Is this legal?

BillJones

GingerBob wrote: »

OP - can you get a female relative to ring up?

Why would he need to? They are happy to speak to him as long as his wife tells him (not them) that he's allowed to do so.

Mojisola

BillJones wrote: »

Why would he need to? They are happy to speak to him as long as his wife tells him (not them) that he's allowed to do so.

They shouldn't - anyone could phone up and say that the account holder had given them permission!

When I was having to help my parents out with admin stuff, all the companies either wanted to talk to Mum and/or Dad and get permission from them or wanted a signed letter giving them permission to talk to me.

BillJones

Mojisola wrote: »

They shouldn't - anyone could phone up and say that the account holder had given them permission!

Well, you'd prefer that they don't, but let's not pretend that they are not legally allowed to do so.

This whole thread is a bit strange. OP wants to speak to the company, the commpany is happy to speak to him, yet he's fishing around for a reason not to do so, and other posters are having a bit of a rant about how data protection laws are stopping him doing what he should be allowed to do.

OP, ask your wife, then call the company back.

Mojisola

BillJones wrote: »

Well, you'd prefer that they don't, but let's not pretend that they are not legally allowed to do so.

How can it be legal for someone to phone a company and say "Mojisola gave me permission to discuss her account with you" without any proof and for the company to go ahead and disclose information to them?

BillJones

Mojisola wrote: »

How can it be legal for someone to phone a company and say "Mojisola gave me permission to discuss her account with you" without any proof and for the company to go ahead and disclose information to them?

So now you are shifting from asserting that it's illegal to asking how it can be. It makes me wonder why you made the original assertion, of your main argument now appears to be your incredulity...

Things tend to only be illegal if explicitly said to be illegal. Yes, if people are dishonest then rules that rely on honesty can be circumvented, but there are all manner of interactions, even legal ones, wheer we accept someone's word, without seeking formal proof of truthfulness. This is one of those occcasions.

Mojisola

BillJones wrote: »

So now you are shifting from asserting that it's illegal to asking how it can be. It makes me wonder why you made the original assertion, of your main argument now appears to be your incredulity...

Things tend to only be illegal if explicitly said to be illegal. Yes, if people are dishonest then rules that rely on honesty can be circumvented, but there are all manner of interactions, even legal ones, wheer we accept someone's word, without seeking formal proof of truthfulness. This is one of those occcasions.

My only experience has been trying to talk to companies on my parents' behalf and none would allow it unless my parents had given direct permission to them. They all said they weren't allowed to talk to me without that permission.

TBagpuss

Mojisola wrote: »

How can it be legal for someone to phone a company and say "Mojisola gave me permission to discuss her account with you" without any proof and for the company to go ahead and disclose information to them?

I suspect that you will find that the company is permitted to accept authority to speak to a third party provided that they take reasonable steps to ensure that the authority is genuine.

I agree that simply telling them 'my wife says it is OK for you to speak to me on her behalf' is very lax and I suspect that the company would be told to tighten up its procedures if it were found to be doing this.

However, for the purpose of the OP:

If the company says hat they will take your word for it, and your wife is happy to authorise you to speak, then tell them that she has authorised it.

At that point, either they will speak to you, and you can deal with the issue, or else they will tell you that they need her to say that to them herself, in which case you will know that the previous representative misunderstood the rules or was more willing to bend them

BillJones

Mojisola wrote: »

My only experience has been trying to talk to companies on my parents' behalf and none would allow it unless my parents had given direct permission to them. They all said they weren't allowed to talk to me without that permission.

Yes, their company rules don't allow it. They chose to interpret data security guidance that way.

That's not the same as it being law.

StirlingDave

There is an important question here, which seems to keep being ignored. The question is whether the company are being honest in saying that calling them back will allow the person to discuss his partner's account.

There are two possible answers here. Firstly, that if you phone up knowing the loan number, address and other details they will believe what you say. If you just answer the phone, they have no way of knowing if you are just a workman who happens to be there, so they want some form of record that you called them and instructed them to the account, rather than they brought yourself and the account together. So in some instances it will be ok and seem sensible from their position.

In other cases, they might just want to receive a phone call from that number so they have somewhere they can contact if they wish to chase up the debt. It's highly possible that once you call they will repeat their line that you can't talk to them. Even if there is no problem now, they might see the fact that your wife is currently unable to speak as a risk and want to cover their own backs.

In my experience, if you speak on the phone and authorise another person to speak it's fine. However, if she cannot speak to them at the moment, that's not a possibility. If she writes to the company she can authorise you to speak to them, which will clear up the issue. If it's a short-term medical issue and minor financial thing you might not bother; if either are long-term issues it might be worthwhile.

ConsumerWizkid

Why do you care if they can authorise youthat way if they tell you they can? Just say "yes she said it's fine" and deal with the core situation.