Everything You Need To Know About Hotel Data Breach Claims

If your data has been breached by a hotel, and this has caused you any mental and financial harm, then you could claim compensation. Businesses like hotels will need various personal data to take bookings, manage reservations and communicate with their customers, but this data must be protected. When that doesn’t happen, hotel data breach claims could be made by affected persons.

At Data Breach Claims, we’ve seen every type of data breach claim you can imagine, so our advisors have become very efficient at assessing potential actions. In fact, our team can tell you within as little as a few minutes if your potential data breach compensation claim is valid. If eligible, you’ll be put through to a panel of expert solicitors who provide a range of dedicated services and support. 

Key Takeaways

• Hotels process, store and transmit various personal data in order to provide their services to guests.
• The law requires that hotels take suitable measures to protect this personal information from being compromised in any way and when that doesn’t happen, a personal data breach claim could be made.
• The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the independent data rights body for the UK, defines a personal data breach as an incident of security that impacts the integrity, availability or confidentiality of personal data.
• Data Breach Claims’ panel of highly knowledgeable solicitors can take on valid claims with some very advantageous No Win No Fee terms. Which we’ll look at towards the end of the guide.
• We also maintain a 24/7 advice service. So for answers to any queries, a no-cost eligiblity consultation or any additional advice, use the contact information given below.

Our advisory team are available at any time using the contact information given here:

Select A Section

1. Can I Claim After A Hotel Data Breach?
2. What Personal Information Will A Hotel Hold?
3. Why Might Hotel Data Breaches Occur?
4. What Compensation Is Awarded For Hotel Data Breach Claims?
5. How Can I Make A Claim For Hotel Data Breach Compensation?
6. Can I Make Hotel Data Breach Claims With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
7. More Information

Can I Claim After A Hotel Data Breach?

Yes, you could claim for a hotel data breach if it can be shown that failures to protect your personal information resulted in financial or psychological harm. Before examining the eligibility requirements, we need to look at who may be involved in a data breach incident.

The 3 relevant parties are:

• Data controllers: the organisations that choose how and why personal information is processed, stored or otherwise handled. 
• Data processors: external organisations that process personal data on behalf of a controller. It is worth pointing out that some controllers will opt to process any personal data themselves and not use any external services.
• Data subjects: living, identifiable individuals to whom the personal data relates. 

The Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), impose the rules and regulations that both data controllers and processors must uphold when processing any personal data. 

We have summarised the eligibility criteria for hotel data breach claims here:

1. The data controller or processor failed to uphold relevant data protection laws when processing personal data.
2. These failures led to a personal data breach that affected your personal information.
3. You experienced psychological distress, financial losses, or both as a result of this.

You can get a quick eligibility check by talking to our advisors today. They’re available 24 hours a day to provide free advice and assess your potential claim with no obligation to proceed. Talk to an advisor today using the contact information given below. 

What Personal Information Will A Hotel Hold?

A hotel will hold various personal information, including names, addresses and contact information of its guests in order to provide room reservations and other services effectively. Per the ICO, personal data is information that can be used to identify a living individual, the data subject, through either direct or indirect means. 

Some examples of personal information that a hotel might hold has been provided here:

• Your name.
• Contact information, such as email addresses and phone numbers.
• Debit and credit card information.
• Date of birth.
• Passport details.

Certain special category data, sensitive personal information that requires greater security, could also be held by a hotel. Examples of which could include:

• Health data for guests who have certain medical needs.
• Data relating to sexuality, for example, a same-sex couple have booked a honeymoon suite.
• Information regarding religious, philosophical beliefs and political, or membership of a trade union. A religious organisation or trade union may have rented out conference space in the hotel, for example. 

You can find out about claiming if your personal data has been exposed by speaking to our advisors today. 

Why Might Hotel Data Breaches Occur?

Hotel data breaches might occur due to human error incidents, such as leaving paperwork unsecured or intentional actions, such as cyber attacks on payment systems. While we’ve done our best to be thorough with the examples below, we can’t cover every possible instance of personal data exposure. Therefore, it’s worth speaking to our advisors for specific information regarding the breach of your personal data.

Potential examples of hotel data breaches can include:

• Inadequate anti-virus and cybersecurity software enabled cyber criminals to access the personal details and payment information of dozens of hotel guests.
• Poor staff training led to physical copies of the conference space booking for a local mosque’s charity conference being misplaced. This lost paperwork was eventually thrown out with hotel recycling, enabling unauthorised persons to gain knowledge of the event and harass the attendees.
• Failures to utilise blind carbon copy (BCC) for a group email resulted in all recipients on the hotel mailing list gaining access to everyone else’s email addresses. 

As we said above, hotel data breach claims can be made after various incidents, not just the examples provided above. Our advisors can provide further advice and assess your eligibility to claim free of charge. Get in touch today using the contact details below. 

What Compensation Is Awarded For Hotel Data Breach Claims?

Compensation for two types of damage can be awarded in hotel data breach claims, covering both financial and psychological harm. Financial losses caused by a breach of your personal information are known as material damage, and we’ll examine these losses in the next section.

Psychological injury is referred to as non-material damage and solicitors can determine a potential compensation figure by referring to your medical diagnosis alongside the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). 

The JCG sets out guideline payout brackets for different injuries and you’ll see the brackets for psychological damage in the table below. We should point out that the top entry is not a JCG bracket but a potential total compensation figure for both types of damage. 

Compensation Table

Please note that the information given here is intended to act as guidance only.

Type of Harm and Severity	Guideline Payout Amount	Notes
Very Serious Psychological Distress with Material Damage	Up to £500,000 and Above	In addition to very serious psychological distress, the data subject will have incurred a significant loss of earnings, medical costs and potentially security expenses due to address exposure.
Psychological Injury Generally - Severe (a)	£66,920 to £141,240	Marked problems with regard to ability to cope with work, relationships and education, with a very poor prognosis.
Psychological Injury Generally - Moderately Severe (b)	£23,270 - £66,920	A much more optimistic prognosis, but with significant problems relating to ability to cope with work and personal life.
Psychological Injury Generally - Moderate (c)	£7,150 to £23,270	Marked improvement in the person's condition with a good prognosis.
Psychological Injury Generally - Less Severe (d)	£1,880 to £7,150	Consideration for impact on sleep, daily activities and length of disability period.
Trauma-Related Stress Disorder - Severe (a)	£73,050 to £122,850	Permament and very bad effects across all areas of life preventing anything close to the pre-trauma function levels.
Trauma-Related Stress Disorder - Moderately Severe (b)	£28,250 to £73,050	Significant disability for the foreseeable future despite a better prognosis than above.
Trauma-Related Stress Disorder - Moderate (c)	£9,980 to £28,250	Where the affected person has largely recovered and isn't experiencing any gross disablement.
Trauma-Related Stress Disorder- Less Severe (d)	£4,820 to £9,980	A virtual recovery within two, and only minor symptoms persisting for any longer.

Material Losses In Hotel Data Breach Claims

Material losses, also known as material damage, refers to the financial loss caused by having your personal information exposed. Costs that could be reimbursed as part of the claim have been detailed below:

• Lost earnings from time taken off work due to emotional distress.
• Medical treatments relating to talking therapies, counselling or medications.
• The cost of security installations such as cameras or additional locks, or even a full relocation, if your address has been exposed and your safety compromised. 

Proof of these losses, such as your payslips, bills for medical treatments and purchase receipts for any home security, should be kept so a solicitor can accurately value the claim.  You can get a more personalised idea of what your potential claim could be worth by speaking to our advisors today. Call the number below for in-depth guidance, as well a free assessment of your eligibility to claim. 

How Can I Make A Claim For Hotel Data Breach Compensation?

You can make a claim for hotel data breach compensation by providing suitable supporting evidence and making sure your claim is brought within the correct time limit. The proof you provide will be used not only to show that a personal data breach occurred but also the extent of the harm that was caused to you. Evidence that can be used in a hospitality data breach claim against a hotel can include:

• The data breach notification letter from the hotel. Data controllers should inform affected data subjects without undue delay if their rights and freedoms are at risks. 
• Further correspondence from the hotel regarding any steps they have advised you to take or developments in the data breach.
• Medical evidence that shows you have suffered psychiatric harm and are undergoing treatment. 
• Proof of material damage sustained due to the data breach. 

Is There A Personal Data Breach Claims Time Limit?

There is generally a time limit of up to 6 years in personal data breach claims. You can check your particular limitation period by speaking to a member of our advisory team via the contact information given below. 

Can I Make Hotel Data Breach Claims With A No Win No Fee Solicitor?

Yes, you could make hotel data breach claims with a No Win No Fee solicitor if you meet the eligibility requirements discussed above. Data Breach Claims’ team of advisors can tell you within a few minutes if you have a valid claim. If eligible, they’ll put you in touch with a highly experienced specialist solicitor from our panel.  

Our panel of professional data breach solicitors have substantial experience in dealing with claims of all varieties and provide tailored services to meet your particular needs. We have summarised just some of the things our solicitors can do for you here:

• Providing clear explanations of how the claim is progressing and explaining all the tricky legal terms.
• Making sure you get any medical treatment, counselling and other support you might need to cope with the psychological distress.
• Negotiating with the hotel’s solicitors on your behalf.
• Calculating a compensation figure for both material and non-material damage.
• Assisting you with evidence collection.

The solicitors we work with can offer a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) to eligible claimants. This will protect them from having to pay solicitor fees at the beginning of the claim as well as during the actual process.

A CFA also prevents solicitor fees from being charged if the claim is lost. If the claim is won however, a percentage of your compensation will be taken as a success fee. The maximum that a solicitor can charge for their success fee is restricted to 25% by The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013. This means that most of any payout you receive will be yours to keep. 

Contact Data Breach Claims

To get further guidance on No Win No Fee data breach claims, talk to one of our advisors. If you want a free eligiblity check, they can provide this too. Get in touch today:

• Call on 020 8050 6279
• Contact Us online.
• Use our live discussion window in the corner of this screen.

More Information

Some data breach claims guides on different topics have been included here:

• Find out if you could claim for a lost device data breach that caused you material or non-material damage.
• Check if you could claim after a government data breach affected your personal information.
• See how to report a UK GDPR data breach with this guide. 

These resources provide additional information that might be useful to you:

• Learn more about your right to get data deleted with this ICO resource.
• You can get help with stress from the NHS. 
• Find out more about the work of the National Cybersecurity Centre on their website. 

Thank you for reading our guide to hotel data breach claims. To get a more detailed idea of what your potential claim could be worth, reach out today. Our advisors are available all day, every day via the contact details given above.