somewhat if you've made numerous previous complaints (in writing) which obviously have had no effect.

I'd suggest your twin follows the same process.

And finally, have you considered banking with different institutions?

MKY

Hi

Thanks for the advice.

I had refused to pay my last credit card statement as it came in my sister's name (all previous ones had my name on it) until they re-issued another statement with my name on. The bank however, said they couldn't do this and hence offered to pay that bill for me which actually works out to be the £200 I mentioned as compensation.... So in fairness, I think that perhaps I could crank it up a bit more don't you think?

Yes, it would probably be a good idea to bank at different institutions....however, as customers it shouldn't really be down to us to take action to fix something....surely?!? Isn't leaving them, avoiding the problem, rather than giving them the opportunity to fix it?!?

pipsi_2

I definitely think you should fight for more money. It's not something that i've had much trouble with but my sister has the same first initial as my middle initial, very occasionally things can get sent to her instead of me if my first name or initial is missed off something.

Today was one of those rare occasions when there was a mix up, i called Tesco Direct to order something, my bank statements still go to my parent's house and my sister still lives at home because she is saving up to buy a house. I was asked for my surname and address, the guy then thought i was my sister until he asked me to confirm my email address as this is where the order confirmation goes to and then he got all confused because i wasn't giving him the one on his system. He said he could update it if i had changed my details but i was convinced i'd always used the same one. It turned out that he had accessed my sister's details. This probably happened because she's ordered stuff through TD before and although i've ordered groceries via their website i haven't used TD before so it only showed one person with that surname with a clubcard at that address. When the guy got really confused and said the email address wasn't the one he had i said he might have my sisters details up and I mentioned her name, he confirmed that was the file he had open. Whether this constitutes a breach of the DPA i don't know but from what he said i was able to ascertain that my sister had ordered goods via TD and had an account with them. He didn't give any of her information out but did confirm information i told him about my sister such as her name. My sister has a Tesco Clubcard Credit Card and it could have been possible for me to assume her identity and charge my goods to her card (although i'm not sure if this is how their system works) as they seem to have the clubcard number on screen during the ordering process.

bengal-stripe

MKY wrote: »

The bank however, said they couldn't do this and hence offered to pay that bill for me which actually works out to be the £200 I mentioned as compensation....

Initially I might have believed your story.............but not any more!!!

MKY

Dear all

Thank you for your comments.

The bank confirmed it was a technical issue where our profiles had been linked and offered both my twin and I £700 each in compensation in December which we have accepted.

They have agreed to keep an eye on our accounts over the next few months to make sure the issue does not crop up again.

dragon4life

Hi

My bank is NatWest and in mid Jan 2011, while I was trying to pay my mobile phone bill online, payment left my bank account but 02 could not retrieve the payment. They could not figure out why so I was told to contact NatWest, which I did but I was told by customer service of NatWest to visit my local branch. That is all that they could tell me. I was wondering what the problem could be but I had a feeling it was my home address, which has been changed, by who?, I was not told. Anyway I popped into my local branch and while the woman over the counter was asking for my details, I discovered that my home address had been changed as well as my telephone number. I was very worried as I did not authorise the change and I was wondering whether somebody changed it but that was not possible due to the fact that some sort of ID is required. However, I was told that an investigation will be carried out and that the investigation team should contact me in the next 4-5 working days. I could not make any payments, as my details did not match.

I waited for a reply but nobody from NatWest called me and I had to contact them myself. I was told that a letter has been sent out and that NatWest contact their customers in the form of a letter and not by telephone.

My details were changed on the 5th November 2010 without my consent and this was due to a banking error, which NatWest owned up to and gave me an apology along with £50. The problem here is that my statements for Nov 10, Dec 10, Jan 11 and Feb 11 were sent to the incorrect address and I was told by NatWest that they could not do anything in order to rectify this problem. Surely they cannot get away with this????

I contacted the Finical Ombudsman and I completed the complaints form and also sent my bank a letter outlining my disappointment by being let down and how there has been a breach of data protection.

A few days later, I received a phone call from NatWest saying how sorry they are and how I have been treated and offered a further £100.

Let me get one thing straight, this is not about they money, but if they have breached data protection and my statements for two accounts with NatWest have been delivered to somebody else address then I would like to see some justice as this is not on.

Do I take the money or do I hold out for more? If so how much?

zppp

If you have had a final response from them, or 8 weeks have passed since your intial complaint, you can complain to FOS to request that they investigate.

What I don't understand is you say it is not about the money, but on the other hand you want to hold out for more. You need to decide what you want I think.

dragon4life

Thanks for replying.

Think i'm gonna hold out for more money.

Cmdr_Bond

MKY wrote: »

Hi

I just wondered if anyone has had compensation from the bank for breaching the Data Protection Act.

I have been offered £200 as the bank mixed up records belonging to me and my twin (we have similar names, same dob and address) so that she was able to see details of my accounts online as she has only recently set up to bank online. I wonder if this reflects the seriousness of the breach.

In the past they have also sent statements to the wrong twin (ie my statements came in her name and vice versa).

Also, my credit card that I have used since 2002 has apparently been associated with her account. According to their records, I have never had a credit card.

Any opinions or advice would be appreciated.

MKY wrote: »

Hi

Thanks for the advice.

I had refused to pay my last credit card statement as it came in my sister's name (all previous ones had my name on it) until they re-issued another statement with my name on. The bank however, said they couldn't do this and hence offered to pay that bill for me which actually works out to be the £200 I mentioned as compensation.... So in fairness, I think that perhaps I could crank it up a bit more don't you think?

Yes, it would probably be a good idea to bank at different institutions....however, as customers it shouldn't really be down to us to take action to fix something....surely?!? Isn't leaving them, avoiding the problem, rather than giving them the opportunity to fix it?!?

MKY wrote: »

Dear all

Thank you for your comments.

The bank confirmed it was a technical issue where our profiles had been linked and offered both my twin and I £700 each in compensation in December which we have accepted.

They have agreed to keep an eye on our accounts over the next few months to make sure the issue does not crop up again.

This sounds all to familiar - see Santander - Major C***-up - Poor service.

Can I ask which bank it was please? Only I am just about getting to the compensation stage myself.