I think that I have hit a brick wall with the Finance Company - Any suggestions ?

Krankyoldman

Martins recent comments over this issue reminded me that I did take out Finance on a new Vauxhall Zafira in November 2014 with GMAC (now Stellantis ) so after a great deal of effort, I was able to complete the MSE form (with the exception of the Finance Policy Number), and emailed it to Stellantis.
I got a reply from them within a couple of days, telling me that I needed to supply the Policy Number before they could take the matter any further.
Unfortunately (Like most people ?), I do not keep Car Finance Records for 10 years, and my Bank Statements do not show the Policy Number on their monthly payments to GMAC.
Has anyone any suggestions ? - I thought that the Ombudsman was asking the Finance Companies to at least make an effort to investigate all claims !!

Hoenir

Krankyoldman said:

Unfortunately (Like most people ?), I do not keep Car Finance Records for 10 years, and my Bank Statements do not show the Policy Number on their monthly payments to GMAC.

Companies by law can destroy old records once they are over 6 years old. Has been the case for many decades. 

dunstonh

Unfortunately (Like most people ?), I do not keep Car Finance Records for 10 years

You are responsible for the choices you make.  Many people retain records.  It has never been easier with things like google drive, onedrive, icloud, dropbox etc.   However, even those with paper records often keep them in a cupboard for periods going back a decade or two.       You get to choose.

On the other hand, firms are required to destroy data that is no longer required and 6 years is the often quoted time period.

The regulator has identified this issue and it will likely be addressed when they publish their report (now in May 2025 but subject to further delays due to legal cases).  

I thought that the Ombudsman was asking the Finance Companies to at least make an effort to investigate all claims !!

The ombudsman has said no such thing and currently, the ombudsman is not accepting complaints on DCA.
The process has been suspended until late 2025. Possibly later.

Krankyoldman

Thanks dunstonh,
You jogged my memory , and I found a cancellation letter from GMAC on the Google drive with the Policy Number on it !!

born_again

dunstonh said:

Unfortunately (Like most people ?), I do not keep Car Finance Records for 10 years

You are responsible for the choices you make.  Many people retain records.  It has never been easier with things like google drive, onedrive, icloud, dropbox etc.   However, even those with paper records often keep them in a cupboard for periods going back a decade or two.       You get to choose.

On the other hand, firms are required to destroy data that is no longer required and 6 years is the often quoted time period.

The regulator has identified this issue and it will likely be addressed when they publish their report (now in May 2025 but subject to further delays due to legal cases).  

I thought that the Ombudsman was asking the Finance Companies to at least make an effort to investigate all claims !!

The ombudsman has said no such thing and currently, the ombudsman is not accepting complaints on DCA.
The process has been suspended until late 2025. Possibly later.

They are not required to by law. Many do destroy as it is costly to either send this to storage, or keep on computer systems. Many do keep the data though. 

DullGreyGuy

born_again said:

dunstonh said:

Unfortunately (Like most people ?), I do not keep Car Finance Records for 10 years

You are responsible for the choices you make.  Many people retain records.  It has never been easier with things like google drive, onedrive, icloud, dropbox etc.   However, even those with paper records often keep them in a cupboard for periods going back a decade or two.       You get to choose.

On the other hand, firms are required to destroy data that is no longer required and 6 years is the often quoted time period.

The regulator has identified this issue and it will likely be addressed when they publish their report (now in May 2025 but subject to further delays due to legal cases).  

I thought that the Ombudsman was asking the Finance Companies to at least make an effort to investigate all claims !!

The ombudsman has said no such thing and currently, the ombudsman is not accepting complaints on DCA.
The process has been suspended until late 2025. Possibly later.

They are not required to by law. Many do destroy as it is costly to either send this to storage, or keep on computer systems. Many do keep the data though. 

They are required by law @born_again

https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/data-protection-principles/a-guide-to-the-data-protection-principles/the-principles/storage-limitation/

UK GDPR requires that PII data is not held for longer than is necessary... what there can be is a debate on what is "necessary" but as per other parts of the legislation it has to be inline with the purpose for which it was collected and it can't just be for marketing purposes. Given the statute of limitations is 6 years for a simple contract with an adult it becomes hard to justify keeping records beyond that (maybe plus a buffer) 

Sillygoose28

I contacted stellantis back in February this year about a car I purchased back in 2007 on finance with PSA (who were later taken over by stellantis). It took a number of chase up emails from myself before they finally responded in May saying they had made reasonable and proportionate searches but could not find my agreement despite me providing them with the agreement number date it started and all the other relevant details they would need. I also told them I had all the paperwork still and if they required copies I could email them through. I wrote back asking if this meant whether they were closing my claim/case as it wasn’t clear in their email and I have been ignored for 3 months despite more chasing. Has anyone else had this problem and where do I go from here? 

dunstonh

 but could not find my agreement despite me providing them with the agreement number date it started and all the other relevant details they would need. 

Realistically, they are not going to hold data that old.   There is no reason for them to do so. And if they do not hold the data, it won't matter if you have an agreement number or not.

. I wrote back asking if this meant whether they were closing my claim/case as it wasn’t clear in their email and I have been ignored for 3 months despite more chasing. Has anyone else had this problem and where do I go from here? 

You wouldn't expect any more.   The whole thing is on hold until late 2025 (possibly 2026-2027 depending on legal cases and appeals).

The FCA will address the data protection act issues in its report, as it has also had the same problem with data requests.  Until then , you wait.