Finance details fell out of van

4:45pm Wednesday 26th March 2008

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Managers at a Wantage firm are furious after papers containing clients' private financial details fell out of a van.

Documents containing 96 people's personal and financial details were found strewn across Mill Street last week by a builder.

He handed the four boxes to police, who returned them to Mill Street-based financial advice company 415 Independent Financial Planners.

Managing director Graham Holliday said: "We're furious about it, but we want people to understand it's not our fault."

The paperwork was on its way to a storage depot.

Mr Holliday said: "Under Financial Services Authority rules, the files, even though they were created by us, are the responsibility of the network Sesame.

"We resigned from the network, because it was costing us too much, so the files needed to be returned, which is where they were going."

The files included mortgage, pension and bank details, as well as National Insurance numbers and policy documents.

Jo Greenfield, a director of courier company Blutex, which transported the documents, said an investigation was under way and the incident had prompted a review of how documents were transported.

She said: "The boxes came out of a side door of an enclosed van, because there was a defect with the locking mechanism and it came open temporarily. We have been running for 30 years and we have never had a problem like this before.

"We have suspended the driver and a full investigation is of paramount importance. We will now be installing cages which have a lock shut mechanism in every van.

"We have been doing everything we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."

Mr Holliday said: "The company has apologised to us, because it was not our fault and they didn't charge us the £50 it cost to collect them."

He said all the mislaid files had been accounted for, but he could not be sure if every piece of paper was found.