How To Claim E-Commerce Data Breach Compensation

Last Updated 30th September 2025. Online shopping should be an enjoyable, easy experience from the comfort of your own home. E-commerce websites often hold customer data such as credit card information and address details. Therefore, if an e-commerce website compromises your personal data, you could suffer mental harm and negative financial effects. You may therefore be wondering about whether you could receive compensation by making an e-commerce data breach claim. Thankfully, our team of friendly advisors are here to help you navigate this process.

Our expert panel of solicitors could provide you with a fully personalised service from start to finish, ensuring that your health and wellbeing are prioritised. As part of the services that we offer at Data Breach Claims, you could enjoy regular case updates, excellent recovery support and assistance with evidence-gathering throughout the process. 

What You Need To Know About E-Commerce Data Breach Claims

• What are data breaches in E-commerce? An e-commerce organisation could fail to adhere to data protection laws by compromising your personal data. This can occur due to human error, sending packages to the wrong address, and failing to have safety firewalls for hackers.
• How do I know if I was part of a data breach? Organisations legally must notify you of a data breach; you should therefore receive a breach notification letter.
• What evidence can I provide to support my claim? Helpful evidence may include a notification letter regarding the breach, your medical records and financial records to support the harm you suffered.
• What personal data of mine could an online store have? An e-commerce website could hold your name, address, your date of birth and biometric data.
• Should I be worried about an e-commerce data breach? A personal data breach can cause distress depending on the type of data that was compromised. For instance, your chances of being a victim of identity or financial theft could increase if your credit card details are shared.

Jump To A Section

• Can I Claim For An E-Commerce Data Breach? 
• How Could An E-Commerce Data Breach Happen? 
• Do E-Commerce Businesses Have To Contact Customers After A Data Breach?
• What Is The Claims Process For Data Breaches? 
• How Much Compensation Could I Receive For A Data Breach?
• Claim Data Breach Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis
• Learn More About Data Breach Claims

Can I Claim For An E-Commerce Data Breach?

Personal data is any that identifies you, whether directly or indirectly. Retailers have to protect it under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.

Suppose an online retailer does anything to risk the security, availability, or integrity of your personal data. In that case, they may be liable for any personal data breaches that happen as a result. You can claim if:

• An online retailer does not comply with data protection laws.
• This causes some form of harm.

A data breach claim will be made against one of two people:

• Data controllers. They make decisions about personal data and are generally responsible for breaches.
• Data processors. They process data but don’t necessarily make decisions about it. This is often on behalf of controllers.

Both must have a good reason to keep or use your data. With e-commerce, for example, a common reason is legitimate interest. Online stores need to keep your retail data on file so they can email receipts and take payments.

What Personal Information Would An Online Store Have?

As explained in the section above, personal data identifies you. Examples are:

• Name
• Address
• Contact Details
• Date of Birth

A data controller may also use special category data, sensitive personal data that comes with extra protections:

• Biometric data for certain health related products.
• Trade union membership for related discounts.
• Purchases that indicate religious, philosophical, or sexual practices.

These are examples of personal data that can be breached. If special category data is involved, however, the consequences can be greater.

You can discuss your particular data breach experience with our advisors today. They can then match you with our panel of expert data breach lawyers who can fight to restore your losses and seek compensation for any harm caused. Get in touch using the details above to learn more.

How Could An E-Commerce Data Breach Happen?

A data breach is when a security incident puts personal data at risk.

With e-commerce, this could happen at any point, from when you visit a website to when your parcel arrives. Here are some examples of e-commerce data breaches:

 

• A teaching supplies website sends your order to the wrong address. While the parcel is addressed to them, the invoice inside states your name, your address, and the fact that you received a trade union discount.
• The delivery driver for an online pharmacy often leaves the back doors of their van open during their rounds. Your neighbour walks past and reads a clipboard listing your pharmacy data, including your name, address, and prescribed medications.
• Hackers steal credit card details from the website of a popular shoe retailer. The store did not have any security measures in place to prevent this.

In each case, a data controller or processor acted wrongfully or didn’t take reasonable steps to prevent a data breach. In some way, they failed to comply with data protection laws. However, this may not always be the case.

Imagine that hackers steal payment card details from the website of a popular shoe retailer despite the company keeping their security software updated. The store could not have reasonably done more to prevent the breach. It is unlikely this would provide the grounds to make a claim.

For a claim to work, the data controller or processor must fail to meet their obligations under data protection law. Whether they did or not, however, may not always be clear, which is why our advisors are at hand. They can provide clarity and, if you have a case, connect you with our panel of data breach solicitors. You can speak to them using the details at the top of this guide.

Do E-Commerce Businesses Have To Contact Customers After A Data Breach?

Businesses must take certain steps within 72 hours of an e-commerce data breach.

• Investigate what happened.
• Try to contain the breach or minimise the damage caused.
• Conduct a risk assessment.
• Report the breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

If a breach puts your freedoms or rights at risk, the business must also tell you in writing without undue delay. This correspondence should explain the breach and how you can protect yourself.

You can also make a complaint to the ICO directly. They are an independent public body that regulates data protection for UK residents. While they cannot award compensation, they can investigate and report their findings. A letter from them may provide valuable evidence in a data breach claim.

You do not need to talk to the ICO before you contact our advisors, or at all for that matter. As soon as you have reason to believe your data has been breached, call our team for a free initial consultation. Their details are at the top of this page, and they are ready to help.

What Is The Claims Process For Data Breaches?

There is a standard process for making e-commerce data breach claims. For example, a member of our panel will usually seek to:

• Investigate your case.
• Write to the data controller, setting out the issues.
• Exchange relevant information with everyone involved.
• Discuss fault and compensation.
• Try to come to a settlement.

While every stage is important, the best prospects usually come from strong Evidence:

• ICO Correspondence – their findings, if any, may support your claim.
• Breach Notification Letter – data controllers must inform you if they risk your data rights.
• Witness Contact Details – legal professionals can take statements from anyone who saw the effects of the breach.
• Medical Evidence – to show any psychiatric harm caused by the breach.
• Financial Records – to show any monetary losses caused by the breach.

Our panel are experts at gathering claim evidence and can do so for you, saving you time and resources. Talk to our advisors to get started. Their details are at the start of this guide.

How Much Compensation Could I Receive For A Data Breach?

You may be eligible for compensation after an e-commerce data breach. The amount of compensation will depend on the effects of that breach. Two kinds of damage that can be reflected in the compensation:

• Non-material damage is pain, suffering, and interruption to life.
• Material damage includes monetary losses.

The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are a set of suggested compensation brackets for differing injuries. They help to estimate the value of non-material damage, should you claim for distress caused by a data breach. Below are some examples.

Please note that these are guidelines and not guarantees. Final amounts, if successful, may vary. Also, the top entry is not from the JCG.

Type	Severity	Compensation	Notes
Psychiatric Harm plus Compensation for Material Damage	Very Severe	Up to £250,000 or more	Not a JCG figure. Likely to include loss of earnings or relocation costs.
Psychiatric Damage Generally	Severe	£66,920 to £141,240	Extreme effects on prospects, relationships, and medical outlook.
	Moderately Severe	£23,270 to £66,920	Significant effects on prospects, relationships, and medical outlook. Optimistic prognosis.
	Moderate	£7,150 to £23,270	Recovery likely with regards to prospects, relationships, and medical outlook.
	Less Severe	£1,880 to £7,150	Negative effects on life and sleep in particular.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Severe	£73,050 to £122,850	Life affected in all aspects, often permanently.
	Moderately Severe	£28,250 to £73,050	Significant disability for the foreseeable future. Recovery possible with professional help.
	Moderate	£9,980 to £28,250	Long-term effects not significant. Recovery possible
	Less Severe	£4,820 to £9,980	Recovery within 1-2 years.

You may also be compensated for material damage, including financial losses. You will need to prove each loss for which you claim. For example:

• Medical reports and payslips to prove loss of earnings.
• Invoices to show relocation costs if the data breach means you have to move house.
• Receipts to demonstrate the cost of professional therapy.

You can seek to claim for any loss so long as you can prove the data breach caused it.

Our panel of data breach solicitors can help you through this process, giving you advice tailored to your unique circumstances. They can also help you recover your financial losses by gathering the best evidence available. Call one of our advisors now to get started. Their details can be found at the top of this page.

Claim Data Breach Compensation On A No Win No Fee Basis

Our panel of solicitors take on a broad range of data breach claims – from e-commerce to hospital data – because they have the right expertise and a proven track record. When you move forwards with them, you can be sure you are supported by:

• Years of experience bringing cases to a successful conclusion.
• Knowledge of the latest and most cutting-edge legal developments.
• Lawyers with compassion and understanding of the effects a data breach can have.

You can also be sure that money for solicitor’s fees is no barrier to claiming. When you sign a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) with a member of our panel, the only penny you’ll pay for their services is a small and legally capped percentage of your compensation if you succeed. That’s it.

• No solicitor’s fees to start.
• No solicitor’s fees throughout.
• No solicitor’s fees if you lose.

There’s no reason to wait to start an e-commerce data breach claim. You’re in control, so reach out today.

• Call us on 020 8050 6279.
• Contact us with any queries.
• Talk to us now using the Live Chat below.

Learn More About Data Breach Claims

We hope you found this guide useful. To continue your reading, follow the links below.

Here are some more guides from us answering commonly asked questions:

• What is the time limit for data breach claims?
• What should I do if my data is breached?
• Can I claim for a data breach on social media?

Here are further resources from around the Internet:

• The ICO’s report on the growing threat of cyber attacks.
• How to get a copy of your data with a Data Subject Access Request.
• Read the NHS’s advice for treating PTSD.

Thank you for reading our guide on what to do if you experience an e-commerce data breach.