Data Protection Act Help!!!!

pulliptears

Neil1975 wrote: »

Pulliptears made the point of it being about ‘what ifs’ and that ‘it's not distressing to have someone knock on your door’, having been the recipient of this I can confirm IT IS distressing. When you lodge a complaint about someone’s actions you expect that your complaint will be presented to that person, however you don’t expect that person will then turn at your home banging on your door.

It's only distressing if YOU make it so.
Two weeks ago my car failed so spectacularly it cost us over £2,500 to repair. It failed on a B road at 30mph. Had it failed on the M6 which comprises 95% of the commute it would most likely have resulted in a crash that could have killed my OH. But it didn't.

As for the person knocking on your door, you didn't answer. Someone hammering on your door may well be a little unpleasant but it doesn't deserve compensation!

You can't dwell on what 'might have' happened, just be grateful that it didn't happen and move on from it.

Neil1975_2

I appreciate your point and I’m sorry to hear about your car.

I’m a great believer in obtaining an understanding of why an event occurred so I’ll pose the question…. If you’d had your car in the garage for a repair prior to it failing on the b road would you have put it down to experience and moved on, or would you have gone to the garage and raised hell?

Mr_Toad

Neil1975 wrote: »

To clarify again, when I spoke to the manager and explained what had happened he took my name, the car reg number and my mobile number. He advised that matters like this are passed straight to their insurers and that I would receive a call from their insurers within a couple of hours.

Whilst I am extremely concerned that the driver came to my house uninvited in what can only be confirmed as an aggressive manner by the way he banged against my door, and the observations of my neighbour, my main concern is how the company dealt with the incident.

I understand the driver has the right to defend himself against the allegation of wrongdoing, but in not requesting my address and not being supplied with it, the minimal details I did supply to the manager were then used to search for my house and make an unsolicited visit. When I spoke to the police about the incident this was one of the main points they raised concern about. As my call was not only to report the incident but to also lodge a complain about the actions of the driver, in passing my details to the driver the company basically did not protect my interests as the outcome of this action led to a great deal of distress being caused when the driver turned up at my property.

Pulliptears made the point of it being about ‘what ifs’ and that ‘it's not distressing to have someone knock on your door’, having been the recipient of this I can confirm IT IS distressing. When you lodge a complaint about someone’s actions you expect that your complaint will be presented to that person, however you don’t expect that person will then turn at your home banging on your door.

You seem to be making up the facts to fit your own idea of what happened, you have no evidence that your details were given to the driver.

As I said in an earlier post he probably didn't need your details, he was there. His manager probably only told him there'd been a complaint about his driving, you have no evidence that this isn't the case, and the driver didn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out what the manager was talking about and a quick visit to where it happened was all it took to find your car and house.

Even if the manager did give your details to the driver you will have to prove it, the fact that the driver turned up at your house is not proof. Do you have any independent witnesses to the drivers alleged aggression or is it your word against his?

Good luck if you don't because one of the wonderful things about our, far from perfect, legal system is a burden of proof. Knowing something to be true is a far cry from being able to prove it to the satisfaction of the law.

steve-L

Neil1975 wrote: »

To clarify again, when I spoke to the manager and explained what had happened he took my name, the car reg number and my mobile number. He advised that matters like this are passed straight to their insurers and that I would receive a call from their insurers within a couple of hours.

So the only information possibly given to the driver was ....?

He didn't use your mobile, extremely unlikely he used your home phone... so how did he find your house from your name?
The REG isn't yours.....

Is it not more likely he was given the REG of the vehicle he was supposedly caused an accident with?

Wouldn't the need that in any disciplinary action?

Whilst I am extremely concerned that the driver came to my house uninvited in what can only be confirmed as an aggressive manner by the way he banged against my door, and the observations of my neighbour, my main concern is how the company dealt with the incident.

But they simply gave the driver a registration number?
You are claiming he forced you off the road.... what proof do you have?

I understand the driver has the right to defend himself against the allegation of wrongdoing, but in not requesting my address and not being supplied with it, the minimal details I did supply to the manager were then used to search for my house and make an unsolicited visit.

How can you prove this?
Surely the driver gets a chance to know WHAT car is making a claim against him and knowing the REG of the car involved is part of that?
How can you PROVE they didn't give him the REG and he just drove around?

When I spoke to the police about the incident this was one of the main points they raised concern about. As my call was not only to report the incident but to also lodge a complain about the actions of the driver, in passing my details to the driver the company basically did not protect my interests as the outcome of this action led to a great deal of distress being caused when the driver turned up at my property.

AGAIN WHAT DETAILS, ITS NOT YOUR REG, you don't say you gave an address, it doesn't seem likely they gave your phone number and he used a reverse lookup....

however you don’t expect that person will then turn at your home banging on your door.

So its the actions of the driver?
I suspect you know the company will pay more so you are trying to blame the company for the actions of their employee .....

I don't have an issue with that.... I am merely saying that the company passing him a registration plate of an vehicle YOU allege caused you to go off the road would not seem to be a breach of the DPA. If they are to take disciplinary action surely he gets the right to defend himself?

He sounds like a !!!!!! to me... but I can't imagine how the disciplinary hearing would go without letting him know which car?

pulliptears

Neil1975 wrote: »

I appreciate your point and I’m sorry to hear about your car.

I’m a great believer in obtaining an understanding of why an event occurred so I’ll pose the question…. If you’d had your car in the garage for a repair prior to it failing on the b road would you have put it down to experience and moved on, or would you have gone to the garage and raised hell?

The point I made about my car was to say that you can't live on 'what ifs'. Trying to decide why it failed is a pointless waste of time. Nobody was to blame for the failure. It was just one of those things that has now been sorted and we have moved on from.

As you didn't answer the door you don't know what the driver wanted. He may even have wanted to apologise. It's another situation where it's pointless trying to analyse it because you didn't answer the door to find out.

Now, had you opened the door and been met with a barrage of abuse I'd agree you had cause for complaint, but as you didn't I don't see how you can think that warrants compensation for distress.

Neil1975_2

Mr_Toad wrote: »

You seem to be making up the facts to fit your own idea of what happened, you have no evidence that your details were given to the driver.

As I said in an earlier post he probably didn't need your details, he was there. His manager probably only told him there'd been a complaint about his driving, you have no evidence that this isn't the case, and the driver didn't need to be a rocket scientist to work out what the manager was talking about and a quick visit to where it happened was all it took to find your car and house.

Even if the manager did give your details to the driver you will have to prove it, the fact that the driver turned up at your house is not proof. Do you have any independent witnesses to the drivers alleged aggression or is it your word against his?

Good luck if you don't because one of the wonderful things about our, far from perfect, legal system is a burden of proof. Knowing something to be true is a far cry from being able to prove it to the satisfaction of the law.

In regards to witnesses to the drivers aggression, please see my previous entries. When my partner returned home that day she started off by asking what had happened as the lady across the road from us had stopped her and told her, in detail, about the driver slamming his door shut and storming up the drive. The neighbour was in her front garden and could still hear him banging against the door.

In regards to the quick visit to where it happened, my drive is up a steep slope from the road and the car was parked at the far end of the drive under the car port. From this position the car isn’t noticeable from the street and to be fair unless you had the reg number you’d struggle to make out the model of the car due to the lack of light under the car port.

Neil1975_2

steve-L wrote: »

So the only information possibly given to the driver was ....?

He didn't use your mobile, extremely unlikely he used your home phone... so how did he find your house from your name?
The REG isn't yours.....

Is it not more likely he was given the REG of the vehicle he was supposedly caused an accident with?

Wouldn't the need that in any disciplinary action?


But they simply gave the driver a registration number?
You are claiming he forced you off the road.... what proof do you have?


How can you prove this?
Surely the driver gets a chance to know WHAT car is making a claim against him and knowing the REG of the car involved is part of that?
How can you PROVE they didn't give him the REG and he just drove around?


AGAIN WHAT DETAILS, ITS NOT YOUR REG, you don't say you gave an address, it doesn't seem likely they gave your phone number and he used a reverse lookup....




So its the actions of the driver?
I suspect you know the company will pay more so you are trying to blame the company for the actions of their employee .....

I don't have an issue with that.... I am merely saying that the company passing him a registration plate of an vehicle YOU allege caused you to go off the road would not seem to be a breach of the DPA. If they are to take disciplinary action surely he gets the right to defend himself?

He sounds like a !!!!!! to me... but I can't imagine how the disciplinary hearing would go without letting him know which car?

As I’ve said the incident was itself was quite frightening, in hindsight I should have just got out of the car and walked round to speak to the driver.

After speaking to the manager I went on with my day expecting their insurers to give me a bell and get things moving, and for the company to contact me in due course regarding the complaint. I did not expect the driver to turn up at my home in an aggressive manner. My point is either the driver knew what had happened, had seen my car reg number and driven off anyway which I find quite odd seen as his company phone number is emblazoned down the side of his wagon. Or the company gave him my reg number which to be fair would not have been required at that stage as the matter was being passed to the insurers. The driver should have been debriefed about the incident when he returned or was recalled to his depot, at which point he would not have been in the position to take it upon himself to start making house calls.

steve-L

Neil1975 wrote: »

In regards to witnesses to the drivers aggression, please see my previous entries. When my partner returned home that day she started off by asking what had happened as the lady across the road from us had stopped her and told her, in detail, about the driver slamming his door shut and storming up the drive. The neighbour was in her front garden and could still hear him banging against the door.

In regards to the quick visit to where it happened, my drive is up a steep slope from the road and the car was parked at the far end of the drive under the car port. From this position the car isn’t noticeable from the street and to be fair unless you had the reg number you’d struggle to make out the model of the car due to the lack of light under the car port.

So he asked around?
if you didn't give your address then ....
1) They used a reverse lookup on your phone number
2) They misused their customer database
3) The driver went asking/looking

I think option 3 is what they will say happened!
Even if they did do option 2 .....

Seems more likely driver will be let off if he says he took it on his own bat to find your house and then was 'frustrated' you didn't answer?

OR

They will ask for a witness to the accident instead of settling quietly.....

So far, its your word against his on the accident....
Push too far and it becomes easier for them to fight it instead of pay up!

Mr_Toad

Neil1975 wrote: »

In regards to witnesses to the drivers aggression, please see my previous entries. When my partner returned home that day she started off by asking what had happened as the lady across the road from us had stopped her and told her, in detail, about the driver slamming his door shut and storming up the drive. The neighbour was in her front garden and could still hear him banging against the door.

In regards to the quick visit to where it happened, my drive is up a steep slope from the road and the car was parked at the far end of the drive under the car port. From this position the car isn’t noticeable from the street and to be fair unless you had the reg number you’d struggle to make out the model of the car due to the lack of light under the car port.

All very well but none of it is proof, lots of people slam doors and walk purposefully, some people also bang on doors, it doesn't mean they're going to attack you.

You might think your car isn't noticeable but he might have been determined and gone up the drive far enough to see also he can discount all the houses where he can see cars clearly thus reducing the number of properties requiring a closer look.

This isn't a playground argument, you're looking for some sort of legal retribution and as such you're going to need proof and all you have is your own subjective view of what happened and a woman across the street.

I'm just playing devil's advocate here, if it every goes to court you'll be dealing with real advocates.

I have no real interest in what happened or any future outcome other than it passes the time while I'm stuck on a conference call, you do, so I suggest you let it run its course and see what happens if it ever gets to court.

steve-L

Neil1975 wrote: »

The driver should have been debriefed about the incident when he returned or was recalled to his depot, at which point he would not have been in the position to take it upon himself to start making house calls.

So you don't think the company have the right to see if the accident actually happened?

He could have still turned up next day.....

In retrospect the company MAY have been better to wait BUT that doesn't make it a DPA issue!

As Mr_Toad and I have pointed out.... it's what YOU can prove!

My guess is the company will go from passively accepting the claim and paying to questioning it if you push too hard.

I guess your solicitor isn't looking into this DPA aspect and I guess he's not on a no-win no-fee.