1 Feb 2009, 09:00

A man received a letter from a credit provider about an outstanding debt. The man pointed out to the credit provider that the debt was not his. However he received further letters and phone calls from the credit provider about the debt. The man could not persuade the credit provider that the debt was not his, and complained to us.

The complaint raised an issue under principle 8.

Principle 8 requires agencies to take steps which are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that personal information is accurate, complete, relevant and not misleading before acting upon the information.

It was obvious from looking at the information on the credit provider’s file that the man was not the debtor. We asked the credit provider what steps it had taken to check the accuracy of the information before pursuing the man for the debt. In response, the credit provider acknowledged that the debt had been wrongly attributed to the man, and was actually a debt owed by another person with a similar name.

The credit provider accepted that it had made a mistake in attributing the debt to the man. It apologised and offered to pay the man $300 in compensation. The credit provider also made a note on its file to prevent the situation from recurring. The man accepted the credit provider’s offer, and we closed the complaint on the basis that it had been settled.

January 2009

Accuracy of personal information – credit provider – debt incorrectly ascribed to complainant – settlement – Privacy Act 1993, principle 8