14,000 victims of child benefit discs fiasco sign up to website that 'could win them

pennypuppy

14,000 victims of child benefit discs fiasco sign up to website that 'could win them £300'

Anyone do this? I can't get the link for the claim site to work.
Heres the article
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=513344&in_page_id=1770

Poppy9

So far the only people getting rich are:

Alternative Dispute Resolution Services, a legal assistance firm based in Newcastle-upon Tyne, which is offering a £5.99 pack to help them pursue a claim against the Government.

If 14,000 people have sent them their £5.99 thats £84k they've netted.

If the Govt. have to compensate the claimants then that's going to cost £7 billion. That's money that could be better spent on the NHS, Education etc.

pennypuppy

True....fair point.

samjocky

Morning MSE team (and readers)

Having read this article in the Mail on Sunday today, it got me thinking:

Would Martin please read through this and see if it would be feasible to write an article on it? If so, would he please put a template letter on this website? It would avoid us paying the fee to the lawyers who are obviously coining it in from people at the moment. I used your template letters to reclaim PPI (won my case) and again for the Bank Charges (on hold as we speak...)

It would be VERY handy if a template letter could be made available for this if you feel it is valid!

Thanks!:T

dmg24

samjocky wrote: »

Morning MSE team (and readers)

Having read this article in the Mail on Sunday today, it got me thinking:

Would Martin please read through this and see if it would be feasible to write an article on it? If so, would he please put a template letter on this website? It would avoid us paying the fee to the lawyers who are obviously coining it in from people at the moment. I used your template letters to reclaim PPI (won my case) and again for the Bank Charges (on hold as we speak...)

It would be VERY handy if a template letter could be made available for this if you feel it is valid!

Thanks!:T

Have you been the victim of fraud as a result of the data loss?

Where do you expect the £7 billion to come from to pay you this compensation?

samjocky

No, not yet.......................................................................................

However, that is not exactly the point. If you actually read the article, they have a very valid point. Data protection breaches etc etc. If you get the time, read the article.

I am not aware of anyone yet being a victim of fraud on the back of this, but it is only a matter of time.

(And if the Govt can afford to back Northern Rock to the tune of MEGA billions, then a mere 7 ..............)

savemoney

As much as I believe the government have a duty of care and were negligent, I think they should only pay compensation to a victim if it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are the victim of fraud as a result of there negligence.

The only people who gain by this will be the sharks of thsi world, ie some of the legal profession

samjocky

savemoney wrote: »

As much as I believe the government have a duty of care and were negligent, I think they should only pay compensation to a victim if it can be proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are the victim of fraud as a result of there negligence.

The only people who gain by this will be the sharks of thsi world, ie some of the legal profession

I totally agree with your last paragraph, hence my first post. IF there is cause for complaint, then a template letter (free) would be far better than following the route of the very worried 14,000 others who have paid £5.99 to the legals in Newcastle for the privelige.

DaisyFlower

I truly hope that Martin does not back this and does a template letter.

There have been no reported cases of any fraud relating to this and the money will only come from our taxes - money that may be taken from schools/hospitals/councils etc.

It was an error that somebody made, we all make them be them big or small. Hate how we have become a "lets sue for everything" country.

Poppy9

samjocky wrote: »

(And if the Govt can afford to back Northern Rock to the tune of MEGA billions, then a mere 7 ..............)

but if the Govt. has to start paying out billions of pounds in compensation for losing some data that has caused no-one any harm then they won't have the money in future to help out banks that get into trouble. If people cannot have trust in banks that their money is 'protected' then we are all stuffed. The majority of people working have to have their salary paid into a bank, people on benefits, again bank account needed. We are a cashless society so if a bank goes pear shaped millions of people will suffer a financial loss. Do you really think the Govt. should not protect it's citizens from such failure? Do you really think the Govt. should give people compensation for losing their personal details when they have suffered no financial loss?

Personally I would like to see the money invested in better systems to ensure that this doesn't happen again.

exil

Any case would have to be based on an ACTUAL financial loss as a result of the loss of the disc.

And any loss could only occur if a bank failed to take adequate precautions before setting up, say, a direct debit against your account.

And as I work in the IT industry, I have to say that data is frequently lost in similar circumstances. No system is 100% secure, and can always be vulnerable to mistakes or fraud. And I invite you to consider how many individuals and companies ALREADY know your bank account details.

Seems a strange idea. The result would be that the majority of taxpayers would receive £300 - which they would have to pay THEMSELVES out of increased taxation!