taking a bank to court

chris&sarah

I recently asked for 6 years of bank statements so i could claim the money back.

yesterday i received a large envelope full of statements but they were not mine.... but for some bloke from the other end of the country, different name and totally different account number.

i called the bank and was told my statements had been sent but must have gone to the wrong person... they asked me to shread the statements i did have.

i have been told that a bank was recently taken to court for doing something similar.

anyone out there with any info re this, advice would be much appreciated.

cheers

chris

richt71

chris&sarah wrote:

I recently asked for 6 years of bank statements so i could claim the money back.

yesterday i received a large envelope full of statements but they were not mine.... but for some bloke from the other end of the country, different name and totally different account number.

i called the bank and was told my statements had been sent but must have gone to the wrong person... they asked me to shread the statements i did have.

i have been told that a bank was recently taken to court for doing something similar.

anyone out there with any info re this, advice would be much appreciated.

cheers

chris

Yes there's a government body that will kick off if you report it to them (rightly so). I can't remember who they are but I'm sure your local cab office will be able to advise.
It's hard to believe that banks won't pay out on chip and pin as people must be careless with their pins to get done and yet they commit basic errors which could lead to major id fraud. :mad:

aussielle

I would write a quick letter to the guy detailing what has happened...I'd want to know if my information was being sent to others!!! He will then be in a position to complain in his own right.

This happened to me but not with a bank, it was the Inland Revenue, they sent me someone else's details, in fact, every possible detail I could wish for to commit identity fraud, had I been that way inclined.

I contacted the lady concerned who was very grateful for bringing it to her attention. She complained and got some compensation. I also complained in writing and got an apology, and an assurance that my information was safe, along with £20.

Not sure who you need to complain to, but I'm sure it's a breach of the Data Protection Act, so no wonder the bank told you to shred them to get rid of the evidence.

Firstly, I would be writing to the bank (keeping a copy) and explaining what has happened and wanting to know where my information had gone, along with a full explantion of how this could have possibly happened.

domestic_goddess

I dont think you personally can take them to court but the person whose details you have recieved could and would no doubt recieve compensation. If you are looking at this from the financial side of things I dont think you would be entitled to any compensation though.

aussielle

I didn't complain for monetry gain, I did so purely because I was so disgusted and annoyed at their lack of security with confidential information, which could have had terrible consequences depending on who had received the information. The £20 I received was a total surprise.

changkra

sickofhavingnomoney wrote:

I dont think you personally can take them to court but the person whose details you have recieved could and would no doubt recieve compensation. If you are looking at this from the financial side of things I dont think you would be entitled to any compensation though.

But the other claimant has hers as they have already stated, they went in the wrong envelope so someone else if not this person has th OP bank statements.

mountainofdebt

I was listening to Moneybox on Radio 4 today and they were on about Nationwide and the laptop that went missing with customer details on it.

Apparently Nationwide have been fined £1M for the breach of security.

The programme interviewed the assistant information commissioner and when asked a question he replied that it was a breach under the Data Protection Act and for some reason the FSA had also got involved.

Personally if it was me then I would contact the person whose statements who have and let them know what has happened and ask them what you should do with the statements. I would also contact the bank and the regulatory authorities.

Some may think this is a heavy handed approach but the banks need to be taught that its not only us that have to be careful with our details these days!

baby_blue_eyes_2

I had a similar issue last year with my travel insurance documents.

Basically i sent off all my documents to claim back money for a holiday that we cancelled due to DH ill health. I had all my documents sent back to me as i sent them to the wrong insurance company!!

Along with my documents was an original death certificate for another person.

I contact the company about this and was put through to more senior member of staff who apologised and advise that if i sent all the documentation back they would sort out a full refund on the insurance policy and cover the cost of sending back by registered post.

I followed their instructions.... and they sent it all back again including the death certificate.

I did think of contacting the wife of the deceased but i dont really want to upset anyone.

Any suggestions as i still have the death certificate???

olly300

You need to complain to the information commissioner http://www.ico.gov.uk/ as it's a breach of the Data Protection Act 1998. You also need to contact the person whose details you got and inform them that they should complain to the bank first and then the Information Commissioner.

The reason for informing the Information Commissioner is if the bank is found to do this too often they will get investigated and fined.

Astaroth

As olly300 says, the ICO is the place to log a complaint if thats what you want to do but they are a watchdog and not consumer champion so even if they do find that the bank has issues and "need" to be fined/ have their licence revoked etc they would not ever be pursuing the bank for compensation for you.

At the end of the day though as olly300 says, it is if it is happening too often. No matter how good the checks and measures are there will always be mistakes either human or by computers and thankfully the law accepts this. Unfortunately some people however seem to think that someone employed to stuff letters by a bank suddenly becomes a saint and totally perfect and never ever ever makes a mistake.

olly300

I should have added that the compensation for breaches of the Data Protection Act is to put you in the same position as if the breach has not happened.

So if nothing has happened then the bank will give you compensation up to about £200. More frequently £50-£100 as in your case the error has caused "minor" (as seen by the law) delay and inconvenience. If as a result of the breach you lost £10,000 then the bank will have to give you compensation for that amount and any difficulties caused by the loss of the money.