Advice On Claiming Bank Data Breach Compensation
If your personal data has been breached, we could help you claim bank data breach compensation
£70 million in compensation
Advice On Claiming Bank Data Breach Compensation
If your personal data has been breached, we could help you claim bank data breach compensation
Bank Data Breach Compensation – Learn How To Claim
If your bank has experienced a data breach that has put your personal data at risk, you may be entitled to compensation. Organisations have a duty to protect your data and you could be eligible to make a bank data breach compensation claim if they failed to take the necessary steps to protect your data.
Our guide will explain when you could be eligible to claim following a breach of your personal data and the laws which organisations must comply with when processing the personal data of UK residents. Following this, we share the different forms of harm you could be compensated for.
Additionally, we share how a bank data breach may occur and the rights you have following a personal data breach. We all discuss what evidence you could gather to support your claim, why you should work with one of our specialist solicitors and how long you have to make a claim.
To discuss your particular case today and receive free advice, you can contact a member of our advisory team:
- Call 0151 375 9916
- Contact us online
Can I Claim Compensation For A Data Breach By My Bank
Personal data is considered as any information that could identify you. This could be directly or in combination with other information. A bank could hold various pieces of your personal data, as they may have required this to open your account, such as:
- Your name.
- Home address.
- Personal phone number.
A personal data breach is considered as a security incident which affects the availability, confidentiality or intergrity of personal data.
To be eligible to make a bank data breach compensation claim, you need to prove the following:
- An organisation (such as a bank) failed to adhere to data protection laws (we cover what these are in the next section).
- This led to your personal data being breached.
- Due to your personal data being breached, you suffered mental harm, financial losses, or both.
In order to qualify for a data breach claim, you must have been impacted. You may have suffered financial impact due to the fraudulent use of your details. Emotional distress is another factor that would be considered in a potential claim. If you have been impacted in one or both of these ways, then you could meet the necessary criteria to gain compensation for a data breach by your bank.
Contact our advisors today to discuss your case and see whether you may have an eligible claim.
Understanding the Data Protection Act and UK GDPR
Any organisation that processes the personal data of UK residents must adhere to and comply with data protection laws. These are the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).
The UK GDPR governs how the personal data of UK residents is to be processed and upholds transparency and accountability so that organisations are held responsible if they fail to take the correct measures when it comes to protecting people’s data. It also outlines ways in which organisations can be compliant with the UK GDPR, such as allowing users to access, correct or delete their data and providing training to staff in relation to data protection.
The DPA also ensures that data is handled, collected and stored correctly. The Act gives individuals the right to know what information is being held about them and how it’s being used. Furthermore, it established principles that organisations must follow when using personal data, such as keeping data accurate and up to date and not holding data for longer than necessary.
If a bank were to fail to adhere to these data protection laws, leading to a personal data breach that causes you harm, you could be eligible to make a bank data breach compensation claim. Contact our advisors today to discuss your case.
Established, Experienced, Dependable, Responsive and Committed
How Much Bank Data Breach Compensation Could You Claim?
How much you could receive for a successful bank data breach compensation claim will depend upon multiple factors, such as:
- The type of psychological harm you suffered.
- How severe it was.
- Whether you suffered any financial losses.
When making a personal data breach claim, you could receive compensation for your non-material and material damage.
Your non-material damage is the psychological harm you suffered. Those valuing your claim for this harm could refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), as within this document are compensation guidelines for for various injuries.
In the table below, we have used some of the compensation guidelines listed within the JCG for psychological injuries. The first entry, however, is not from the JCG.
Compensation Table
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Guidelines | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Severe psychological harm with financial losses | Severe | Up to £500,000+ | Compensation for suffering severe psychological harm plus financial losses such as lost earnings. |
| Psychological Damage Generally | Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 | Severe issues copying with daily and working life and prognosis is very poor. |
| Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 | Significant issues but the prognosis is more optimistic than severe cases. | |
| Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 | Will have been various issues but prognosis is good and marked improvements will have been made. | |
| Less Severe | £1,880 to £7,150 | The amount awarded is affected by how much daily activities and sleep were affected. | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 | Involving permanent effects preventing the person living as they did pre-trauma . |
| Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 | Prognosis is better than severe cases but there will still be a significant disability. | |
| Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 | A large recovery will have been made. | |
| Less Severe | £4,820 to £9,980 | Within 1 to 2 years a virtually complete recovery will have been made. |
The Types Of Financial Losses You Could Claim For
Material damage is any financial losses you have suffered due to the personal data breach. For example, this could include:
- Lost earnings due to taking time off work due to the mental harm you suffered.
- Paying for therapy.
- Home relocation costs if you needed to move after a breach of your home address as you were worried for your safety.
To discuss your bank data breach compensation claim, you can contact one of our advisors.
How Bank Data Breaches Happen
There are various ways that a bank data breach could occur. Some examples could include:
- The bank failed to update their online security systems, leading to your personal data data being stolen in a cyber attack.
- Human error, such as a bank employee sending a letter containing your personal data to your old address despite having your new one on file.
- An employee at the bank verbally disclosed your personal data to someone over the phone without your permission or another lawful basis for doing so.
Even if your specific situation isn’t listed here, this doesn’t mean you aren’t eligible to make a claim. Contact our advisors today to discuss your case and receive a free eligibility case assessment.
We pride ourselves
on providing the best service
possible for our clients.
We pride ourselves on providing the best service possible for our clients.
Your Rights After A Data Breach
Under UK GDPR, you have certain rights after a data breach has occurred.
Firstly, you have the right to be informed when it comes to your data. The bank must tell you what is being done with your data, and they must inform you if your data has been breached and this may have put your freedom or rights at risk. They must do this without undue delay.
You also have the right to seek compensation if you have experienced material or non-material damage as a result of the bank breaching data protection law.
To learn more about what rights you have following a breach of your personal data, you can contact our advisors.
The Process For Filing A Bank Data Breach Claim
If your personal data has been compromised in a bank data breach, you may be wondering what steps you should take next if you wish to make a claim. Below, we explain some of the things you could do to help support your case for bank data breach compensation:
Evidence Required To Support Your Claim
In order to proceed with your claim, you will need to provide evidence. Examples of evidence you could use for your case include:
- Proof your personal data was breached – the bank may have sent you a notification letter or email detailing which data was breached.
- Evidence of financial losses – such as bank statements or payslips.
- Evidence of the psychological harm suffered – this could be your medical records or a diagnosis letter from a psychologist.
- The findings of an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – the ICO is the UK’s independent authority on data protection. You could report a data breach to them, and their findings could be used as evidence in your claim if they choose to investigate the breach.
- Any correspondence between you and the bank regarding the data breach.
Why Work With A Specialist Data Breach Solicitor?
Although you are not required to work with a solicitor when making a claim, doing so could greatly benefit you.
Our data breach solicitors have lots of experience working on various types of claim and could help you with:
- Gathering evidence to support your case.
- Communication with the defending party.
- Ensuring your claim is filled within the time limit (we discuss this in the next section).
- Negotiating your compensation settlement to account for your material and non-material damage.
What Is The Deadline For Making A Claim?
When you are making a personal data breach claim, you must be aware that there is a time limit in which you must begin proceedings.
In general, you have up to six years to start your claim from the date that the data breach occurred.
How Long Data Breach Claims Take
There is no definitive timeframe for how long it could take for your bank data breach compensation claim to complete. Various factors affecting each case will impact how long the claim takes to settle, such as:
- What mental harm you suffered, how severe it was, and have you fully recovered.
- What financial harm you suffered.
- How long it takes to gather evidence.
- Whether the defendant admits liability.
- If your claim needs to go to court or not.
Regardless of how long your claim may take, one of our solicitors could guide you along the way. Contact our advisors about working with one of them today.
Can You Claim If You Experienced No Financial Losses
You do not need to experience financial loss in order to qualify for a claim. Emotional distress is considered as non-material damage which provide grounds for a claim. The psychological impact of a data breach can cause further issues, such as anxiety or depression.
When making a data breach claim, you could claim for your psychological harm, financial losses or both.
To discuss your particular case today, you can contact our advisors.
Steps To Take If A Bank Has Breached Your Data
There are certain precautionary steps that you should take following a data breach. It is important to contact your bank about the breach and receive clarification on what data was breached and the steps they are taking to resolve the issue and prevent a similar breach from occurring again in the future. You should keep a copy of any correspondence that you have with your bank in case this can be used for a potential claim.
You may also wish to report the breach to the ICO and keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, e.g. spam emails or text messages and report these.
Furthermore, you may wish to seek to make a claim with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors. By offering you a Conditional Fee Agreement, you do not need to worry about paying for their services:
- Upfront
- As the claim progresses
- If the claim fails
Should the claim be a success, your solicitor will take a small percentage from your compensation as a success fee. The law limits the amount this percentage can be.
Contact Us
To see if you could work with one of our solicitors for your bank data breach compensation claim, you can contact our advisors:
- Call 0151 375 9916
- Contact us online
More Information
More types of claims we could help you with:
- See how we could help you make an accident at work claim.
- Learn how we could help with medical negligence claims.
- See if we could help you make a road traffic accident claim.
External resources:
- Learn how to make a complaint to the ICO
- Guidance for individuals and families regarding data breaches from the National Cyber Security Centre
- Information and support from the mental health charity Mind
Thank you for reading this guide on bank data breach compensation claims.
Our Latest Customer Reviews
AS SEEN ON
Contact Us
Our helpline is open 24 hours a day, 7 days per week.
All calls are free and there’s no pressure whatsoever to proceed with a compensation claim.
If you write to us, we aim to respond within an hour or two, and no more than a few hours.
