Data Breach Claims

You may find it useful to use a compensation calculator for data breach claims. A personal data breach can cause you serious harm, both mentally and financially.

Data breach claims
Data breach claims guide

If your personal data has been compromised in a personal data breach, you may be interested in seeking data breach compensation. This guide will highlight the benefits of using a compensation calculator.

Alongside this, we will discuss how data breaches occur and what you can do in the aftermath to strengthen your claim. You can also learn about the benefits of working with No Win No Fee data breach solicitors. 

If you have any further questions that have not been answered in this guide, get in contact with a member of our team. They can offer free legal advice and can give you a free consultation. If your claim is valid, they may then put you in contact with a solicitor from our panel.

To learn more, get in touch:

Choose A Section

  1. A Guide To Data Breach Claims
  2. How Do Data Breaches Happen?
  3. What Evidence Can Help In Data Breach Claims?
  4. What Can You Receive From A Breach Of Data Protection Claim?
  5. Why Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
  6. Learn More About Data Breach Claims

A Guide To Data Breach Claims

Any personal information that identifies you is referred to as personal data. This can include your postal address, phone number, bank details, and national insurance number. A personal data breach is a security incident that includes the loss, destruction, alteration, unlawful disclosure, or unlawful access to your personal information. 

In order to make a data breach claim, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) state that you must have suffered material or non-material damage. You must also have proof that positive wrongful conduct occurred on the part of the data controller or data processor.

The data controller is an organization that decides how and why your data is processed. The data processor then processes your data on the controller’s behalf.

Continue with our data breach claims guide to learn more. You can also contact our advisors for any further questions.

How Do Data Breaches Happen?

As mentioned above, the breach must be a result of the data controller or processor’s wrongful conduct. Furthermore, you must have evidence of psychological injury or financial losses as a result of the breach.

A data breach can take place for multiple reasons, such as:

  • Your bank sends your financial details to your old address after you informed them of your new address.
  • The receptionist at your workplace sends your disciplinary information to multiple email addresses by mistake instead of sending it to you directly.
  • An HR employee takes files that contain your personal data out of the workplace and loses them on public transport.

Get in touch with our team of advisors today to learn more about data breach claims.

What Evidence Can Help In Data Breach Claims?

In order to seek a settlement, you must provide evidence that the data controller or data processor is at fault for the breach, as well as evidence that you suffered harm. There are multiple different types of evidence that you could include. For example:

  • Copies of letters and emails of correspondence between you and the organisation responsible. This could include information on what data was involved or how the breach happened.
  • Medical records, including hospital admissions, test results, and doctors’ notes that detail the psychological injuries caused by the breach. 
  • Copies of bank statements, invoices, or credit reports that show evidence of financial losses

You can collect this evidence yourself, or you can do it with the help of a solicitor. To find out how a solicitor from our panel could help you strengthen your claim, or to learn more about data breach claims, get in touch with our advisors.

How Do You Report A Data Breach?

If you become aware of a potential data breach, you can make a complaint to the organisation responsible. This allows you to ask how the breach occurred and what personal information was involved.

If you don’t receive a response, or if the response is unsatisfactory, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). This is the UK’s independent organization in charge of upholding information rights. The ICO can investigate the breach on your behalf and potentially fine the organisation that caused the breach. However, you cannot seek compensation through the ICO. 

Our advisors are offering you free legal advice to help with data breach claims. Alternatively, you can continue reading to see what you could get for your claim.

What Can You Receive From A Breach Of Data Protection Claim?

Data breach compensation payouts will vary for each claim. This is because every case is unique, and settlements are awarded on a case-by-case basis. You can see what your claim is worth by using a compensation calculator. This tool can help you estimate your award by looking at the damage you’ve sustained.

Similarly, legal professionals use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to calculate compensation for non-material damage. This relates to the emotional suffering you’ve sustained as a result of a personal data breach. For example, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), depression, or emotional distress are all examples of non-material damage. We’ve included a table below to illustrate some of the guideline compensation amounts regarding non-material damage compensation in the JCG.

InjurySeverityCompensationInjury Description
General Psychiatric Damage (a)Severe£54,830 - £115,730Injuries affect the injured person's overall life and ability to complete work and education. Future vulnerability is also present with a poor prognosis.
General Psychiatric Damage (b)Moderately Severe£19,070 - £54,830Significant problems arise concerning the injured person's future vulnerability and ability to manage life, though the prognosis is improved from above.
General Psychiatric Damage (c)Moderate£5,860 - £19,070There is marked improvement by trial, and the overall prognosis is positive.
General Psychiatric Damage (d)Less Severe£1,540 - £5,860The level of the award depends on the length of time that the disability affects the injured person, including effects on daily tasks and sleep.
PTSD (a)Severe£59,860 - £100,670Permanent effects damage all aspects of the injured person’s life, preventing them from working or functioning as they would have before the trauma.
PTSD (b)Moderately Severe£23,150 - £59,860Significant disabilities continue to affect the injured person for the foreseeable future. However, the prognosis will be improved with professional help.
PTSD (c)Moderate£8,180 - £23,150The injured person in this bracket will have largely recovered with only non-disabling injuries that persist.
PTSD (d)Less Severe£3,950 - £8,180Cases in this bracket will include a mostly full recovery within a year or two, with only minor symptoms persisting for a longer period.

Please note that these are guideline amounts, and the actual settlement you could potentially receive may differ.

Material Damage In A Data Protection Breach Claim

You may also be able to claim for the material damage you sustain as a result of the breach. This addresses the financial impacts of the breach, for example, damage to your credit score or fraudulent purchases made on your credit card.

As well as with non-material damage, you must also provide evidence of material damage. For example, invoices, bank statements, and receipts. 

To learn more about payouts in data breach claims, contact a member of our team today for more information.

Why Make A No Win No Fee Claim?

A solicitor from our panel could work with you through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), which is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement. With a CFA, there are generally no upfront or ongoing fees to pay to your solicitor for their work.

Alongside this, there is no requirement to pay your solicitor for their services if your claim doesn’t succeed. If your claim is successful, your solicitor will be paid from your compensation total. This success fee has a legal cap.

Get in touch with our team of advisors today to find out if your claim could be valid. If it is, they may connect you with a solicitor from our panel, who could help you ensure that your claim is filed in full.

Contact Us For Free To See If You Can Use Our Panel Of No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitors

If you have further questions about data breach claims, reach out to our team. Our advisors are available 24/7 to assist you and can answer any questions that weren’t answered by this guide. They may also pass you on to a solicitor from our panel. To learn more, get in touch:

Learn More About Data Breach Claims

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For more information on data breach claims, get in touch with our team.

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