Police Data Breach Compensation Claims

Last Updated 30th September 2025. If you’ve had contact with the police whether it be as a witness, a victim, or the accused of a crime, it’s most likely that your personal data has been stored by them. Your trust is therefore instilled in the police to process and store your data in a safe manner. If you’ve experienced a police data breach, this can create feelings of mistrust, psychological harm and consequent financial losses. Therefore, you may be giving some thought to starting a claim for police data breach compensation to achieve a sense of justice.

At Data Breach Claims, our friendly team of advisors work around the clock to answer any questions you may have. You could also experience a free eligibility consultation to look at the strengths of your claim. If your case is strong, you could be connected with one of the specialist No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel to start your claim for data breach compensation. Moreover, you could enjoy an arrangement of an independent medical report, help with signing legal documents and assistance with evidence-gathering.

Your Need To Know Questions Answered 

• Who investigates a data breach? You could report your data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO); their role is to investigate your breach and take action against organisations where necessary.
• What is a police data breach? A police data breach can occur if your personal information is stolen, accessed or disclosed due to the police not adhering to data protection laws.
• How much compensation could I receive for a police data breach? Compensation is calculated on a case-by-case basis, and often depends on the severity of your harm, the length of your recovery period and the impact on your everyday life.
• Who pays my compensation? If your police data breach claim is successful, the constabulary that breached your data will be responsible for paying your damages.
• How long will my claim take? Whilst there is no definitive time frame for a data breach claim, the solicitors from our panel work as quickly as they can, adhering to stringent deadlines. The length of your recovery period and the severity of your harm may also influence the speed of your claim.

Choose A Section

1. Police Data Breach – What Is It?
2. How Can A Data Breach Occur?
3. What Should I Do If My Data Was Involved In A Police Data Breach?
4. What Potential Compensation Could I Receive From A Data Breach?
5. How Long Do I Have To Start A Police Data Breach Claim?
6. No Win No Fee Solicitors – What Are The Benefits?
7. Learn More About What You Can Do After A Police Data Breach

Police Data Breach – What Is It?

A data breach refers to a security incident which can involve your personal data being destroyed, altered or lost either accidentally or unlawfully. It can also involve your personal data being disclosed or accessed without authorisation. Personal data is any personal information that is able to identify you either directly or in combination with other pieces of information, such as your name, telephone number, and personal email address. 

The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) as well as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) both set out the responsibilities of data controllers plus the data processors to protect your personal data. A data controller sets the purpose for processing and can process the data themselves. A data processor acts on behalf of the controller. Both must adhere to data protection laws.

If they fail to uphold these laws, your personal data could end up being compromised in a data breach. This could lead to you experiencing financial losses or mental harm. In these cases, you could have valid grounds to seek out compensation.

To learn about what actions you could take after a police data breach compromised your personal data, get in touch with us today.

How Can A Data Breach Occur?

Organisations can hold physical and digital personal data about you in paper files or hard drives. This means that a data breach could happen due to a cyber attack, as well as human error. A cyber security incident can involve an organisation failing to update its cyber security systems making them more susceptible to an attack, such as a ransomware attack or phishing scam. 

Some examples of how your personal data could be breached due to human error are:

• Someone emailed your personal data to the wrong person in an email data breach.
• Someone sent details about a report you made to the police to the wrong postal address.
• Someone disclosed information about your criminal record verbally without authorisation to do so.
• Files containing a witness statement you gave weren’t disposed of or destroyed properly.

In order to receive data breach compensation, you must prove that the breach occurred due to the organisation’s failings and that you experienced monetary loss or emotional harm as a result.

To find out what steps you could take after a police data breach compromised your personal data, please get in touch with us online or on the phone. An advisor can help you understand whether you’re eligible to seek compensation.

What Should I Do If My Data Was Involved In A Police Data Breach?

You may be wondering ‘what should I do if police breached my data? There are several different steps you and the organisation can take. Firstly, you can get in touch with the organisation directly if you have concerns that personal data of yours has been affected by a breach.

If they fail to respond or they don’t respond adequately, you could notify the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent body that was set up to uphold information rights. They may investigate your report, however, they cannot award compensation. If they do investigate, the findings from their assessment could later be used as evidence that supports your potential police data breach claim.

The organisation must inform you without undue delay if your rights and freedoms have been impacted. They are also required to notify the ICO within 72 hours of the data breach happening. 

For more information on what steps could be taken if your personal information was compromised in a police data breach, get in touch with our advisors today.

What Potential Compensation Could I Receive From A Data Breach?

Any mental suffering you endure due to a personal data breach is considered non-material damage within data breach claims. This can include depression, anxiety, or distress. Compensation can be provided for non-material damage within your settlement if your claim succeeds.

In the table below, we have included compensation brackets for different types of psychological injuries. These figures are taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG).

Those involved in supporting a data breach claim may check the JCG to determine the value of non-material damage as part of a claim. Please only use the following figures as a guideline though as how much you receive is likely to depend on the specific circumstances of your case. Further, the top figure was not taken from the JCG. 

Type of Harm	Notes	Guideline Amount
Severe Psychological Harm And Financial Losses	If you have suffered severe psychiatric harm as well as financial losses due to a personal data breach, then your compensation payout could cover both of these things.	Up to £250,000+
Psychiatric Damage (Generally)	Severe (a) - The person will have significant issues coping with life, education, work and their relationships. They have a prognosis which is very poor.	£66,920 to £141,240
Psychiatric Damage (Generally)	Moderately Severe (b) - The person has significant issues with different areas of their life but they have a better prognosis.	£23,270 to £66,920
Psychiatric Damage (Generally)	Moderate (c) - The person will have experienced significant issues with different aspects of their life but they will have made a significant improvement and will have a good prognosis.	£7,150 to £23,270
Psychiatric Damage (Generally)	Less Severe (d) - The amount awarded will consider the time the person suffered and how the harm impacted various activities.	£1,880 to £7,150
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Severe (a) - There will be lasting effects, and the person will struggle to live the same as they did before the trauma.	£73,050 to £122,850
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Moderately Severe (b) - There will be the potential for recovery with help from a medical professional.	£28,250 to £73,050
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Moderate (c) - There will have been a large recovery, and any persisting symptoms won’t majorly affect the person’s life.	£9,980 to £28,250
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder	Less Severe (d) - A practically full recovery will happen within a year or two.	£4,820 to £9,980

What Else Could I Claim For After A Personal Data Breach?

You could also receive compensation for material damage. Material damage relates to the financial losses caused by the data breach. This could include money taken from your bank account, charges made on your credit card, and loans taken out in your name.

Providing records of these losses can act as evidence when claiming compensation for material damage. 

Please speak with our advisors to ask whether you are eligible to seek compensation after having your personal data compromised in a police data breach.

How Long Do I Have To Start A Police Data Breach Claim? 

You may have up to 6 years to start a police data breach claim. If you go beyond this period, you may be unable to start a claim. Therefore, it is important to keep a record of the date your information was compromised to ensure you start your claim within the 6-year time limit. 

If you do not know the date the police compromised your personal data, it may be worth contacting them to obtain this information in writing.

How Long Will My Claim Take To Settle?

There is no specific timeframe for settling a data breach claim. This is because the circumstances of all claims and claimants differ. However, our panel of solicitors will use their specialist skills to try to reach a settlement within a reasonable time frame. 

Some factors that may determine the length of your claim include:

• The complexity of your police data breach claim 
• Whether the police admitted or disputed liability 
• The number of parties affected by the data breach 
• Whether the ICO is investigating the data breach 
• The time it takes to gather evidence to support your claim 
• Whether your claim goes through legal proceedings in court 

It is also worth noting that if your claim is successful, you may receive a compensation payout at the end of the claims process. 

If you have any questions regarding the time limit for police data breach claims, please contact our helpful advisors. 

No Win No Fee Solicitors – What Are The Benefits?

Our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors can support valid cases under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). If you do make a police data breach claim under a CFA, you won’t need to make a payment to your solicitor for their services before your case has started or while it’s being processed. Also, you normally won’t be obliged to make payments to your solicitor for their work in the event that the claim is not successful.

If the claim does succeed, then your solicitor will receive payment through what’s called a success fee. That means that they’ll take a small percentage of the compensation given to you. The percentage they can take has a legal cap, which is included to make sure that you will get to keep most of your police data breach compensation.

For more advice about claiming with the support of a No Win No Fee solicitor, please contact us today either online or by calling us. You can also ask our advisors any other questions you may want to ask about the claiming process. To speak with our team today, you can:

• Call us on 020 8050 6279
• Use our contact form online.
• Speak to an advisor through our live chat option.

Learn More About What You Can Do After A Police Data Breach

For more data breach articles by us:

• HR department data breach – can I claim?
• Pharmacy data breach – can I claim compensation?
• Passport data breach – can I claim compensation?

For more information:

• National Cyber Security Centre has provided tips for how to stay safe online
• ICO – What are ‘controllers’ and ‘processors’?
• ICO – Individual rights

Please speak with our advisors for advice regarding what you can do if your personal data was affected by a police data breach.