If your personal data has been compromised, this could cause you to suffer psychologically. Additionally, the breach may also lead you to suffer financial losses. If your bank has suffered an online data breach which has exposed your personal data, you may be eligible to claim compensation. In this guide, we’ll discuss the process of making online banking data breach claims.
Key Takeaways For Online Banking Data Breach Claims
- The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) sit together as data protection law in the UK.
- You may receive compensation for your psychological injuries, financial losses or both in a successful personal data breach claim.
- You generally have up to 6 years to begin a personal data breach claim.
- Evidence is essential to demonstrate the harm you’ve suffered as a result of the data breach.
- You can make your online banking data breach claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
If you have any questions while reading this data breach compensation claims guide or would like to discuss your case, you can contact one of the friendly advisors on our team:
- Call us on 020 8050 3051
- Contact us online
- Use Our live chat
Select A Section
- What Counts As Online Banking?
- What Kind Of Data Do Banks Keep?
- Can I Make An Online Banking Data Breach Claim?
- How To Prove A Data Breach Claim
- How Much Compensation Could I Receive For An Online Banking Data Breach?
- Make A No Win No Fee Online Banking Data Breach Claim
- Get More Information
What Counts As Online Banking?
Before discussing online banking data breach claims, it’s important to understand what exactly ‘online banking’ means.
Online banking is a service that allows you to manage your bank account and transactions via the Internet by using a mobile phone app or a web browser. It offers the convenience of not having to rush to the nearest bank to check your bank balance or transfer funds.
To see whether you could be eligible to make a personal data breach claim, continue reading this guide. You can also contact our advisors to discuss your particular case and receive free advice.
What Kind Of Data Do Banks Keep?
Personal data is any information that can identify you directly or in combination with other information. Banks can keep various personal data of yours. For example, they may request this information to set up a bank account with them. This personal data could include your:
- Name
- Address
- Date of Birth
- Personal email address
- Mobile phone number
Is Financial Data Personal Data?
Your debit card details, account number and sort code all together can be classed as personal data. Additionally, any personal emails or telephone numbers you use to access your online banking are also classed as personal data.
Find out when you can claim for a banking data breach in the next section. You can also contact our advisors to discuss your particular case.
Can I Make An Online Banking Data Breach Claim?
Any organisation that processes your personal data, such as a bank, needs to adhere to the rules and regulations set out within the UK GDPR and the DPA. This is because they sit together as data protection law.
If your bank failed to adhere to these regulations, this may be referred to as wrongful conduct. If wrongful conduct took place, this could lead to a data breach that compromises your personal data.
A personal data breach is any security incident that affects the integrity, availability or confidentiality of personal data. It could be accidental or deliberate.
All online banking data breach claims will need to meet the following criteria in order to be deemed valid:
- The bank failed to adhere to data protection law.
- This resulted in a data breach affecting your personal data.
- You suffered some financial or psychological harm as a result of the above.
For example, if your bank failed to regularly update their cyber security systems and this lead to their online banking system being hacked and your personal data being stolen, you may be able to claim if this caused you financial or psychological harm.
Speak to us now to learn what to do if your data has been breached and to check the eligibility of your potential claim.
How To Prove A Data Breach Claim
Collecting evidence is an essential step to in the online banking data breach claims process. The evidence must prove that your personal data was breached and demonstrate the harm you’ve suffered.
Evidence you could use to prove that your personal data was breached includes:
- A notification letter or email informing you of the breach and what personal data was compromised.
- Any correspondence with your bank regarding the data breach.
- The findings of an investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the regulatory body that upholds data rights in the UK.
To prove any psychological harm you have suffered, you can include evidence like:
- A diagnosis letter from a psychologist
- Psychological assessments
- Medical records
On the other hand, you can include the following evidence to prove your financial losses:
- Invoices
- Bank statements
- Salary slips
A solicitor from our panel could help you with gathering evidence to support your data breach claim. Contact our advisors today to learn more about how to sue a company for a data breach with the help of a solicitor.
How Much Compensation Could I Receive For An Online Banking Data Breach?
In successful online banking data breach compensation claims, you may receive compensation for the following:
- Non-Material Damage: This includes compensation for your psychological injuries such as depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder.
- Material Damage: This includes compensation for your financial losses.
Your data breach solicitor or the person responsible for valuing your psychological harm may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This is because this document contains compensation guidelines for various physical and psychological injuries.
In the table below, we provide some of the JCG figures for psychological harm (except for the first row). However, you must use this table only for guidance.
| Injury | Notes | Compensation Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Psychological Harm and Financial Losses | This includes compensation for extreme psychological duress and any financial losses such as loss of earnings. | Up to £500,000+ |
| Severe Psychiatric Damage | The factors taken into account are the individual's ability to work, study, how their personal relationships have suffered, their ability to cope in life and probable success of treatment. | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage | While there are serious issues, there is a more positive prognosis and prospect of a more optimistic outcome. | £23,270 to £66,920 |
| Moderate Psychiatric Damage | There are various issues but there has been remarkable improvement and overall prognosis is positive. | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Less Severe Psychiatric Damage | The award depends on factors like impact on sleeping and other daily activities. | £1,880 to £7,150 |
| Severe PTSD | There is a negative impact on all aspects of life and the individual is unable to function at the pre-trauma level. | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe PTSD | There is a better prognosis but significant disability | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| Moderate PTSD | The individual has largely recovered but still has a significant disability. | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Less Severe PTSD | The person has virtually recovered completely within a year or two. | £4,820 to £9,980 |
Am I Eligible To Claim Material Damage Compensation?
As aforementioned, you could also claim compensation for your material damage. Some examples may include:
- Loss of earnings if you had to take time off from work for your safety or recovery.
- Cost of attending counselling and therapy, including the cost of travelling for the sessions.
- Relocation expenses if you have to relocate due to a data breach of your home address.
- Cost of installing security equipment in your home for safety.
To learn more about how compensation is awarded in online banking data breach claims, you can contact our advisors.
Make A No Win No Fee Online Banking Data Breach Claim
For online banking data breach claims, it’s recommended that you enlist the assistance of a data breach solicitor to seek compensation. Our panel of solicitors have years of experience working on various types of data breach claims, including online banking data breach claims. They can help you with:
- Collecting evidence
- Submitting your claim within the time limit
- Calculating your compensation
- Negotiating with the defending party
Furthermore, they can work on your claim on a No Win No Fee basis by offering you a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This means:
- You won’t have to pay them upfront for them to begin working on your claim.
- There is no expectation of payment for their services as the claim progresses.
- If the claim fails, you won’t have to pay them for the work done on your case.
- You’ll pay them a success fee if your claim is successful. This will be taken as a percentage of your compensation, and the law limits this.
Contact Us
To learn more about the online banking data breach claims process, or to see if a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel could help you, contact our advisors:
- Speak to us directly on live chat.
- Call 020 8050 3051
- Contact us online.
Get More Information
Additional data breach claims guides by us:
- Our guide on university data breach compensation,
- Information on claiming for a data breach on social media.
- Details on making a hospital data breach claim.
You can also go through some of these external links for more information:
- Guidance on local support for your mental health from Mind.
- Details from the government on staying safe online.
- Information on data breaches from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC).
Thank you for reading this guide on online banking data breach claims.
