Good link Ray. I scanned through the Data Protection Act and there are about three circumstance where a body can refuse to provide data but none of these apply in our circumstances.
Regarding charges for provision of data, pay nothing. One of my experiences required two years of paper bank statements, the bank requested £1/sheet so I dropped them a letter with reference to the Data Protection Act and received all statements swiftly with no charge. I have never paid anything to obtain data including one body who I sent monthly requests to. Never been refused data either and all information requested was supplied within 30 days (seems this has changed to 40 days in the link).
The simple solution is to never accept a rate you aren't happy with. If you are happy then you should have no cause to go digging. If you do wish to obtain a copy of the client invoice try asking the agency, you never know. If you do use the DPA 1998 ask yourself what you will do with your findings bearing in mind you accepted the contract in the first place. Will be interesting to hear if anyone uses this method and also to hear of their findings.
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Regarding charges for provision of data, pay nothing. One of my experiences required two years of paper bank statements, the bank requested £1/sheet so I dropped them a letter with reference to the Data Protection Act and received all statements swiftly with no charge. I have never paid anything to obtain data including one body who I sent monthly requests to. Never been refused data either and all information requested was supplied within 30 days (seems this has changed to 40 days in the link).
The simple solution is to never accept a rate you aren't happy with. If you are happy then you should have no cause to go digging. If you do wish to obtain a copy of the client invoice try asking the agency, you never know. If you do use the DPA 1998 ask yourself what you will do with your findings bearing in mind you accepted the contract in the first place. Will be interesting to hear if anyone uses this method and also to hear of their findings.
