to be annoyed about data protection gone wrong

[worldgonemad72]

Dont get me wrong i think its vital to have the data protection act in place, but today we received a letter, not in our name but with our address on, dh opened it anyway (i normally just return to sender). It was a credit agreement in someone else name but had our bank account details on!
Phoned up the company and they said they couldn't tell us who the company was that set up the credit agreement as we weren't the name on the letter, we tried to explan that the bank account details were our's, the address was our's, we hadn't set up an agreement and we didn't want to pay for someone elses insurance, they also wouldn't tell us where they had got our bank account details from.
Im so glad he opened that letter or payments would have started going out on the 5th october!
They have put a hold on the account while they investigate.
dh is going to see our insurance broker tomorrow to see if they have cocked up somehow.
Im just so annoyed that they wouldn't tell us what company had set it up.

Shocking. You could also say you will be going to the police with this.
If it is an'administrative error' i.e. computer,(I hate that term). They need to tighten up and discipline and re train their staff. Aslo massice assurances that your details are safe.

But if it is fraud then police are essential.

This could blight your credit rating. Especially if your details are being used fraudulently.

I'd contact the fraud department of your bank too asap

Talking about data protection
Dh's library books were a day overdue. I took them back for him but wasn't allowed to pay the fine as they would have to disclose "personal information" to me. I did tell them he can only get to library infrequently and that I could work out how much his 2 books for one day overdue was but they would not accept my 24p!

Never thought of informing the police, we will definately ring our bank tomorrow, we are just hoping it is an error and not fraud, if our insurance brokers know nothing about it then we will be going to the police. Thanks for highlighting this for us.

Hey worldgonemad72 - sorry to hear about your situation, it's a horrible horrible feeling.

My DP just had his identity stolen - we went to our post box one saturday last month to find 4 credit card applications and a business loan application in HIS NAME. Luckily we have a really obscure address (we live in apartments and on a cross roads, so the address is incorrect on lots of systems!) and all applications required further details to prove our address etc. We were absolutely mortified - we like to think we're completely savvy with our personal information etc so had no idea how this could have happened.

Anyway, he contacted all banks/building societies on the applications. Then called all of our banks/old credit card accounts to make them aware someone had indeed tried to fraud us. He then opened an account with Credit Expert/Experian to check his credit report incase anything else had happened without our knowing... luckily there hasn't been anything touch wood. Several of the banks also filed a CIFAS report, which I believe is linked to the Police - CIFAS work on your behalf. It's probably worth signing up to Credit Expert/Experian just to check your accounts, incase any other applications or attempted fraud has gone on.

PS - we'd had a statement about 3-4 weeks before we realised it was fraud, from an old old old (2004 old!) credit card, which we thought we'd closed as it didn't have a balance... we thought that was just a computing error as we hadn't had a statement since around 2004! But thinking about it now, it was probably linked to the other applications. Better to just inform everyone to be on the safe side.

OP a few points, the company that sent the letter to your home address has an obligation to use all data that they hold for the purposes that it was intended for.

If you have never had an account with them or provided your bank details to them, they are in breach of the DPA in quite a few places (the main one is that all data held should be adequate relevant and not excessive-if you have never had an account with them, they are not entitled to have your bank data are are therefore in breach of the DPA). A clerical error is the excuse that these companies usually give, but that just does not cut it in this case.

Let them do the investigation, but tell them that you require an answer very promptly. They are right if they say that they cannot give details about someone elses credit/insurance.

This sounds like it could possibly be someone trying to obtain credit via your address. However, that doesn't explain how they have your bank details. If the bank details were provided to them by the unknown applicant, it is a matter for the police.

You are entitled under the Data Protection Act (DPA) to have the following answered:

1. How they have obtained your bank details-they are not allowed to use the DPA to say that they cannot tell you and are obligated by law to give you this information as it is regarding your data.

1. How credit has been instigated under your address with false details (potential money laundering checks failed by the company as well).

1. If this has appeared on your credit records and if so that they are going to do to remove it.

1. What they are going to do to rectify it.

If you have any problems resolving this, I would send it to these www.guardian.co.uk/money/page/2007/sep/26/1 they are usually pretty sucessful in resolving these type of issues or the information commissioner - www.ico.gov.uk/Global/contact_us.aspx

it's not the company you should be calling - it's your own bank