Mortgage accounts fall outside scope of DPA!

[alanfromderby]

This is the second of two posts on my reply from Bristol and West (which is shown in full on my progress thread):

 

This is part of their reply to the standard DPA request:

 

"....you have specifically requested information that relates to the transaction and conduct of the mortgage account which unfortunately falls outside the scope of personal data under a "Data Subject Access Request", as defined by the provisions of the Data Protection Act 1998."

 

Any thoughts?

[Seminole]

Hogwash.

[alanfromderby]

Thank you for your very succinct reply. I thought that would be the case, and I am therefore taking it that they have refused my request and going to the next stage.

[Seminole]

Nat West tried to pull a similar stunt on me. I complained to the IC (who is currently investiagting) and have sued them for an estimated amount. I wouldn't necesarily recommend doing this as my account was quite small and at serious risk of becoming statute barred.

[alanfromderby]

This is the route we have decided to take, although ours is a large claim. My estimate is that charges over 6 years come to about £7,000 - although some of this could be challenged because of legal fees and manual intervention

 

The claim will be for £4,800 which I believe will be very difficult for them to challenge - especially when we bring up their obstruction, the fact that they have ignored a previous complaint, and their actions in breach of the Mortgage Code.

 

As we only owe £5350 on the mortgage, by the time court costs are taken into consideration, any settlement would be close enough to mean we could finally take full possession of our house.

[martinwhite]

I am sure that the rulings from Durant v FSA would include mortgage accounts. Will have a look later and report back.

[alanfromderby]

Thanks very much, I would certainly appreciate you comments. I have looked at the case and I am afraid my brain cannot disassemble the legal language.

[GraemeC]

Total rubbish! DPA applies to any data which identifies a person and extends to cover the disclosure of the processing purposes of that data (eg. logic behind automated decisions such as credit scoring)

 

Mortgage are not specifically exempted from the DPA - they should be providing you with all the data they hold related to you with no arguments!

 

Not sure who you should report this non-comliance to - I'm sure someone else will be along soon who knows....

[alanfromderby]

Sorry, this thread was from about five weeks ago and the issue has been addressed fully. Bristol & West had tried to claim that the DPA did not apply to mortgage information. When challenged they backed down - the case is documented in my Bristo & West Thread.

 

Having said that, the data they subsequently sent is missing loads of information and it looks likely that a County Court Action will have to be taken against them under section 7 DPA.

 

Closing this thread now, to avoid any further confusion.