This guide will provide you with more information about how to claim UK GDPR data breach compensation if you have suffered harm due to a data breach.
UK GDPR data breach compensation claims guide
The amount of compensation you could receive for a personal data breach depends on a number of factors. For example, consideration will be given to how much the data breach has affected you psychologically and whether any material losses have been caused.
We will also discuss through this guide how you could claim for a breach of the UK GDPR. As well as this, we will discuss the legislation in place to protect the personal data of UK residents and how a data protection breach can be defined.
Please contact us for free using the details below to see if you could receive compensation. Our advisors can identify wether you are eligible to claim, and they can also provide you with free legal advice and more help. To get in touch:
- Contact us online for more information
- Call an advisor on 0800 408 7827
- Use the live chat feature for instant help
Select a Section:
- A Guide To Receiving UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation
- Examples Of Potential UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation
- When Are You Eligible To Make A Data Breach Claim?
- Potential Evidence When Claiming For A Data Protection Breach
- Why Use Our Panel Of Data Breach Solicitors On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More About Claiming For UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation
A Guide To Receiving UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation
The main legislations in place to protect the personal data of UK residents are the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA). Personal data is any information which can specifically identify someone. If the confidentiality, availability, or integrity of this data is compromised, this is a personal data breach.
All data controllers and processors with access to the personal data of UK residents must ensure they adhere to these laws. A data controller is an organisation who determines the purposes of and how personal data is processed. A data processor is a body which processes personal data on behalf of the controller.
Overall, this guide aims to help you by giving you a better idea of how much data breach compensation you could receive if your claim succeeds. If you have any more questions regarding UK GDPR data breach compensation claims, get in touch with our advisors today.
Examples Of Potential UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation
There are two kinds of damage that you could receive compensation for: these are material damage and non-material damage.
Material damage includes any financial losses stemming from the data breach, this could be money stolen from bank accounts and damage to credit scores. Psychological harm, for example, anxiety or depression, constitutes non-material damage. To make a claim, you must have suffered either material or non-material damage.
Below, there is a table consisting of guideline settlement brackets taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG often aids legal professionals such as solicitors and judges in valuing personal data breach claims. These examples refer to non-material damage compensation and are guidelines only, not guarantees of what you could receive.
| Type Of Harm | Severity | Description | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Mental Harm | Severe | In these cases, the injured person will find it very difficult to cope with life, education, or work. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| General Mental Harm | Moderately Severe | In these cases, the injured person will have day-to-day issues with coping with life, education or work and their relationships will be affected negatively. However, there will be a much more optimistic prognosis in this bracket. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| General Mental Harm | Moderate | Symptoms show a marked improvement by trial, with a positive prognosis. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| General Mental Harm | Less Severe | This bracket considers the length of time affected by symptoms, as well as the way symptoms affect daily life and activities. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Severe | These cases will involve long-term effects which prevent the injured person from working at all or at least from functioning at anything, compared to what they could do before trauma. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Post Traumatic Stress | Moderately Severe | This category is distinct from the above because of the better prognosis, which will indicate some recovery with professional help. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Moderate | This category is for injured people who have largely recovered, though some non-disabling symptoms may continue. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Less Severe | A close to a full recovery will have been made and only minor symptoms will persist over a longer period. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
To learn more about what your claim could be worth, get in touch with our team of advisors today.
When Are You Eligible To Make A Data Breach Claim?
Not everyone will be eligible to make a claim for UK GDPR data breach compensation. This is because in order to claim, the breach must occur due to the failings of the organisation responsible, and it must cause you to suffer harm.
There are different types of wrongful conduct which could lead to a successful data breach claim. Some examples of this can include:
- Your employer verbally disclosing personal data from your disciplinary information to an unauthorised colleague.
- A debit card data breach or credit card data breach could occur if your bank sends your personal data to the wrong address.
- A social services employee may fail to use the BCC feature in a batch email, allowing your personal data to be exposed.
If your claim meets the criteria mentioned above, then you may be eligible to claim UK GDPR data breach compensation. Contact our team today to learn more about claiming compensation for a personal data breach.
Potential Evidence When Claiming For A Data Protection Breach
When making a personal data breach claim, collecting evidence to help support your case can prove to be very beneficial. You can collect this evidence yourself, or you could do it with the support of a data breach solicitor.
Correspondence between you and the third party that experienced the data breach could help you establish how the data breach occurred and could be presented as a form of evidence. This can help establish liability for the breach and can offer more information on how it occurred and what data was involved.
Evidence of any non-material damage you suffer because of the breach could also help strengthen your claim. For example, notes or records from your local GP could illustrate the psychological damage you have suffered as a result of the breach.
It is important to provide evidence of your material losses if you have experienced any because of the breach. This could involve providing receipts, invoices, and bank statements that document these losses.
Is There A Time Limit For Making A Claim?
It’s also important to ensure that you make your claim within the time limit. However, this can change depending on who you intend to claim against. Typically, you will have six years to make a personal data breach claim. But, when you make a claim against a public body, this becomes one year.
Our panel of solicitors could help you start your claim for compensation. For more information, get in touch with our advisors today.
Why Use Our Panel Of Data Breach Solicitors On A No Win No Fee Basis?
A No Win No Fee agreement is an arrangement between you and your solicitor that helps you access legal counsel and provides certain benefits. For example, under an agreement known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), if your data protection breach claim is unsuccessful, you generally won’t have to pay a fee for your solicitor’s services.
Therefore, a large benefit of using a CFA is that you don’t have to pay any upfront legal fees to your solicitor for them to begin work on your claim. Your solicitor may not request any ongoing fees to pay for their services. You must only pay a fee at the end of a successful claim, which is known as a success fee. Using a No Win No Fee solicitor could be a financially beneficial way for you to access legal representation.
Learn More About Claiming For UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation
Our panel of solicitors could provide legal representation to you under a CFA if your claim is valid. To find out how our panel of solicitors could help you, get in touch today:
- Contact us online for more information
- Call an advisor on 0800 408 7827
- Use the live chat feature for instant help
For more helpful articles surrounding personal data breach claims:
- Top tips for making university data breach claims
- Payroll data breach claims
- Mortgage broker data breach claims
Or, for further resources:
For more information on claiming UK GDPR data breach compensation, get in touch with our advisors today.
Writer Saif Sundry
Editor Cat Hunt