Not Really A Consumer Issue... SAR Question? 28 October 2022 at 1:57PM in Consumer rights 9 replies 505 views

MasterSamSam72

Sorry if this is in the wrong section of the forum, I felt there was nowhere else to ask this question.

I made a Subject Access Request for information that a public body held on me, this was back in June, it was acknowledged and given to someone to process, despite chasing this up, I was told almost two months later, due to an overwhelming amount of requests they had not dealt with it yet, that was the last communication from them. Several emails were ignored before they admitted, why they had no responded to my SAR.

Not happy with this, since the SAR was reasonable, a few documents at most and some video footage, I reported the breach to the ICO, who responded, and concluded the public body was in the wrong, and it gave them another two weeks to process the SAR.

Still nothing after four more weeks.

The ICO have written to them again giving them a further 7 days to respond, but I don't expect a response form the public body, who seem to think they are above the law!

I've googled and whilst the ICO indicates I can take action in court for them breaching the DPA 2018, I can't really obtain much information online, but I am aware of how the small claims court works, I think.

I have now written to the Data Controller of the Public Body giving them a further 14 days to respond and supply the SAR information, this was a letter before action, as I believe I have the right to seek compensation through the small claims court for distress, and inconvenience caused, which I would rather not go into, but lets just say I needed documents which would have been in the SAR for a court case I was involved in.

What would be a reasonable amount to ask for in compensation through the small claims court for this failure, I see and have been given no valid reason why my SAR has no been processed in the one calendar month timeline, being busy and staff shortages is not a valid reason!

I believe the SAR has not been completed, because information is being held from me, which would indicate correct procedures were not followed by this public body, so they are doing there best to not supply the information in question, so I don't find out, and hopefully will give up - which I won't!

user1977

MasterSamSam72 said:

I believe I have the right to seek compensation through the small claims court for distress, and inconvenience caused, which I would rather not go into, but lets just say I needed documents which would have been in the SAR for a court case I was involved in.

What would be a reasonable amount to ask for in compensation through the small claims court for this failure

I doubt any of us can quantify your claim if you don't give us a better idea of what loss their delay/failure has caused you.

DullGreyGuy

The general principle of court is that you claim for what the financial losses you have sustained 

Inconvenience isnt a valid head of claim.

Distress has to be material... your GP accidentally posting your sexually transmitted disease history onto their website for everyone to see... your bank accidentally disclosing your new address to your abusive ex etc. I struggle to see how a late SAR request could possible cause material distress.

MasterSamSam72

I am aware you can claim for a breach of DPA 2018 of which a failure to provide and respond to a SAR is a breach, even more so when the public body also ignore two requests from the ICO, clearly this public body think they are above the law, ironic that it’s the police who have not responded to the SAR.

In terms of inconvenience - yes I was inconvenienced because I made my request in ample time as I wanted to use information in my SAR for a court case, since the police failed to respond to the SAR I couldn’t use the “evidence” and had to pay compensation to a victim which perhaps wouldn’t have happened had the police provided my SAR, which would have proved I was in fact the victim in the first instance. Although with respect to the magistrate, I got the lowest fine, and compensation order as it was clear they realise my actions were done when I was mentally unwell.

The evidence in my SAR would have proven the lies told by someone else in their Victim Impact Statement compared to what they told the police 9 months earlier when questioned over a crime they committed against me.

In terms of stress… the lack of SAR resulted in a breakdown. I was sectioned twice in 4 days and admitted to hospital, brought on by the lack of SAR response and upcoming court case which was then delayed for a month due to my hospital admission.

The fact I am still chasing the police nearly 5 months later is just absolutely appalling and I believe they are withholding information because they know I’ll finally know the truth that the police failed me when I was a victim of crime last year.

This has massively affected me mentally, not just the crime, but the impact of how the police handled the crime report, of which that complaint has been escalated further.

The ICO letter states I can seek compensation for their failure but this is something you have to do yourself, which is why I’m thinking the small claims court, although they might pay it doesn’t mean they will provide the SAR, I wonder whether going back to my solicitor and using them might be a better option.

user1977

I think you would need to go further and prove that the response to the SAR would have included the evidence you assume it would, rather than being (properly) withheld for one reason or another. Though obviously the first step is to get them to actually give you the response.

MattMattMattUK

MasterSamSam72 said:

I am aware you can claim for a breach of DPA 2018 of which a failure to provide and respond to a SAR is a breach, even more so when the public body also ignore two requests from the ICO, clearly this public body think they are above the law, ironic that it’s the police who have not responded to the SAR.

Occam's Razor would suggest incompetence rather than anything deliberate.

MasterSamSam72 said:

In terms of inconvenience - yes I was inconvenienced because I made my request in ample time as I wanted to use information in my SAR for a court case, since the police failed to respond to the SAR I couldn’t use the “evidence” and had to pay compensation to a victim which perhaps wouldn’t have happened had the police provided my SAR, which would have proved I was in fact the victim in the first instance. Although with respect to the magistrate, I got the lowest fine, and compensation order as it was clear they realise my actions were done when I was mentally unwell.

The evidence in my SAR would have proven the lies told by someone else in their Victim Impact Statement compared to what they told the police 9 months earlier when questioned over a crime they committed against me.

In terms of stress… the lack of SAR resulted in a breakdown. I was sectioned twice in 4 days and admitted to hospital, brought on by the lack of SAR response and upcoming court case which was then delayed for a month due to my hospital admission.

I think you might be taking attribution quite a bit too far there. 

MasterSamSam72 said:

The fact I am still chasing the police nearly 5 months later is just absolutely appalling and I believe they are withholding information because they know I’ll finally know the truth that the police failed me when I was a victim of crime last year.

I agree that the police should have responded far sooner, even if it did not give you the information you wanted as many requests to the police exceed what they are legally able to supply (eg. They cannot supply third party witness statements, video footage of other people etc.). Depending on your definition of fail, the police fail most people these days, one generally gets a crime reference number and a leaflet.

MasterSamSam72 said:

This has massively affected me mentally, not just the crime, but the impact of how the police handled the crime report, of which that complaint has been escalated further.

I would be careful with attributation, whilst unfortunate events happen in life there is not always someone convenient to take the blame. Have you submitted a complaint about the crime/police response to the IOPC? If so I would let that run it's course first as if successful it may mean an out of court settlement would be offered, rather than needing to take additional action.

MasterSamSam72 said:

The ICO letter states I can seek compensation for their failure but this is something you have to do yourself, which is why I’m thinking the small claims court, although they might pay it doesn’t mean they will provide the SAR, I wonder whether going back to my solicitor and using them might be a better option.

Does the solicitor think that there is merit in any claim? They will be able to tell you if there is a reasonable probability of success. Do not use a solicitor for a small claim though, you cannot claim costa and any solicitors fees will far exceed any potential payout. 

Nearlyold

"which perhaps wouldn’t have happened had the police provided my SAR, which would have proved I was in fact the victim in the first instance"

I'm not entirely clear why you would use an SAR to obtain information from the police in relation to an upcoming criminal court case where you were the accused. (Assuming my understanding of your court appearance is correct)

Surely any information which the police held which might have undermined the prosecution case should have been disclosed to your solicitor/barrister (if you had one) as part of the "Disclosure" process. Did you or your representative(s) not ask for this apparently vital evidence as part of the pre-trial process?

lincroft1710

MasterSamSam72 said:

The fact I am still chasing the police nearly 5 months later is just absolutely appalling and I believe they are withholding information because they know I’ll finally know the truth that the police failed me when I was a victim of crime last year.

.

Unfortunately the police fail many victims of crime and know the victims are aware of this. So I would doubt they are withholding the info because of this

DanDare999

MasterSamSam72 said:

I am aware you can claim for a breach of DPA 2018 of which a failure to provide and respond to a SAR is a breach, even more so when the public body also ignore two requests from the ICO, clearly this public body think they are above the law, ironic that it’s the police who have not responded to the SAR.

In terms of inconvenience - yes I was inconvenienced because I made my request in ample time as I wanted to use information in my SAR for a court case, since the police failed to respond to the SAR I couldn’t use the “evidence” and had to pay compensation to a victim which perhaps wouldn’t have happened had the police provided my SAR, which would have proved I was in fact the victim in the first instance. Although with respect to the magistrate, I got the lowest fine, and compensation order as it was clear they realise my actions were done when I was mentally unwell.

The evidence in my SAR would have proven the lies told by someone else in their Victim Impact Statement compared to what they told the police 9 months earlier when questioned over a crime they committed against me.

In terms of stress… the lack of SAR resulted in a breakdown. I was sectioned twice in 4 days and admitted to hospital, brought on by the lack of SAR response and upcoming court case which was then delayed for a month due to my hospital admission.

The fact I am still chasing the police nearly 5 months later is just absolutely appalling and I believe they are withholding information because they know I’ll finally know the truth that the police failed me when I was a victim of crime last year.

This has massively affected me mentally, not just the crime, but the impact of how the police handled the crime report, of which that complaint has been escalated further.

The ICO letter states I can seek compensation for their failure but this is something you have to do yourself, which is why I’m thinking the small claims court, although they might pay it doesn’t mean they will provide the SAR, I wonder whether going back to my solicitor and using them might be a better option.

Did you have legal representation when you appeared in court?

If the police held information that would undermine the prosecution or assist the defence, that was a disclosure matter in your case and not a SAR. 

MasterSamSam72

UPDATE: Letter before action got a response. Letter two days later from Chief Constable’s office apologising and saying SAR would be processed. SAR documents arrived three days later.

As for my original police complaint, it’s with GMCA who are looking into if my crime was handled correctly.

I always had confidence in the police prior to this incident.