Customers are being encouraged to claim for compensation if a financial company gives out their personal information without first gaining permission. The Financial Ombudsman Service says it can order firms to repay customers who lose out financially as a result. In one case, a debt collection company was ordered to pay a man £400 compensation. A bailiff had been sent to a customer’s home, and when he found the man wasn’t in, he pinned a note to the door detailing how much was owed. The man complained to the Ombudsman because neighbours had read the note and he was embarrassed that information about his financial troubles had been publicly aired. In another case, a mortgage company told the partner of a man who had run into arrears about his financial problems without asking his permission.

The man’s partner moved out a few days later, and the man blamed the mortgage company. The Ombudsman found that the lender was not responsible for the man’s partner leaving. However, it said the lender made ‘a serious error’ by revealing his business to a third party, and ordered it to pay £450 for the upset caused...............Read more here