Are you looking to learn whether you could claim compensation for the accidental destruction of your personal data? If an organisation has failed to protect your personal data, and as a result, you have suffered psychological injuries or financial losses, you may be able to make a claim.
Accidental destruction of personal data claims guide
This guide will discuss what criteria must be met to make a legitimate personal data breach claim. Additionally, we will explore the potential evidence you could supply to help your claim.
However, if you would prefer to discuss your potential claim, our advisors are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Our friendly team can offer you free legal advice and answer any of the questions you may have concerning your claim.
To speak with one of our advisors today:
- Call on 020 8050 3051
- Contact us online
- Or interact with an advisor through the live chat feature
Choose A Section
- A Guide To Claiming For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data
- When Can You Make A Data Breach Claim?
- Potential Evidence You Could Use When Claiming For A Data Protection Breach
- How Do I Claim Compensation For A Data Breach? – Potential Payout Amounts
- Can You Make A No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data?
- Learn More About Claiming For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data
A Guide To Claiming For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data
A personal data breach, as defined by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), is a security incident leading to the loss, disclosure, access, alteration or destruction of personal data, either unlawfully or accidentally. Personal data is any information that could identify you, such as your home address, name and telephone number.
Per the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), all organisations that process UK residents’ personal data must comply with data protection legislation.
If an organisation fails to comply with data protection law, this could lead to the accidental destruction of your personal data. You could make a claim if you can prove that your personal data was breached due to the organisation’s failings and that you suffered financial losses or mentally.
To find out whether you are eligible to claim compensation, contact our team of advisors today.
When Can You Make A Data Breach Claim?
As previously stated, you could claim compensation if you suffered mentally or financially due to a personal data breach. Generally, data breaches can be divided into cyber or non-cyber incidents, e.g. a cyberattack or potentially due to human error.
Some examples of how the accidental destruction of your personal data could lead to a claim include:
- Your employer accidentally destroys your employment record and contracts. This could result in you struggling to confirm your employment history, resulting in lost wages and causing stress.
- A solicitor deletes your mortgage application. This could cause stress and anxiety due to the length of time it could take for a new application to be completed.
- Medical records being lost or deleted. This could result in an inability to get appropriate medical treatment and can cause significant stress and anxiety.
For further guidance concerning personal data breach claims, contact one of our advisors.
Potential Evidence You Could Use When Claiming For A Data Protection Breach
Following a personal data breach, there is evidence you could gather to help support your claim. Evidence may include:
- Correspondence between you and the organisation responsible for the data breach. This could state what personal data has been breached and how the breach occurred.
- Medical evidence proving that you suffered psychological harm, such as your medical records.
- Evidence of your financial losses due to the personal data breach, such as your bank statements.
Additionally, there are certain steps you could take to help support your personal data breach claim.
- If you discovered the personal data breach yourself, you can directly complain to the organisation responsible and ask for clarification.
- If the organisation gives no satisfactory response, you can make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent authority that upholds information rights in the UK. However, you do not need to report a breach to the ICO to make a claim.
- Lastly, you may also want to seek some legal advice following a personal data breach. If so, our friendly advisors are available to help you.
Contact our advisors today to find out whether you could make a claim for the accidental destruction of your personal data.
How Do I Claim Compensation For A Data Breach? – Potential Payout Amounts
When making a personal data breach claim, you could claim under the heading of non-material damage. Non-material damage compensates you for the psychological harm you have endured due to the accidental destruction of your personal data. You could claim compensation for distress, anxiety, depression etc. As we stated previously, providing evidence of your mental harm could help support your claim.
With this in mind, we have provided the following compensation table to help you understand how much you could receive in non-material damage. Many solicitors will use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to help them value claims, as it lists compensation brackets for different injuries at various severity levels. You can find some examples of these figures in the table below.
However, this table should only be used as a guide. How much you could receive in compensation will depend on your specific claim.
| Non-Material Damage | Notes | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Mental Harm | Severe (a): There will have been a severely poor prognosis, and the person will have problems dealing with working life and personal relationships. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Mental Harm | Moderately Severe (b): Despite a more optimistic prognosis, the person will still significantly struggle with various aspects of daily life. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Mental Harm | Moderate (c): A good prognosis, with significant improvements made, despite struggling with various problems. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Mental Harm | Less Severe (d): How much sleep and various other factors of daily life were impacted will determine how much compensation is awarded. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| Reactive Anxiety Disorder | Severe (a): All aspects of working and daily life will be negatively affected. They will be unable to function as they did before the trauma. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Reactive Anxiety Disorder | Moderately Severe (b): The person will still suffer from a significant disability. However, there will be room for some recovery following a more positive prognosis. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Reactive Anxiety Disorder | Moderate (c): The person has experienced a large recovery, with any continuing symptoms not being majorly disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Reactive Anxiety Disorder | Less Severe (d): An almost complete recovery is made within 2 years, with only minor symptoms continuing. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
For further guidance on how to claim compensation for a data breach, contact one of our advisors today.
Can Data Breach Compensation Be Made Up Of Material Losses?
Additionally, your data breach compensation settlement may include material damage. Material damage compensates you for your financial losses due to your personal data being breached.
For example, a bank data breach could see someone accessing and stealing money from your bank account. Financial losses could also include unknown charges being made to your credit card. As stated in a previous section, providing evidence of these financial losses could help support your claim.
Contact our advisors today to see whether you are eligible to claim compensation for the accidental destruction of your personal data.
Can You Make A No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data?
If you would like to be legally represented when making your claim, an experienced data breach solicitor from our panel may be able to take on your claim on a No Win No Fee basis. Your solicitor may offer you a specific type of No Win No Fee agreement, such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).
Generally, under a CFA, you will not have to pay any fees to your solicitor if your claim does not succeed. Successful claimants will pay a success fee, which is taken as a small percentage of your compensation.
For more information on how our panel of data breach solicitors could help you with your claim for the accidental destruction of your personal data, contact our advisors.
Contact Us For Free To See If You Can Make A Data Breach Claim
If you would like free legal advice concerning your potential claim, you can contact our advisors today. Our friendly team are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to answer your questions about personal data breach claims. They can also let you know whether you could make a personal data breach claim.
To speak with one of our advisors today:
- Call on 020 8050 3051
- Contact us online
- Or interact with our live chat advisor
Learn More About Claiming For Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data
For more articles about personal data breaches:
- Mortgage broker data breach – can I claim compensation?
- How do GP data breach claims work?
- Could I claim for breaches of children’s personal data?
Additional information:
- Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – Guide to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
- ICO – Lawful basis for processing.
- National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – Data breaches: guidance for individuals and families.
Contact our advisors today to find out whether you can make a claim for the accidental destruction of your personal data.
Writer Megan Robin
Publisher Cat Harley