This has been revealed by a JEP investigation which has prompted one of Jersey’s leading banks into reviewing the charges it imposes on customers.
The decision by Royal Bank of Scotland International could benefit its Channel Island, Isle of Man and Gibraltar clients and may have a knock-on effect for all bank customers.
Divorcing couples, people seeking mortgages and new businesses often need duplicate bank statements, often several years old, and can face hefty bank charges for the service.
However, the Jersey Evening Post has discovered that customers cannot legally be charged more than £10 if they make a subject access application under the Data Protection Law for the information.
One woman who had been told she would have to pay several hundred pounds in fees had the charge reduced to £10 by her bank after being advised to make the official application rather than simply asking for the duplicates.
Data protection commissioner Emma Martins told the JEP: ‘One of the fundamental aspects of any data protection law is the right of the individual to have access to information held about him/her with a few limited exemptions.
The Data Protection (Jersey) Law 2005 provides that right in what is termed the “”rights of subject access””.
