In this guide, we examine who could make a bank data breach claim. Learn how to claim compensation if your personal data is compromised.
Bank data breach claims guide
Legislation is in place to govern data security for UK residents. We explore this. Additionally, we will look at eligibility for personal data breach claims.
We explore examples of personal data. Additionally, we look at how a personal data breach could occur.
You might want to know how to claim for a data breach. We provide examples of evidence that could strengthen your claim. Additionally, we look at steps you could take following a data breach to both secure your data and support a data breach claim.
We break down data breach compensation and provide examples of what you could potentially receive should your claim be successful.
To conclude, we examine No Win No Fee arrangements. You could hire a No Win No Fee solicitor to help you through the claims process.
Get in touch with our advisors if you have any questions:
- Request a call back on the form at the top of the page.
- Contact us online.
Choose A Section
- What Is A Bank Data Breach?
- Examples Of A Data Protection Breach
- Bank Data Breach – What Evidence Could Help You Claim?
- Compensation Payouts For A Data Protection Breach
- Why Use No Win No Fee Data Breach Lawyers?
- More Information About Claiming For A Bank Data Breach
What Is A Bank Data Breach?
Two key pieces of legislation govern data protection. These are the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).
Data protection legislation:
- Gives more processing rights to data subjects.
- Holds data controllers or processors accountable for following data protection legislation. A data controller determines why and how your data is collected and used. A processor may be appointed to act on behalf of a controller.
- Sets data breach compensation eligibility criteria.
If your details were compromised in a bank data protection breach, you might wonder what the definition of a data breach is. The UK GDPR defines a data breach as a security incident in which your personal data is accessed or disclosed without authorisation, destroyed, lost, or altered.
Article of 82 of the UK GDPR sets bank data protection breach compensation eligibility. You must:
- Prove the bank didn’t comply with data protection legislation, thus causing the breach.
- The breach included your protected information.
- You experienced suffering either mentally or financially.
Contact our advisors to discuss what evidence you could use to support your claim.
Examples of a Data Protection Breach
If a bank were to experience a data breach, you may wonder what personal data may be included. Personal data is data that could be used to identify you. It includes your:
- Name
- Address
- Email address
- Bank account number and sort code
- Credit and debit card information
Human error could result in your protected data being compromised in a bank data breach. Some examples of how human error can contribute to a bank data breach include:
- Sending an email containing personal data to the wrong person. Also, failing to use the BCC (blind carbon copy) feature when sending emails to multiple recipients. The BCC conceals email addresses from the recipients.
- Posting or faxing personal data to the wrong address or recipient.
- Failure to redact personal data before sending it to a third party.
- Lost or stolen paperwork that contains personal data.
How Many Data Protection Breaches Happen In The Finance Sector?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) helps protect data security as an independent body. As part of their role, they monitor data security incident trends.
Reported non-cyber security incidents in the finance, insurance and credit sector during the fourth quarter of the 2021/22 financial year included:
- Personal data emailed to the incorrect recipient: 35
- Wrong data subject shown in client portal: 5
- Posted/faxed to incorrect recipient: 29
- Failure to redact: 4
- Failure to use BCC: 2
- Hardware/software misconfiguration: 4
- Device theft/loss: 2
- Paperwork theft/loss or left in an insecure location: 7
- Other non-cyber incident: 16
- Unauthorised access: 16
- Verbal disclosure: 2
Contact our advisors if a bank compromised your personal data to find out what steps you can take next.
Bank Data Breach – What Evidence Could Help You Claim?
To form the basis of a successful claim, you may need to collect evidence. As stated previously, specific eligibility criteria apply to making a bank data breach claim. The breach must affect your personal data. You must suffer harm as a result of this.
What Should I Do After A Data Breach?
If you have reason to suspect that your protected data was involved in a breach, you can alert the organisation. They may be able to confirm the breach. Additionally, they may offer you more information. This confirmation could be used to help strengthen your claim.
However, the organisation may not respond, or the response may be inadequate. In this case, you can complain to the ICO. While the ICO can’t provide compensation, they may investigate the breach. Communications from the ICO may also support a personal data breach claim.
Evidence of your suffering is also required to claim. For example, this could include bank statements of your financial losses. Or, if you are claiming compensation for distress, you could present a medical assessment or a record of your emotional harm.
Contact our advisors to learn more about how you could strengthen your personal data breach claim.
Compensation Payouts for a Data Protection Breach
You may wish to know how much a bank data breach claim is worth. In this section, we’ll explore how much compensation you could receive.
Until the Vidal-Hall and Others v. Google Inc. (2015) ruling, you could only claim compensation for mental health injuries, known as non-material damage, if you also made a claim for financial loss, also known as material damage. However, you may now claim for non-material damage without claiming for material damage.
To help assign value to non-material damage claims, legal professionals often refer to a document titled the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). We’ve included figures given for psychological injuries from the 16th edition, published in April 2022 in the table below.
| Injury | Severity | Potential Compensation | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental injury | Severe (a) | £54,830 to £115,730 | An inability to cope with life and in relationships with a very poor prognosis. |
| Mental injury | Moderately severe (b) | £19,070 to £54,830 | Significant problems occur coping with life and in relationships. The prognosis is more optimistic than above. |
| Mental injury | Moderate (c) | £5,860 to £19,070 | Improvement of existing symptoms by the time of trial. The prognosis is good. |
| Mental injury | Less severe (d) | £1,540 to £5,860 | Day-to-day activities and sleep may be impacted by a period of disability. |
| PTSD | Severe (a) | £59,860 to £100,670 | Cannot function at the same level as they would pre-traumatic event. |
| PTSD | Moderately severe (b) | £23,150 to £59,860 | Some recovery may occur with the assistance of a professional, but for the foreseeable future, there is still a significant disability. |
| PTSD | Moderate (c) | £8,180 to £23,150 | A large recovery, with some non-disabling symptoms remaining. |
| PTSD | Less severe (d) | £3,950 to £8,180 | A virtual full recovery, but some minor symptoms continue past 1-2 years. |
Our advisors can provide a free estimate of your potential compensation for a data breach based on your circumstances.
Why Use No Win No Fee Data Breach Lawyers?
If you decide to claim bank data breach compensation, why not use the services of a No Win No Fee solicitor? They could provide their services using a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Your No Win No Fee solicitor generally won’t charge an upfront solicitors fee under a CFA. A success fee will be taken from the award of a successful claim. If your claim is not successful, however, you won’t have to pay a success fee.
Ask Us Any Questions About Making a Data Breach Claim
Our data breach claims team can help start your bank data breach claim. They’re available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. If your claim is eligible, they may put you in touch with a solicitor from our No Win No Fee panel.
To get in touch:
- Request a call back on the form at the top of the page.
- Contact us online.
More Information About Claiming for a Bank Data Breach
For more helpful information:
Additional guides:
- Disciplinary Records Data Breach Claims
- What Is A Data Breach And Can I Claim Compensation?
- Mortgage Broker Data Breach Claims
For more questions about making a bank data breach claim, contact our advisors today.
Writer Danielle Beck
Editor Cat Harley