Subject access request GDPR

[Rushjob]

Hi all.

My father in law is currently in dispute with an insurance company.

Part of the dispute relates to details involving his house insurance with them, other parts relate to when his late wife was the policyholder - can the company refuse to release information they hold on her - same home address involved?

If relevant he was the sole beneficiary of her will / estate.

Thanks.

[Mortarboard]

IANAL but generally deceased persons do not have any rights that can be infringed upon under gdpr. Comes up regularly over medical rec9rds of the deceased.

Worth checking out

I am assuming their reason for not releasing is "the privacy rights of the deceased"

If it's "financially sensitive" then it's a different situation.

M.

[alscar]

Rushjob said:

Hi all.

My father in law is currently in dispute with an insurance company.

Part of the dispute relates to details involving his house insurance with them, other parts relate to when his late wife was the policyholder - can the company refuse to release information they hold on her - same home address involved?

If relevant he was the sole beneficiary of her will / estate.

Thanks.

I’m assuming he isn’t also named on the policy being questioned ie his wife’s but the part that relates to his policy obviously he is ?
Without giving all the details what is the dispute as sounds like it affects more than one policy but with the same Insurer ?

[Rushjob]

alscar said:

I m assuming he isn t also named on the policy being questioned ie his wife s but the part that relates to his policy obviously he is ?
Without giving all the details what is the dispute as sounds like it affects more than one policy but with the same Insurer ?

Yes.
Original policy in MIL’s name.
FIL informed insurer of the death, the company opens a new policy in his name but does not cancel MIL’s policy and keeps taking payments for both policies on the same house and is refusing to refund the extra payments taken.

[alscar]

Rushjob said:

alscar said:

I m assuming he isn t also named on the policy being questioned ie his wife s but the part that relates to his policy obviously he is ?
Without giving all the details what is the dispute as sounds like it affects more than one policy but with the same Insurer ?

Yes.
Original policy in MIL s name.
FIL informed insurer of the death, the company opens a new policy in his name but does not cancel MIL s policy and keeps taking payments for both policies on the same house and is refusing to refund the extra payments taken.

Does that imply FIL is paying monthly as she did ?
Irrespective , her policy shouldn’t necessarily have been cancelled but he could have been named instead as the policy holder and presumably she had previously paid the premiums up to date until she passed ?
If not this and both policies are still running despite being for the same address probably needs a fairly strongly worded email to them and possibly their complaints dept at the same time.
Did he call the Bereavement dept or just the general number ?

[Rushjob]

Already tried the strongly worded letter, well email.
We’re now onto making a formal complaint to the company with a view to an Insurance Ombudsman complaint if nothing comes of it.
He’s got the last incorrect debit taken being refunded but they are being difficult with earlier debits saying that he should have identified them sooner ( he’s in his early 80’s with some memory issues which they are fully aware of and I suspect are using that to their advantage)

[Mortarboard]

I'm pretty sure a deceased person cannot have an "insurable interest" in, well,just about anything.

M.

[Rushjob]

Mortarboard said:

I'm pretty sure a deceased person cannot have an "insurable interest" in, well,just about anything.

M.

I agree, plus I’m fairly certain you cannot take out duplicate policies on a house.
I’ve also got no doubt that if we do go through with the access request then any reply will be less than 100% accurate but we’ll see.

[williamp]

A deceased person also doesn't have any data protection rights under GDPR/ Data Protection Act- they only apply to living people.

A deceased person's health records is covered by a different law- the "Access to health records" Act which does include deceased people.

But its not GDPR which is preventing them from sharing- it might be that they no longer have the data

[Simpo Two]

Rushjob said:

He s got the last incorrect debit taken being refunded but they are being difficult with earlier debits saying that he should have identified them sooner ( he s in his early 80 s with some memory issues which they are fully aware of and I suspect are using that to their advantage)

How about talking to the bank and saying something about 'direct debit guarantee'?

https://www.directdebit.co.uk/direct-debit-guarant...

Maybe not but thought I'd clutch at a straw

Is there enough money at stake to warrant a major punch-up?

[Vanity Projects]

AIUI the contract ends when the person dies however, having been (or rather still am) executor, things can get in the way in of notifying and delays cause these pain in the arse issues at a not very nice time.

I informed the job lot of accounts when it happened on my side and most stopped things off immediately, a couple were tardy but did refund based on death certificate/dates.

If your father is also the executor for your mother, he has a legal right to request those documents as they relate to the affairs of your mother’s estate but it isn’t GDPR, its just exercise of grant of probate, etc.

The insurer may be trying to say there was an insurable interest and a benefit gained by the insurance running but that’s clearly bks if they were taking two sets of payments.

Good luck with it.

[PhilboSE]

Follow the insurer’s process to raise an official complaint. Until you do this, it will all be logged as a standard customer service issue, and according to the modern way, ignored in the hope you give up.

Creating an official complaint kicks in a different process and group of people who should be motivated to resolve it.

[Red Devil]

Whose bank account was the DD for the MIL's policy set up on? Was it a joint account? Is it now sole in the FIL's name?

[southendpier]

PhilboSE said:

Follow the insurer s process to raise an official complaint. Until you do this, it will all be logged as a standard customer service issue, and according to the modern way, ignored in the hope you give up.

Creating an official complaint kicks in a different process and group of people who should be motivated to resolve it.

Aye, then makes noises about going to the Ombudsman - they'll sort it out then. If it is a lot of money speak to a solicitor, i expect you are entitled to costs and interest etc.

[Rushjob]

Thanks for all of the replies.

It's about 2.5K he's owed, bank account went from joint to sole on MIL's passing so probably not worth fully engaging a solicitor although an initial consultation is on the cards.

As has been discussed above, we are going strictly down the official complaint route now and no doubt will end up with the ombudsman.

It's useful often to have some background info when making a complaint and being confident that you can refute certain things when they are used as an excuse ( especially when the company has kindly done it in writing ) hence the question I initially posed as the GDPR subject is somewhat outside my personal experience.

Think it's just a case of sitting back and letting it take it's course

Thanks again all

[PhilboSE]

Rushjob said:

Thanks for all of the replies.

As has been discussed above, we are going strictly down the official complaint route now and no doubt will end up with the ombudsman.

I’d expect the official complaint to resolve matters without going to the ombudsman.

A large organisation these days should hold a number of ISO certificates and it’s a ballache for the business to have complaints logged (and especially if they’re unresolved) at audit time, and the company internal auditor should get on someone’s case to escalate and resolve.