Privacy breach - what compensation to expect?

Caladan

rb10 wrote: »

Most banks allow you to remove names from an account, provided that the account is not overdrawn. I am surprised that HSBC do not allow this - they are the exception, rather than the rule.

That's interesting, and something I will raise up the line (one thing I'll say for my company - I can comfortably contact a Director of the bank just as easily as my own manager, without any fear of repercussion), I'm sure there's a reason for it, but it may be a historic and no longer relevant one that hasn't been challenged in a long time.

Thanks,
Cal

rb10

Caladan wrote: »

one thing I'll say for my company - I can comfortably contact a Director of the bank just as easily as my own manager, without any fear of repercussion

Really?!

By 'Director', who exactly do you mean...?

Caladan

For example, Director of the UK Bank, although that probably wouldn't be necessary, I'd say e-mailing the head of U.K retail banking would land the query with the right people though. I find folks are mostly helpful whatever rank they hold as long as you aren't being a bit of a pratt about it

Edit: I got censored, change of wording!

rb10

Caladan wrote: »

For example, Director of the UK Bank, although that probably wouldn't be necessary, I'd say e-mailing the head of U.K retail banking would land the query with the right people though. I find folks are mostly helpful whatever rank they hold as long as you aren't being a bit of a pratt about it

Edit: I got censored, change of wording!

Have to say, that's impressive. I guess they've got a good PA who doesn't mind filtering lots of emails out of their inbox to the right places!

Caladan

Quite possibly

Although, saying that, I've received phone calls from various department heads directly in response to queries raised and e-mails sent 'on behalf' of somebody always include the name of the sender, it isn't allowed for someone else to use your log-in so when you do get a reply you know it's from the person you actually e-mailed (of course, the PA could have just written the reply and sent it for copy pasting).

But yes, it is impressive, and something I haven't experienced in any other company. Everyone from the bottom to the top is expected to use first names as well, I really struggle not to use 'Sir' with senior managers, especially the ones high enough to need FSA (FCA now I guess) clearance before they can be appointed!

Not to say my company is perfect, but it certainly has its positives.

Dwain_Pipe

Wow, thanks for all the replies already. I'm really glad I asked about this.

To clarify a couple of points... The bank has stated that the mistake occurred when my ex was removed from our joint account (which we attended the bank together to do). There is a tick box to apply the address changes to 'all' accounts that was not ticked, this meant that her new address (she still has accounts with the bank) was associated with my accounts.

Then, at a separate time when I came to put on girlfriend on the same joint account, which of course had become a sole account by that time, this unticked box of the associated address came into play in a very negative way.

Until that point of my ex receiving mail to her new home address that was meant for me and my new girlfriend, she (the ex) had no idea of my situation.

With regard to the divorce... we had no children and made an agreement very shortly after we split. The divorce went through very quick (she admitted adultery) but the financial settlement is separate from the divorce itself and is based on our circumstances at the time of application to the court. With no children and an agreement in place all that is needed is a 'clean break consent order' for the court to make our agreement enforceable.

This is simple enough and we are awaiting a date to get the order confirmed but... now she has proof that my 'post divorce' situation has changed substantially for the better (as she also received my annual bank statement to her address too!), so it's not a case of me not being truthful with the court but in the situation of no children and an agreement made between us, the court just decides / discusses with us if we feel the agreement is fair and then stamps it. If in the future we (my ex and I) go back on the agreement, we go back to court and the agreement (then a court order) is enforced.

So the choice she has (and that she would probably lose on) is whether to try to change the agreement before the court approves it (which the court will only do if we both agree it). Prior to the banks error she could prove nothing. Now she has evidence and although a slim chance (as it's post divorce financial changes) she could be a pain about it all. And all this is the banks' fault.

So does this 'worry, hassle, inconvenience, breech of privacy and data protection law' sound like more than £250 worth?

Is it me or the bank that should be ensuring the credit reference agencies have the right information (knowing that they charge to do this)?

Is there any other 'issues' from this bank error that I should be aware of / taking action about?

many thanks again.

Caladan

Complicated case, not familiar with divorce procedures really.

It's the banks duty to ensure the information they give to CRAs is accurate and up to date, but the CRA owns the information and the bank cannot access it without running a credit search (which, with some exceptions, requires the permission of the subject of the search), therefore it isn't up to the bank to make sure the information is accurate after they send it, if that makes sense.

You need to make sure you and your Ex-wife aren't financially connected anymore at the CRAs though.

ic

Firstly, you won't get £10,000s. PPI claims and the like are calculated on the money paid over a long time, and seek to refund that cost + interest - the claim puts the person back to the situation they would have been in, had they not been mis-sold. It may seem like a lottery win, but it isn't.

The ombudsman process is very slow - my partner is going through it now over a car insurance that has been ongoing for three years. We've only just now gotten to the stage where the complaint is going to the ombudsman (we've turned down £400 offer, which didn't come close to repaying the costs due to the insurers mistakes and misinformation, never mind stress). We don't expect an outcome for another year yet as there is a long queue of cases.

However they do provide a useful page to give you an idea on how to judge compensation for problems: http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/distress-and-inconvenience.htm#15

I recently had something similar to what you described. We applied for a new bank account, and despite me giving our correct address in the application, anything for me alone (debit card, cheque book and online access details) was sent to an old address I hadn't lived at for eight years. The banks systems had linked up some old closed accounts and reused the old address. Once alerted to the fact they stopped everything, and just a day after me raising a formal complaint, they offered me £250. I felt it was fair - I'd had some distress, but they'd apologised and fixed the problem.

Further information on compensation for data breaches is here: http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information/compensation

By law, the Information Commissioner cannot award compensation, even when he has said that in his view the organisation did breach the Act. You would still have to make a claim to a court.

JuicyJesus

Hasty1991 wrote: »

The first you have a legitimate claim to, you've received unacceptable service from your bank. You're going to have to prove the second, the bank cannot quantify the impact their error has had without evidence. They're not going to pay you a massive amount based on speculation alone.

It also needs to be mentioned that all relevant information needs to be revealed in the divorce settlement anyway, so any revelation of anything now will not have hurt it either way. The FOS has taken this tack in a very similar case study.

matttye

The error has already happened. It hasn't cost you anything. Take the £250, thank your lucky stars you actually got monetary compensation and not just a written apology, and move on.