Not upheld: data protection compliance and subject access request handling complaint against Choicemortgages UK Limited

Decision detail

Summary

Mr L complained that Choicemortgages UK Limited failed to comply with data protection law by not providing an email with a property valuation in response to his 2025 subject access request. The email had been sent by his solicitors in 2023 during mortgage discussions that did not proceed. Choicemortgages stated it had no record of receiving the email and it may have been deleted by a spam filter after 90 days. The ombudsman found the firm had complied with its obligations by disclosing all information it retained and was not required to investigate missing information or contact third parties. Since Mr L possessed his own copy of the email, no detriment was caused.

The Ombudsman's reasoning

Under data protection law, a firm is only required to disclose information it actually holds as part of a subject access request. Choicemortgages disclosed all information it retained. The firm is not obligated to investigate why it doesn't have other information or to make enquiries with third parties such as solicitors. Since Mr L possessed his own copy of the email and valuation, he suffered no detriment from the firm's inability to provide it. The complaint handling was not unfair or inappropriate.

How this compares

Source

Read the original decision on the Financial Ombudsman Service website