jsa and data protection act

A question about : jsa and data protection act

Hi,

can anybody help?

My girlfriend and i have been seeing each other for a little over a year, we havent had the best of times due to me going through a messy divorce.

Since i left my now ex wife, i have been staying at various friends and families homes, renting rooms because im not in the financial position to rent a flat or house, moving on when i have outstayed my welcome so to speak.

Because i had no permanent address, i have used my girlfriends home as a postal address, as on a couple of occassions, former residencies of mine have returned letters from my bank marked as not at this address and the bank, then freezes my account until i have been in and discussed the issue with them.

My girlfriend until recently, was rightly claiming jsa, up until she started work, then signed off and I have a fulltime job.

Now to the point:

After signing off, she was called in by the fraud investigation team of the jsa to be interviewed under caution (a major shock, as my girlfriend is a strictly by the book and within the law type of person), she attended this interview yesterday, worried and concerned, but having nothing to hide.

During the interview, she was informed that they had reason to believe, that i had been living with her...which apart from the occasional stop over was not the case.

they had come to this conclusion due to my bank and mobile phone being linked to her address, and subsequently put copies of my bank statements, with all my incomings and out goings, my account details etc and my recent phone bill statements, with some areas of the documents high lighted.

now there is no links to her address ie, i dont pay any of her household bills, nor are any of the accounts joint accounts.

what i want to know is:
A) Have they obtained my statements legally, as i have never consented, nor have i claimed jsa therefore they have no reason to investigate me other than the allegations of me living with her?

B) Can they legally show her the above documents with all information on full view, when she has no legal ties to either account, therefore not privy to the information contained within them?

I am sure they have breached the Data Protection Act, and i am contacting both my bank and mobile phone contractor to find out how and why they have passed this information over.

Furthermore, my girlfriend was not shown any documentation of her own bank details or phone statements, and the so called evidence above was all that she was shown which is puzzling to say the least.

We have not done anything wrong, and as a tax payer i understand they need to investigate any tip off, or report of benefit fraud.
Any help / advice greatly received!

Best answers:

• they had been obtained by the jsa, as i never receive paper bills from my phone company and every statement i have sent by the bank are in my possession unopened, so the only way they have obtained them is directly.
  prior to the interview, she had no correspondence with the jsa other than when she signed off.
  i have contacted my bank, and arranged an appointment to discuss the matter, but still want to find out if i have a case against the jsa?
• There are exceptions outlined in the DPA that specifically covers release of data for the prevention or detection of crime.
• I'm sorry, and maybe it's just me, but some things are not quite stacking up in my mind over this thread.
  I feel sure the fraud investigation team of the jsa would have obtained any evidence via legitimate channels as they would be aware it could not otherwise be submitted in evidence should the need arise.
  However, I'm not sure why they would disclose not only that they have such evidence, but lay it out if full in front of your girlfriend.
  Surely an approach most would expect is something along the lines:
  "We have good reason to believe your claim for benefits which was based on your disclosure to us that you lived alone may not reflect the full facts."
  If this was denied, which to be fair, I guess most in a similar situation would do then:
  "We believe that someone may be living with you at your address. We believe that you are receiving mail at your address for another person. Bills, bank statements etc?"
  Surely that would have prompted your g/f to disclose the fact she is receiving your mail, but denying you actually live there with her?
  Even if she continued to deny any knowledge of this, surely they would have said they have evidence to prove otherwise rather than not only disclose such evidence, but lay all the contents out in front of her. I see no valid reason or advantage the fraud investigation team of the jsa would get at this stage in showing her the full contents of your bank statements and/or mobile phone statements.
  And as I say, this would only have got anywhere near this stage if your g/f had denied any knowledge of mail for another person being regularly delivered to her address, such denial reflecting the trustworthiness of her.
  Furthermore, simply having mail for someone else being delivered to a benefit recipients address, would not be adequate poof that the claimant is not living alone as they claimed, as your post indicates. The fraud investigation team of the jsa would certainly have something else more concrete to reinforce their suspicions before having called in the claimant on suspicion of such fraud.
• OP, some things in your thread dont add up, you say that you used your girlfriends address because your bank statements were sent back but why would your phone be registered at her place especially when you say you dont get paper bills? and how would the DWP know you had a mobile or who with?
  Im torn between thinking either you are making all this up or your girlfriend is.
• I'm sorry, but have to agree with 3 previous posters in this thread.
  I don't think we, nor perhaps you, have the full story here.