Last Updated 10th September 2024. An organisation sharing your personal information without consent can have a serious effect on your daily life. If you have been harmed as a result of this, you may be wondering whether you could claim compensation.
This guide will explain how to claim compensation for a data breach, and how solicitors, judges, and other legal professionals calculate the settlements for successful claims.
To learn more about making a claim for a personal data breach, or if you would like to receive free legal advice from a member of our team, contact our advisors today. They can provide a free consultation, and can help answer any questions you might have about the claims process. To get in touch:
- Contact us online for more information
- Call an advisor on 020 8050 3051
- Use the live chat feature for instant help
Select A Section
- Can I Claim If A Company Is Sharing Personal Information Without Consent? – A Guide
- When Am I Eligible To Make A Data Protection Breach Claim?
- What Evidence Could Help Me Make A Breach Of Data Protection Claim?
- How Much Compensation For A Data Breach?
- Why Seek Data Breach Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis?
- Learn More About How To Claim If A Company Is Sharing Personal Information Without Consent
Can I Claim If A Company Is Sharing Personal Information Without Consent? – A Guide
You may be wondering what a data breach is. According to the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), a personal data breach is a security incident that affects your personal data’s confidentiality, availability, or integrity.
Personal data is any information that could identify you as a living person. For example, this could be your full name, your email address, or your phone number.
All data controllers and processors have to follow the legislation above when handling the personal data of UK residents. Data controllers establish how and why your data will be used, and data processors process this data on the controller’s behalf.
This guide will explain when you could be eligible to claim for a company data breach, describe what could be received from a successful data breach compensation claim and highlight the benefits of using No Win No Fee data breach solicitors when making a claim.
To find out if you could be eligible to claim, get in touch with our team.
When Am I Eligible To Make A Data Protection Breach Claim?
In order to have a valid claim, your case must meet the criteria set out in Article 82 of the UK GDPR:
- The breach has to happen because of the controller or processor’s wrongful conduct
- It has to affect your personal data
- You have to experience financial or emotional harm because of this
With this in mind, some examples of types of data breaches you could claim for can include:
- A bank data breach in which your credit card statement is sent to the wrong postal address, allowing unauthorised access to your personal data
- An employee in the HR department of your workplace verbally disclosing information about your medical conditions to an unauthorised party
- A website data breach in which your personal data, such as your credit card number or address, is emailed to the wrong recipient
However, it is important to note that it is not always a breach of data protection to share personal information without consent. In some situations, an organisation may legally share your personal information without your consent, so long as they can establish a separate lawful basis to do so.
To find out if you could be eligible for compensation, get in touch with our team. Or, keep reading to find out how to claim if an organisation has been sharing your personal data without your consent.
What Evidence Could Help Me Make A Breach Of Data Protection Claim?
You may be wondering what to do if your data is breached. There are multiple steps that you can take following a breach to help strengthen your claim, including collecting evidence.
Organisations must report any breach that could affect your rights or freedoms to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours, and they must let you know without undue delay. This could be in the form of a letter or email, which can be used as evidence to help strengthen your claim.
Additionally, you can collect evidence of your psychological injuries. This can be in the form of medical records or reports. Medical evidence can be helpful when making personal data breach claims because it specifically addresses the harm the data breach caused you.
If you hire a solicitor, they may arrange an independent medical assessment to assess the psychological harm you suffered because of the data breach. This report can help strengthen a claim for non-material damage compensation.
Thirdly, if you have suffered any financial losses, you will need evidence of this material damage to receive compensation. This can be in the form of bank statements, invoices, and receipts.
To learn more about gathering evidence to help strengthen your claim, get in touch with our team.
How Much Compensation For A Data Breach?
There are two kinds of compensation that you can pursue when you make a personal data breach claim: material damage compensation, and non-material damage compensation. Non-material damage compensation addresses the emotional distress and psychological damage caused by the breach.
There are figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) provided below. These guideline figures can help solicitors when calculating non-material damage payouts.
The figures in the table are only guidelines, not guarantees of what you could receive.
| Type of Harm | Severity | Description | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe psychological harm and special damages | Severe | Severe psychological harm alongside financial losses, like lost earnings | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychological Harm | Severe | You will find it very difficult to cope with life, education, or work. There is a low likelihood of successful treatment. | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Psychological Harm | Moderately Severe | While symptoms in this bracket are similar to those above, there is a better prognosis. | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Psychological Harm | Moderate | There is a good prognosis here, as symptoms will show a significant improvemeny by the time of trial. | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Psychological Harm | Less Severe | In this bracket, consideration is given to the length of time symptoms affect you, and how they affect your life. | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Severe | Symptoms in this bracket are so severe that there is no remaining ability to work or function as you would have before the trauma. | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Moderately Severe | There is a better prognosis here, as symptoms can improve with professional intervention. | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Moderate | This category is for you if you’ve largely recovered from your PTSD symptoms. The continuing effects will not be grossly disabling. | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Less Severe | Only minor symptoms remain following a virtually complete recovery. | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Can Material Damages Make Up My Data Breach Compensation?
Compensation can also be claimed for material damage. This aims to compensate you for the financial losses you suffer because of the breach.
For example, a personal data breach could result in money being stolen from your bank account, as well as damage being done to your credit score. Material damage compensation could help you recoup these losses.
To learn more about data breach compensation, contact our team today.
Why Seek Data Breach Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Claiming for a company sharing personal information with your consent can seem difficult, but it doesn’t have to be. You aren’t obligated to work with a professional in order to make a claim, but one of the specialist No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel could make the claims process feel much less stressful.
For example, a data breach solicitor can arrange for your mental injuries to be evaluated in an independent medical assessment, which can help support your claim. They can also help you negotiate a settlement, and if your claim goes to court, then they can help you prepare.
Plus, you can work with with our panel on a No Win No Fee basis. This means that they offer their services through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), and you can access them without paying upfront or as the claim is ongoing. If the claim fails, you won’t pay for their work at all.
If it succeeds, then your solicitor will take a success fee. This fee comes out of your compensation as a small percentage that has a legal cap, which helps to ensure that you keep the majority of what you receive.
ContactUs For Free To See If You Can Use Our Panel Of No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitors
To learn more about making a claim for a personal data breach, or if you would like to receive free advice from a member of our team, contact our advisors today:
- Contact us online for more information
- Call an advisor on 020 8050 3051
- Use the live chat feature for instant help
Learn More About How To Claim If A Company Is Sharing Personal Information Without Consent
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Writer Saif Solace
Publisher Cat Harley