Claim Against Company For Breach of DPA

[winnie69]

I have had an issue with British Gas, it appears they are keen to put defaults on peoples credit files.

 

I contested the adverse rating they put on mine after having a mortgage declined in 2008.

 

When i looked into it, i found they had put something on my file from 2005 and i was totally unaware and did not know the address.

 

I amde a complaint and they acted very slowly,

i contacted the Ombudsman who advised me to follow the complaints procedure until i got a deadlock letter.

this took over a year and when i went back to the ombudsman they said they could not deal with it due to teh time taken from raising the complaint.

 

I finally managed to get hold of someone who was pretty efficient and he admitted after a while that BG had made a mistake & they had no evidence to suggest it was my debt.

 

They offered me £250 compensation after finally removing the adverse rating which i rejected due to the hassle and adverse effect it had on my business, i found out that the banks were looking at any excuse not to borrow money during the credit crunch and each one cited the adverse rating as the reason they refused to lend me money.

 

I then reported them to the ICO who undertook an investigation and found British gas were in breach of the data protection act. I have been advised by my solicitor to make a claim at the small claims court. he has no experience in this type of claim and suggested i search the web. hence me finding this forum.

 

Does anyone know of what type of sum i should be looking to claim, i have several letters from banks informing me why they refused my requests for finance.

 

Any information would be appreciated.

[winnie69]

Hi

 

I found i had 2 defaults on my credit files when i was refused for a mortgage which surprised me as my credit rating had always been good.

 

When i looked into them 1 was from british gas for an address i never lived at.

It took my a while but they finally admitte dthat they were wrong and removed the adverse rating not before it had caused me hassle trying to obtain credit.

 

I reported them to the ICO who decided in my favour that they ahd in fact breached the DPA. they offered me £250 compensation which i rejected asa bit of an insult considering the affect it had on me (especially when i rely on credit for my business) & the time it had taken to resolve.

 

I sought advice from my solicitor who agrees taht i should press on with a claim at the small claims court but he has no experience in similar cases and suggested i search teh net for advice on how much to claim? Any suggestions?

 

My second was amobile phone company who did the same, i ended up going to court with them and the decision went in my favour stating that i was correct to terminate the contract & had given adequate warning of my intention. Again i comntacted the ICO and they believe that Hutchison 3g had breached the DPA.

 

Any suggestions on what i should be looking to claim for would be appreciated & and any further advice would be welcome.

 

Thanks

[the_shadow]

I'm afraid I've had no personal experience of how much you can claim although I would suggest you look at Durkin vs DSG Retail for a guide.

 

S.

[daisy lighter]

winnie69

 

Am trying to find the same info as you for the nearly the same reason.

 

Would be really good to hear if you have found out anything further?