Subject Access Request (SAR) - what info to ask for and do they have to disclose all?

littlelucy11

Hi all :hello:

Have been coming to this site for years for info and this is my first post so I hope I’ve managed to put it in an appropriate section! I’ve looked online for information on how to do a Subject Access Request (SAR) and found a template letter on ico.org.uk but am unsure of how to word specifically what I’m asking for, and what they are required to give me. It’s just an example below so don’t worry about the conversation details – it applies to any phonecalls with customer service advisors in any sector eg. Service providers, Banks, Online Retailers etc.

Eg. I have phone conversations with my broadband provider. I speak with Advisor A about a new deal as my current one is ending and he makes notes on the system summarising our conversation and the deal offered. When I call back the next week I speak to Adviser B who can see what was written and continue to help with my query and make his own notes. In any future conversations with advisors they are able to pull up previous notes quite quickly and say “I see you spoke to Advisor B on 3rd January about XYZ…” and continue to add their own notes on any changes to the account/payments made/new packages or upgrades offered and who initiated them. All significant contact is documented. Months down the line there is a problem with the service, many phonecalls later it drags on not being resolved and eventually a complaint is made. When I refer back to previous conversations Advisor F says “I don’t see any notes on the system relating to that upgrade” or “there’s no notes here to say you called and spoke to Advisor C on that day or any day”. While I know not every call might get a writeup I do know the notes I referred to did exist as they had been read out to me in previous phone conversations. I ask were any of the calls recorded and if they could go back and listen to them and am told there are no audio files on the account and no calls were recorded – only call summaries ie. notes typed onto the account.

1. In a SAR can I get a printout of these notes on my account? :think::search:
2. If so would it show the dates they were written/updated?
3. Am I able to see who wrote/updated the notes, even first name/initials or is this redacted?
4. When writing the letter I’m not able to recall every specific date I phoned advisors so can I ask for all notes or call summaries on my account from X/X/2017 to X/X/2018 or as long as I’ve had an account with them?
5. If Advisor F tells me that he has escalated the complaint and emailed his manager on an internal memo system with my details asking him to call me and they’ve had back and forward communication about it would those emails be included in a SAR as it relates to my account?
6. I have missed calls from a withheld number and assume it could be from them – I phone them and am told they tried to call me several times on a certain date. It got me thinking, are any call logs they’ve made to contact me included in a SAR?
7. Probably the most important – there’s crucial notes apparently missing from the system. I also got a letter about my account in the post which initially an advisor could see attached to my account but the company now deny sending and they say is not on the system now either. Am I able to find out if the notes or files on the system can or have been edited or deleted? Or on what dates my account has ever been accessed and actioned by advisors? And who the advisors were?

The scenario I mentioned is generalised so don’t worry about what the complaint is about, it’s really about the information I can ask for that a company can provide me with. Maybe some of you have made a SAR and been given this kind of info or know exactly how to word what it is I’m asking for so all is included. I’m also aware that as there is an ongoing complaint if they gave me the info I wanted it would uphold my complaint, so it might make them less likely to comply with my request which is really why I want to check what they are obligated to disclose before I write to them. Hopefully some of you can help me with this and would like to know your experience if you’ve asked for the same info!

Thanks, Lucy.

[Deleted User]

A DSAR will only provide you with records which have actually been kept. You are only requesting information that has been recorded. They certainly won't have kept records of calling your telephone number and not getting a response.

If the company concerned have already told you that "crucial" notes are missing, then a SAR won't suddenly magic these up.

littlelucy11

Thanks for the reply I understand they can only provide me with info that has been recorded, I'm trying to establish if the notes are really gone from their system or if I'm being told they are as a manager explained notes cannot be deleted from their system, only updated so it doesn't add up. And I'm unsure if DSAR provides you with these notes in general so can check for myself or if they just send documents like automated letters and monthly statements.

If a system logs an advisors ID each time they access an account so a company has an audit trail, important in banking services for example, is this only for internal use or can I ask to see a list of all the actions and amendments on an account, even if the user ID is withheld? I can find info on making a Subject Access Request but noones experience of a breakdown of all the documents and information they were actually sent.

DoaM

You are entitled to receive a copy of all information they hold on you, including any notes, call recordings, records of call attempts, etc. You are not entitled to know the details of anyone who made notes on your account, but you are entitled to a log of account access.

littlelucy11

Thankyou DoaM, appreciate you clearing that up for me :T

bris

Just ask for any and all information held by them relating to you.

[Deleted User]

bris wrote: »

Just ask for any and all information held by them relating to you.

That's basically what a SAR is.

Template letter here;
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1475553

I doubt the result will be any "crucial" information the company have already said is not available.

eddddy

You seem to be suspecting that the agents are lying to you, and there really are notes on the system.

Even if it was a really bad broadband provider, I'd be very surprised if they instructed their agents to lie like that.

(TBH, arguably it would be Fraud by misrepresentation - a criminal offence - if they lied to you in order to demand a higher tariff from you.)

I'd be tempted to investigate in other directions.

Could your old account (with the notes) have been closed, and a new account opened (with no notes). Has your account number or customer number ever changed?

Ask an agent to tell you when the account they are looking at was opened. Was it after you negotiated the deal?

Could it be that when you changed to the new deal they closed your old account, and opened a new one?