Claiming When Affected By The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data

Last Updated On 16th June 2025. 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.

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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 24/7. 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:

Jump To A Section

  1. A Guide To Claiming For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data 
  2. Can You Make A Data Breach Claim?
  3. Potential Evidence You Could Use When Claiming For A Data Protection Breach
  4. How Do I Claim Compensation For A Data Breach? – Potential Payout Amounts
  5. How Long Does It Take To Claim Data Breach Compensation?
  6. Can You Make A No Win No Fee Data Breach Claim For The Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data?
  7. 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.

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. 

With this in mind, we have provided the following compensation table to help you learn 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 and the top figure is not contained in the JCG. How much you could receive in compensation will depend on your specific claim. 

Non-Material DamageCompensationNotes
Multiple Severe Psychological Injuries and Significant Financial LossesUp to £250,000 plusThis award is for the most severe psychological injuries that result in significant financial losses.
Severe Psychiatric Damage£66,920 to £141,240The factors considered within these brackets include the person's ability to cope with different aspects of their life including relationships, whether treatment is successful, their future vulnerability, prognosis and whether they received medical help.
Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage£23,270 to £66,920This award is for the factors listed above. However, the prognosis is more optimistic.
Moderate Psychiatric Damage£7,150 to £23,270This award is for the factors listed in both of the above. However, the prognosis is much more optimistic.
Less Severe Psychiatric Damage£1,880 to £7,150The factors considered within these brackets include the time length of mental disability and the extent it had on the person’s sleep and daily activities.
Severe PTSD£73,050 to £122,850This award is for people who suffer from permanent PTSD that prevents them from working and affects all aspects of their lives.
Moderately Severe PTSD£28,250 to £73,050This award is for people who suffer from PTSD but have a better prognosis than above and benefit from professional support.
Moderate PTSD£9,980 to £28,250This award is for people with PTSD but the impact of it is not grossly disabling.
Less Severe PTSD£4,820 to £9,980This award is for people with PTSD that recover within one to two years.

For further guidance on how to claim data breach 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. 

Contact our advisors today to see whether you are eligible to claim compensation for the accidental destruction of your personal data.

How Long Does It Take To Claim Data Breach Compensation?

The time frame for claiming compensation for the accidental destruction of personal data depends on a variety of factors. Therefore, as the circumstances of all data breach claims are unique, clients receive compensation payouts within different amounts of time.  

Some factors that may determine how long it takes you to claim compensation include:

  • The complexity of your data breach claim
  • The process of having your psychological injuries diagnosed
  • The gathering of essential evidence to build your claim 
  • The calculation of your compensation 
  • Whether the third party admitted liability or not 
  • Whether multiple parties were affected by the accidental data breach
  • The time it takes for the ICO to investigate your data breach (if they decide to investigate)
  • The process of settlement negotiations with third parties   
  • Whether your claim goes through legal proceedings in court 

Regardless of the complexity of your claim, the solicitors on our panel will use their legal expertise to try and reach a settlement within a reasonable timeframe to help you move on. 

Please remember that the earlier you begin the data breach claims process, the sooner our panel can take the necessary steps to build your claim. 

If you would like more specific information on the time your accidental destruction of personal data compensation claim will take, please contact our advisors.

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 form of a 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 awarded 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. They can also let you know whether you could make a personal data breach claim.

To speak with one of our advisors today:

Learn More About Claiming For Accidental Destruction Of Personal Data 

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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