help & advice gaining access to social care records?

[lizzy24]

Hiya im new to the forum and looking and searching for some advice
A while ago someone who hated me very much managed to get hold of my childhood social care records what contained some very in detail information about my childhood and very very personal and hurtful things about what happend to me has a child
Not alot of people knew about this but somehow so many peole found out after this person got hold of them illegally
I now have proff this person has these records and was directed to do a complaint through my local council which was done and nothing came of it not even an apology or explanation
I then contacted the local gov ombudsmen
Who stated today that since my complaint to them they have now contacted the local authorities on my behalf explaining what my complaint was, what i wanted has the outcome
The lgo then explained to me that the local authorities are now looking into this and hope to contact me to come to some.sort of resolution and to be honest i dont understand what could be done now its gone back to the council because they wouldnt acknowledge my complaint the first time?
This person who gained access should never have got hold of them and used these records to basically humiliate me and bully me
I really dont what to expect from all of this
Any advice will be very much appreciated because i have no idea what the outcome will be
I do know that everybody offical whos been in and out of my life has said this person having the records is a really bad thing and was directed by the a police officer to take this matter further has this person gas stalked and harassed me for a few years
Im so lost on what my rights are and what the outcome could be
Thanks for reading

[marcus18]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

I would contact your local citizens abvice who may be able to put you in touch with some proper free legal advice.

I'd also consider contacting the information commissioner as no one else should have been able to access your personal records so the local authority may have breached guidelines

https://ico.org.uk/

[Kati]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

[MENTION=141]enaid[/MENTION] ... any ideas??

[lizzy24]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

Hi
Thank you for your replys
The local authority have now accepted fault and my complaint has been upheld and with there legal services and has been for 3 weeks
What i dont understand now is why would it be with there legal services
They stated that it was to find a way to put this right for me
But iv been given so many time scales and they have not updated or completed on agreed times ect
But they have finally admitted fault
If anyone has any advice has to why there legal services have now gotten involved it would be a massive help and to be honest how can this be put right
Thank you

[marcus18]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

Not sure how they can "put it right for you". Information which should only be available to those who need to know has been made available to someone else. The only obvious option is financial compensation and I'd suspect their legal services are attempting to find a way out, decide whether to appeal the decision, work out their liability based on any similar cases they can find or come up with as low an offer as possible - if they do quadruple it at the very least. I have so far had two dealings with my council legal dept. First took three days to admit i was right but actually should have gone much further. Second took around two weeks and was related to the first case - luckily i'd had a couple of outstanding pieces of advice from different places which they simply could not argue with along with my own mountain of evidence of their lies. After they finally admitted that i had been right all along (nearly ten years) I was further advised that i had a solid case for sueing but that the council would probably stall for anything up to five years rather than admit guilt/liabilty and pay up what would likely be a six figure sum.

I sincerely hope this gets sorted out for you.

[lizzy24]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

Not sure how they can "put it right for you". Information which should only be available to those who need to know has been made available to someone else. The only obvious option is financial compensation and I'd suspect their legal services are attempting to find a way out, decide whether to appeal the decision, work out their liability based on any similar cases they can find or come up with as low an offer as possible - if they do quadruple it at the very least. I have so far had two dealings with my council legal dept. First took three days to admit i was right but actually should have gone much further. Second took around two weeks and was related to the first case - luckily i'd had a couple of outstanding pieces of advice from different places which they simply could not argue with along with my own mountain of evidence of their lies. After they finally admitted that i had been right all along (nearly ten years) I was further advised that i had a solid case for sueing but that the council would probably stall for anything up to five years rather than admit guilt/liabilty and pay up what would likely be a six figure sum.

I sincerely hope this gets sorted out for you.

Thank you again for your reply and advice
I did make it clear in my complaint i wanted to be compensated has id paid 10.000 in court fees against the person who obtained them because they used these records to help my ex partner get custody of our child made him think that all the abuse i suffered as a child made me in capable to be a good parent
Luckily after all there lies and there abuse towards my child all came out and i was granted full custody but from these records been handed to this person thats when mine and my childrens life was turned upside down

I got a update on tuesday to say there legal team will be sending a drafted update letter to the complaint team and then there complaint should be concluded by the end of next week and hopfully completed
My next question is will the legal teams letter contain which social worker got them and gave them out illegally
Will they even be much said in there letter
Iv never made a complaint so i dont know what to expect
And if they do offer compensation will i no its right amount and what will happen if i accept
Its been with there legal team over 4 weeks and i just want it done with but i dont know what to expect next week

Thank you again marcus

[marcus18]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

i've no idea what would be an appropriate amount of compensation. I think you need specialist legal advice. The council will try to get away with as little as possible if indeed anything. You obviously incurred costs arguing your case, information which shouldn't have been made available to others has been through no fault of your own and by people who it's claimed are there to protect you and your child so then you are talking 'damages' and that really isn't for the council to decide. I doubt they will name the individual responsible and despite the fact that it appears grossly negligent probably won't sack that person either. Hopefully someone qualified on here can advise you how to proceed what you don't need is an ambulance-chasing type lawyer. Best of luck, let us know how you get on.

[lizzy24]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

i've no idea what would be an appropriate amount of compensation. I think you need specialist legal advice. The council will try to get away with as little as possible if indeed anything. You obviously incurred costs arguing your case, information which shouldn't have been made available to others has been through no fault of your own and by people who it's claimed are there to protect you and your child so then you are talking 'damages' and that really isn't for the council to decide. I doubt they will name the individual responsible and despite the fact that it appears grossly negligent probably won't sack that person either. Hopefully someone qualified on here can advise you how to proceed what you don't need is an ambulance-chasing type lawyer. Best of luck, let us know how you get on.

Good evening thank you again for you advice
I recieved a final response and a offer
And im at a loss if its worth accepting im awaiting a call back from a solicitor
But there offer was £7000
And a sincere apology
Im stuck on what to do has i dont have alot of money and its very tempting to accept
But i feel like its also a kick in the teeth
I dont know what data protection breach is worth so im st a loss

[marcus18]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

I'm as in the dark as you about an appropriate amount but based on the £10,000 you paid in court fees as a result of their breach it seems incredibly low. They have almost certainly aimed low having considered your circumstances in the hope you would bite their hand off. You've done the best thing by not immediately replying. If you can try to check up online if you can find any similar cases of data protection breaches. Try googling data protection breach compensation cases or compensation examples - you'll get a lot of no win/no fee answers but ignore those and there way be some help in there. I would wait and see what a solicitor has to say and probably get a second or third opinion as well as you will never know whether a solicitor is protecting their own interests if that council also sends work their way. If any amount you receive is going to reduce your entitlement to means tested benefits you also need to consider that impact. If a payment sends you £1000 say over a threshold it's impact is going to be far worse than a big say £30,000 payment would. The solicitor may also be able to tell you whether you could sue the person who tricked the council as well.

Best of luck, please let us know what happens.

[lizzy24]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

I'm as in the dark as you about an appropriate amount but based on the £10,000 you paid in court fees as a result of their breach it seems incredibly low. They have almost certainly aimed low having considered your circumstances in the hope you would bite their hand off. You've done the best thing by not immediately replying. If you can try to check up online if you can find any similar cases of data protection breaches. Try googling data protection breach compensation cases or compensation examples - you'll get a lot of no win/no fee answers but ignore those and there way be some help in there. I would wait and see what a solicitor has to say and probably get a second or third opinion as well as you will never know whether a solicitor is protecting their own interests if that council also sends work their way. If any amount you receive is going to reduce your entitlement to means tested benefits you also need to consider that impact. If a payment sends you £1000 say over a threshold it's impact is going to be far worse than a big say £30,000 payment would. The solicitor may also be able to tell you whether you could sue the person who tricked the council as well.

Best of luck, please let us know what happens.

Hello
Iv spoke to several solictors and some happy to take on the my case
Im still waiting on a solictor to contact me on what the next move is but havent heard back from him since friday

I have spoke to complaints department at the local authority
And they gad informed me that £7000
Was a weird sum to come up with and also said the person who made the offer had asked to speak to me
And be ringing me tomorrow
I had explained that the offer was absolutely ridiculous has it doesnt even match to the court fees occurred by these records been shared and id like to appeal it
If i could they explained that it was something that could be looked into and hopfully i discuss this with the persom who made the first offer of compensation
The person will be calling but my question is how do i approach this and can they change the offer over the phone or even agree to match the court fees at least
I was told i may need to send proof of legal fees ect well that should be simple i hope if i can get in touch with each previous solictor iv dealt with through out each court case

Can you advise me on how to handle This call has im rubbish at this but i dont want to be taken for a stupid person by the local authority when they clearly know the damage caused by all of this and not just legal fees but they know the upset and stress and trauma me and my family sufferd because of it

Thank you again for your support and advice
It really is appreciated

[marcus18]

Re: help & advice gaining access to social care records?

the obvious answer to any telephone call is first of all ask them to put any increased offer in writing. Agree to nothing unless you are happy with it without taking legal advice on how appropriate that amount is. The fact that you are able to prove your actual costs is fantastic. With the argument i had with the council the fact that i had maintained all the paperwork relating to it over the course of 11 years made their position untenable. I can only apply my experience to your case i have no knowledge of the legalities. Personally i would ask them how they arrived at £7000 as an appropriate sum when they have admitted blame and you incurred substantial costs because of their actions not to mention the personal effects on yourself and your family. A solicitor might be able to find out what has happened in previous cases of a similar nature. It's bound to have happened somewhere unfortunately. I still really want to sue my local council for what they put me through and what one employee in particular knowingly put me through for over ten years but i couldn't cope with them stalling it for five years as i said earlier as even the final three week argument has left me with an illness i'll now have for the rest of my life.

i honestly admire the fact that you've fought your corner and won against these people and please don't put yourself down no one could think you were stupid. The people who are stupid are the ones who don't challenge behaviours like this from people who claim to be protecting your interests.

best of luck, let me know.

and please someone on here who is qualified to express an opinion help out, thanks.