We trust that our data will be handled and treated with care to uphold data protection laws. Any organisation processing personal data must ensure that they are fully compliant with the UK’s data protection legislation to prevent a compromise in this information. This includes businesses and shops that may take your details for purchases and reward cards. Customer data breach claims can be made when emotional distress and/or financial harm is caused by a compromise in this information due to the organisation failing to adhere to the data protection legislation in places.
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, in their Cyber Security Breaches Survey, found that approximately 612,000 businesses identified a cyber breach or attack in the past year alone. This highlights the risk of your personal data being compromised due to cybercrime; however, your data can also be breached if your paperwork or device is stolen or if there is human error. Furthermore, if the business failed to adhere to the data protection laws and you suffered harm, you could make a claim.
Experiencing a personal data breach can be isolating and overwhelming, ultimately threatening the safety of your data and person, especially if your address is compromised. Here at Data Breach Claims, we’ve helped numerous individuals recover compensation for the harm they’ve suffered.
Get in touch with our advisors now. They can assess whether you have good grounds to make a data breach claim. If you do, they can connect you to one of the No Win No Fee solicitors on our panel.
Get In Touch
- Call us on 020 8050 6279
- Fill out our online contact us form
- Using our live chat to talk to an advisor
We Can Help With Your Claim
Our team of specialist advisors are ready to assist you with your data breach claim
Jump To A Section
- What Are Customer Data Breach Claims?
- Can I Claim Compensation For A Customer Data Breach?
- What Is Needed To Bring A Data Breach Claim As A Customer?
- How Much Customer Data Breach Compensation Could I Get?
- No Win No Fee Customer Data Breach Claims
- More Information
What Are Customer Data Breach Claims?
Customer data breach claims can arise when a person’s personal data is lost, accessed, or disclosed by a data controller or data processor due to their failure to act in accordance with data protection laws. A data controller is an organisation that processes personal data, although they may appoint a processor to do this. Processing is what is done with personal data, such as the collection, recording and storage, which can typically occur when signing up for rewards cards with shops.
For a recent example of a customer data breach, we can look to Marks and Spencer’s cyberattack in April 2025. Customers had their personal details compromised, including names, addresses, and phone numbers.
Resource: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c62v34zv828o
Claims can be made provided that the breach led to either psychological or financial harm, but we discuss eligibility below in more depth. To learn more about what customer data breach claims are, get in touch with one of our advisors today. They are available around the clock to explore this with you.
Can I Claim Compensation For A Customer Data Breach?
You could claim compensation for a data breach as a customer if your personal data (information that can identify you as the subject) was compromised following an organisation’s failure to adhere to and comply with data protection laws. It must be shown that this data breach caused you either psychological or financial harm, or both.
All companies in the UK that process personal data must abide by both the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation, which are two pieces of legislation that govern how personal data is stored, handled and used.
Thus, in order for you to be eligible to make a data breach claim, you have to show:
- The data breach was a direct result of a data controller’s or a data processor’s failure to adhere to data protection laws.
- This led to your personal data being breached.
- Causing you psychological or financial harm, or both.
For a free case check, contact our advisors today. They can discuss the validity of your claim and answer any questions you may have.
We Can Help With Your Claim
Our team of specialist advisors are ready to assist you with your data breach claim
What Is Needed To Bring A Data Breach Claim As A Customer?
When bringing a data breach claim as a customer, you must hold evidence which displays how the data breach caused you financial loss or psychological harm. By working with a solicitor on our panel, you would have assistance in collating this supporting evidence, but it might include things like:
- Proof of your psychological damage: this might include medical records, copies of prescriptions or a diagnosis letter from your GP or psychiatrist.
- Documents that prove your financial losses, such as payslips, receipts, invoices, and bank statements, can provide evidence of economic damages.
- Proof of the breach itself: you might’ve received an email advising you that data has been breached.
- The findings of an Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) investigation (if they investigated).
- Correspondence: this can be any communication between you and the organisation responsible for breaching your data
A solicitor from our panel could assist you in gathering this evidence that can support your data breach claim. To find out more about what evidence can be used to support customer data breach claims, get in touch with our advisors today.
How Much Customer Data Breach Compensation Could I Get?
Every data breach claim is judged on its own merits, and settlements are calculated on a case-by-case basis, so the amount of customer data breach compensation you could get depends on a few factors. For example, the extent to which the breach financially and mentally impacted you will be taken into consideration when your compensation is being calculated.
When making a customer data breach claim, you could seek compensation for two different types of damage: non-material damage and material damage.
Non-material damage is concerned with the psychological harm caused by the breach; this can include things such as increased anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Material damage is focused solely on the financial impact caused by the data breach, which we discuss in further detail below.
When the value of your non-material damage is being calculated, the professionals responsible for calculating your compensation amount can consider the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This document can help solicitors value the psychological damage because it contains compensation brackets which outline awards for certain types of harm.
Below, our table includes JCG brackets representing the guideline amounts paid out for PTSD and psychiatric damage; please be aware that the top entry isn’t from the JCG and that this is not a guarantee of compensation.
| Harm and Severity | Notes | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple Types of Severe Psychological Harm + Financial Losses | A number of different types of serious psychiatric harm as well as financial losses such as medical costs, loss of earnings and costs for psychiatric help. | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychiatric Damage Generally - Severe (a) | The impact on the person's ability to cope with work, and life will be taken into account and will affect the amount awarded. | £66,920 - £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | Long-standing disability preventing a return to comparable employment would fall into this category. | £23,270 - £66,920 |
| Moderate (c) | Good prognosis, and marked improvement. | £7,150 - £23,270 |
| Less Severe (d) | The amount awarded will depend on the length of the period of disability and the level that daily activites and sleep were affected. | £1,880 - £7,150 |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - Severe (a) | Cases in this bracket will be prevented from working at all or functioning at a pre-trauma level. | £73,050 - £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | Some recovery with professional help. | £28,250 - £73,050 |
| Moderate (c) | No grossly disabling effects and the person will have largely recovered. | £9,980 - £28,250 |
| Less Severe (d) | Nearly a full recovery within one to two years and only minor symptoms will remain.. | £4,820 - £9,980 |
Customer Data Breach Material Loss Compensation
As we previously discussed, settlements from a customer data breach can include any financial losses (material damage) suffered as a result. This could encompass:
- Loss of earnings, as well as any future impact on earnings
- Medical expenses such as costs of counselling, psychiatric help or therapy
- Costs of relocation, to protect your safety (where your address may have been compromised)
- Additional security costs such as cameras, alarms or enhanced cybersecurity programmes
If you’d like to learn more about what could be considered in your compensation for your material damage, you can get in touch with our advisors today. They can connect you with an expert solicitor from our panel to give you a better idea of how your compensation is calculated.
No Win No Fee Customer Data Breach Claims
Our panel of solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis, through a contract called a Conditional Fee Agreement. What this means is that you would have no upfront solicitors fees to pay; additionally, you’d have no fees for their work while your claim progressed, and most importantly, you’d have no solicitors fees to pay for their work if your claim were to be unsuccessful.
Conversely, if your claim were successful, then a small percentage would be deductible from your compensation as their success fee. This percentage is limited in accordance with the Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013 to ensure that you receive the bulk of your compensation.
In addition to the benefits of a No Win No Fee claim, by working with a solicitor from our panel, you could expect support such as:
- Regular updates about the progression of your data breach claim
- Help with any queries
- Ensuring that you have a strong claim by creating a strong body of evidence
- Gathering this evidence with you
- Explaining complex legal language
- Advocating on your behalf to achieve a settlement that reflects the non-material and material damage caused by the breach of your data
Contact Our Advisors
To get in touch with one of our knowledgeable advisors, you can reach us by:
- Calling us on 020 8050 6279
- Filling out our online contact us form
- Using our live chat to talk to an advisor
More Information
Why not read our other guides about:
- How to make a claim if the police breached your data
- Everything you need to know about University data breach claims
- Learn how to How to report a data breach
Helpful External Resources
- NHS Guidance on Dealing with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- ICO Information about how Organisations can protect your data
- The NHS’s overview on mental health generally
Thank you for reading our guide on customer data breach claims.