Data Protection Act breaches

Has anyone successfully taken action against the DWP for breaches of data protection and, if so, what outcome did you acheive?

I have 2 clients who have had breaches of personal data in the appeal documents - the wrong name, address and Nino were put on the front page of the submision so each client was sent each other’s JSA appeal documents.

I have got the DWP re-issuing the documents correctly, with a written apology, but was wondering whether we should be pushing for something more.

The Financial Redress for Maladministration scheme might be an option? I have known of cases in the past where claimants have been offered compensation for similar mistakes.

However, the linked document does state that this scheme should have already been part of DWP thinking when dealing with the complaint, so they may be taking a view that reissuing the documents and offering a written apology is sufficient?

Thanks Paul. I will have a look at this.

I am waiting to hear back from the 2 clients to see if they want to make a formal complaint and seek compensation for the breach of data.

On a more general note I have certainly noticed that DWP submissions recently seem to be containing more silly errors - pages missing or numbered incorrectly, poorly photocopied or other peoples surnames in the body of the text where they have not been deleted from the standard templates. A worrying trend.