Compensation Advice Please

opinions4u

Greenfingers3 wrote: »

They also made it very clear that they wouldnt be responsible for any future costs.

On that basis alone then you cannot accept any offer unless it is significantly higher. They will play the "full and final settlement" card and you must reject it.

They told me that for compensation for breach of the data protection act they normally pay £250 and offered me that. I told them that I realised that, but felt that this is a bit more serious than just sending my bank statement to my next door neighbour.

Good for you.

The call ended with them saying they would go and consult and send me a letter with their final offer and then I could accept that or take it up with the Ombudsman. Will have to wait and see what they come up with now.

The FOS won't be quick. But I think they will side with you.

Greenfingers3

Thanks for that.

opinions4u wrote: »

The FOS won't be quick. But I think they will side with you.

I am in no hurry.

JuicyJesus

Greenfingers3 wrote: »

I am in no hurry.

And if you go through the FOS then that's extremely good news, because you will need the patience of a saint right now... lots of b*llocks PPI claims gumming up the works

pmduk

I'd have thought the building soc would be terrified of the publicity an FOS complaint might bring.

innovate

Though publicity might be the very last thing the OP is after - and it should be possible to keep this completely confidential hereon in, even if it has to go the FOS.

Greenfingers3

innovate wrote: »

Though publicity might be the very last thing the OP is after - and it should be possible to keep this completely confidential hereon in, even if it has to go the FOS.

You are right there is absolutely no way I want any publicity, I was even worried about posting on here. I am now glad that I did, as I have received so much advice and encouragement from you all. Thanks

dalesrider

Can I throw another view in here. And I'm not saying that you should not ask/get for compensation.

What will a monetary payment mean here to you?

Yes it would be nice.

But to me a better outcome would be ensuring that something like this never happened again.
Not sure that this error really falls under FOS as its more of a data commissioner matter.
What have the building society said they have done to ensure that this will never happen again.
Have they reported this error themselves, or are they trying to ensure that it never gets out to somewhere where they will get fined?

Greenfingers3

dalesrider wrote: »

Can I throw another view in here. And I'm not saying that you should not ask/get for compensation.

What will a monetary payment mean here to you?

Yes it would be nice.

But to me a better outcome would be ensuring that something like this never happened again.
Not sure that this error really falls under FOS as its more of a data commissioner matter.
What have the building society said they have done to ensure that this will never happen again.
Have they reported this error themselves, or are they trying to ensure that it never gets out to somewhere where they will get fined?

Thank you for your comments. A monetary payment would be nice, and I would like to save it, so if we ever have to take some legal action we have at least some of the funds to do so.

I do agree with you that this should never happen again, before I made the complaint to the BS I did contact the ICO, and they said to come back to them when I have heard back from the BS, so am awaiting the letter from the BS before I go back to them. The BS did tell me they had to report it themselves, but I am sure I will never get any proof as to whether this has been done or not. In the conversation I had with them, they gave the impression that it had been escalated to quite a high level within their staff, so hopefully someone will take notice.

innovate

You don't have to rely on the BS staff to inform their top management - you can do this yourself. Literally all the of companies have an Executive complaints department attached to their CEO/Chairman's office. It is usually quite easy to find the name of the top honcho and figure out their email address.

JuicyJesus

dalesrider wrote: »

Can I throw another view in here. And I'm not saying that you should not ask/get for compensation.

What will a monetary payment mean here to you?

Yes it would be nice.

But to me a better outcome would be ensuring that something like this never happened again.

I actually couldn't disagree more. And I am not noted as someone who is staunchly anti-bank or as a compensation chaser.

The OP has suffered tangible distress and inconvenience, and may well have to pay out further costs as a result of their reckless disclosure. Distress and inconvenience can, obviously, not have a price tag put on it, but some recompense for what is probably a nightmare in the making for the OP wouldn't go amiss. If they had had their statement sent to their neighbour and were asking for upwards of £500 (hell, upwards of £50) I'd be taking a very different line. And this is in line with what the FOS have said - again, not noted as being staunchly anti-bank, pro-compensayshun.

Regardless, it is impossible to "ensure that something like this never happened again". There is no way of preventing any mistake from being made ever again in anything. If they could, they would have done already.