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back to article £185k in fines rain down on dodgy PIs and claims firm for illegal data slurp

A firm of loss adjusters and two rogue private investigators it hired have been given record fines in the UK for illegal trade in personal information. Two PIs obtained a person's financial details, including bank transactions, and handed it over to Kent-based loss adjusters Woodgate & Clark, which then passed it to an insurer …

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  1. DaLo

    Sooo how were the PIs able to get bank transactions? I guess they could have gone rummaging through bins but if they didn't it would be interesting to know how they obtained them.

    5 0 Reply
    1. cantankerous swineherd
      Reply Icon

      dead easy now and perfectly legal given a little subterfuge:

      https://amp.theguardian.com/money/2018/jan/08/open-banking-bank

      6 2 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
        Reply Icon
        Anonymous Coward

        Hmm, this was a few years ago, Open banking hasn't even started yet.

        Also, how is it "dead easy" now? Seems a bold statement.

        2 0 Reply
    2. Anonymous Coward
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      Anonymous Coward

      "also face serious reputational damage as a result of being prosecuted by the ICO"

      Translation: Customers are queuing out of the door now they know that they are so effective!

      0 0 Reply
  2. JimmyPage Silver badge
    Stop

    Once again, the story misses out

    how much compensation the victims received ...

    6 2 Reply
    1. Steve K
      Reply Icon

      Re: Once again, the story misses out

      ..and also whether the insurer end-client were culpable in some way as they were the proposed end-users of the information obtained presumably?

      (Unless they are the ones who blew the whistle when they realised what had been done on their behalf?)

      4 0 Reply
    2. JimmyPage Silver badge
      Reply Icon
      Joke

      Re: Once again, the story misses out

      Should have used this icon ->

      0 1 Reply
  3. Terry 6 Silver badge

    I dunno

    It's difficult to work out how the end-user client could have requested private information that isn't openly available without knowing that it would have to be obtained or supplied by devious and illegal means.

    3 0 Reply
    1. Doctor Syntax Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      Re: I dunno

      "It's difficult to work out how the end-user client could have requested private information"

      It's not stated that they (assuming you mean the insurance company) did. More likely they handed a case to a claims adjuster and the claims adjuster decided to take a short cut.

      0 0 Reply
  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Money laundering regulations appear to have already opened privacy holes.

    If you help a young couple with a gift towards buying a house it used to be that you gave them a cheque near the appropriate time. Now you end up with several points in the chain wanting copies of your account's detailed transactions during the last three months. Apparently to show the money was legally accumulated over a long-ish period. No details - no mortgage.

    So the mortgage broker, the conveyancing solicitor, and Santander - are all privy to how my personal finances have been conducted for the last four*** months.

    The couple themselves are now also probably aware of my financial details. I would prefer anti-laundering checks on my charitable giving to be a matter only between me and my bank.

    ***as the mortgage negotiations were going to slip into the first week of another month - Santander et al apparently then insisted on adding the most recent monthly statement - even though it contained roughly the same regular entries. They wanted the paper copy original immediately - even though it would not arrive as normal until the first week of the following month.

    1 0 Reply
    1. F0rdPrefect
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      FAIL

      The paper copy?

      But what if you no longer get paper statements?

      0 0 Reply
      1. Anonymous Coward
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        Anonymous Coward

        "But what if you no longer get paper statements?"

        The bride's mother also made them a gift. I believe she had to request the necessary account statements from her bank - presumably at a cost. I know Barclaycard charge, or did a few years ago, if you need a repeat paper copy of a statement.

        0 0 Reply
  5. Steve McGuinness

    Criminal Convictions

    Interesting note on this.

    2 of the Private Detectives served jail terms for conspiracy to defraud people of personal details in 2012.

    Yet Woodgate & Clark still hired them. I guess being a convicted fraudster doesnt hurt in the PI Business.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-17157490

    0 0 Reply

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