Data protection compensation serious breach safety at risk

Soulee

Hi newbie here
Long story but I have a joint mortgage with ex partner I left property nearly 2 years ago he continued paying mortgage till a year ago not paid since court date for repossession this month which I want to happen but the bank have put my address on the court letter and I asked them to make sure they don't give him my address as I had to report him to the police when I left for threatening me saying he knew where I lived and would smash house up Etc. police have this logged and they warned him. I have since moved again. The bank rang me today and apologised and said they listened to phonecall from October and can confirm that I did tell them not to share my address or put it on any correspondence and they have not passed that over to their solicitors for some reason. So they have admitted they have broken dpa and offered me £150 compensation £100 for breaking dpa and £50 for distress I said I would think about it. This is not adequate though as my ex could turn up at any time smash the cars up the house assault me etc and I cannot move again as my credit history is now destroyed because of him! Has anyone had any experience with this? Surely I am Entitled to more when he has the opportunity to cause thousands of pounds worth of damage' I would
Be happy if they took me off mortgage and stopped the ccj going on credit file but I doubt they would do that!
Any advice would be appreciated!

roonaldo

Soulee wrote: »

The bank rang me today and apologised and said they listened to phonecall from October and can confirm that I did tell them not to share my address or put it on any correspondence and they have not passed that over to their solicitors for some reason. So they have admitted they have broken dpa

Your post is very hard to read.

I dont understand, where is the breach of DPA? you said they have not passed it to the solicitor. But why did they give you some compensation. Please explain.

Soulee

Sorry! I meant they admitted that they did not tell the solicitors that address couldn't be shared. The banks solicitors put my address on the court papers and court have confirmed my ex has my address on his papers

lincroft1710

Soulee wrote: »

So they have admitted they have broken dpa and offered me £150 compensation £100 for breaking dpa and £50 for distress I said I would think about it. This is not adequate though as my ex could turn up at any time smash the cars up the house assault me etc

He may not in fact do anything, so the compensation offered may be adequate. If he does cause criminal damage or assault you, he could be looking at a custodial sentence and compensating you for both damage and assault.

Estimating the value caused by damage which hasn't or may not happen is very difficult. How much compensation would you expect for assault?

Soulee

I know what your are saying. He is already looking at a custodial sentence for criminal damage with his stepmum and assault. He's already on probation for another incident. So it proves he is capable of causing these issues to me. The only way I will be safe is to move but with the mortgage not being paid for and the repossession happening I will not pass a credit check now for private renting and have no kids so can't go on housing list. The best thing for bank to do would be to give me another mortgage of my own with my partner and take me off the other one then we can move.

[Deleted User]

There is no set value for compensation under the DPA and there is no right to compensation.

Only the Court can order that compensation should be paid for a breach, but of course you have to go through that whole process so far.

I think most people expect between £150 and £500.

In a recent complaint I got £250.00 for a breach, a simple breach wherby someone went into branch and they gave them a copy of my credit agreement - it was my partner actually - but they didn't really know that and should not have provided it.

In your case, due to the risk and circumstances I'd be looking for the highest amount.

It's important to remember the bank will not be to blame for anything that this person does. If they break the law then nobody but that person is responsible for their actions. Unless the bank knew he was coming to you and failed to inform you or the Police? I guess he wouldn't tell them!

It may also be worth asking the bank for a copy of their policy and procedure for DPA breaches, I know some people on here that work in banks have told me that they have a set scale - so if you could get your hands on this you may be in luck.

I doubt you will have much luck with making changes and stopping the pending action - but you can always ask. I think the question will be did the DPA breach cause the said action, if not not a great point to push.

The new mortgage thing is not going to happen. I would say the best you could hope for is the deposit for the new place - so £500 mark? or if your in London a lot more. How can you pass a mortgage application, when you cannot pass a rental credit check???

HTH and let us know how you get on, I always like to keep in mind these sorts of cases. :-)

Annisele

The Financial Ombudsman Service publishes a note on its approach to distress and inconvenience.

One of the cases - which isn't the same as yours - is:

The financial business wrongly disclosed the consumer's address to their violent partner – even though it knew about the difficult domestic circumstances. The partner subsequently had their home broken into and was assaulted, resulting in several days in hospital.

magpiecottage

In the case referred to by Annisele, the redress figure was £2,500.

I would go back to your lender, tell them that it is woefully inadequate and you now require them to meet the full cost of rehousing you again and, should you suffer an attack before that happens you will want compensation for that as well.