It is important to remember that if your child is 18 years old or older, that they are adults in the eyes of the law and as such have their privacy protected through data protection legislation.
There may be occasions however when you feel that you would like to at discuss matters relating to your child with accommodation providers.
The providers have no responsibility or obligation to disclose any personal information relating to your child to you or any other relatives, even if you are paying the rent or ancillary charges. To ensure providers are operating within the law, your child needs to give written consent for them to speak to you about their personal affairs.
The larger the organisation the clearer their data protection policy will be. Colleges and larger housing providers may have forms for your child to fill in or you may ask your child to write a short letter giving their consent to have their personal information disclosed to you. Either way the letter has to be sent and signed by your child and clearly state what they want the third party to disclose to you and what they don't.
If you are waiting for this to be sorted out it can be helpful for the provider to explain their policies and procedures relating to the area of concern (e.g. finding out when payments need to be made, what the arrears collection system is or deposit return arrangements). Do not be dismissive of this. It can help you work out where your child is in the process or provide you with a clue that your child has not given you the full facts. For example, you discover your child has a solicitors letter for non payment of rent and you may think the accommodation provider is being outrageously harsh in sending this. If you look at the providers rent collection procedures you will realise that providers will have sent a number of letters, reminders, requests to discuss and have been forced to recover the money in this way because you child has put their head in the sand and ignored the matter. Your child may also be reluctant to share this with you because they spent the money that you provided to pay the rent or they feel they should now, as an adult, deal with their own problems and mistakes.
The above only applies if your child is 18 or over. If your child is under 18 then providers can disclose all information to you without your child’s permission.
