We trust that organisations adhere to data protection laws to ensure our personal information remains safe and secure, per data protection laws. However, if they fail to, our data may become compromised, causing significant financial and mental damage. Understandably, you may not know what to do if your data has been breached. This is where we could help you.
If your data was compromised, resulting in you suffering psy chological harm, monetary losses or both, contact us to find out if you can pursue a data breach compensation claim with our excellent panel of solicitors.
What You Need To Know
- A data breach is a security incident that results in the accidental, unlawful destruction or unauthorised access to your personal data.
- Following a breach, you should contact the responsible organisation to find out which data was compromised and how they plan to prevent similar breaches.
- You should follow security guidance to ensure your data is safe, such as changing any passwords.
- If you have suffered financial or psychological harm, you should gather evidence of this to support a data breach claim.
- You could also report the data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) for them to investigate.
An expert data breach solicitor from our panel could help guide you through these steps, as well as help you claim compensation. To learn more, you can contact our advisors.
We Can Help With Your Claim
Our team of specialist advisors are ready to assist you with your data breach claim
What To Do If Your Data Has Been Breached
- Contact The Organisation To Discover What Data Was Breached
- Protect Yourself From Further Harm
- Gather Evidence To Prove Your Breach
- When To Report The Breach To The ICO
- Seek Advice On Claiming For Data Breach Compensation
- More Information
Contact The Organisation To Discover What Data Was Breached
If you received a notification letter informing you that your data was compromised, you should contact the organisation responsible for holding it to discover what data was breached. Additionally, you could also ask them to elaborate on how the data was breached and what steps they are taking to prevent a similar data breach from occurring again.
The letter may provide details explaining how to contact those responsible for handling data breaches. If so, proceed to contact them with this information. If not, the organisation may have details about this online. Additionally, our advisors may be able to provide further advice.
You may contact our advisors if you need support in contacting the organisation responsible for your data breach.
Protect Yourself From Further Harm
For your own benefit, it is necessary to protect yourself from further harm if your data was involved in a breach. As such, it is important to take necessary action to prevent more data from becoming compromised and additional psychological suffering and financial losses.
So, some steps you may take to prevent further harm include:
- Informing the organisation responsible for the breach about it if you discovered this on your own
- Closely monitoring all of your accounts to ensure your details remain the same
- Changing passwords of your online accounts to prevent further access
- Installing and updating software security and following data protection guidelines
- Contacting mental health services if you are suffering psychological harm
- Freezing bank accounts to prevent any or further momentary losses
Regardless of whether you had security mechanisms in place for protecting your data, if it was breached, contact our advisors to find out if you are entitled to compensation.
Gather Evidence To Prove Your Breach
For a successful claim, you must gather evidence to prove the breach of your data and the harm it caused you to suffer.
Some examples of evidence that may support your claim include:
- A list of your personal information involved in the data breach
- Copies of data protection documents you signed with the organisation
- The notification letter or email informing you that your data was compromised
- Copies of correspondence between you and the organisation
- Medical records stating the psychological harm you suffered
- Any documents stating the financial losses you incurred resulting from the breach, such as bank statements
The more evidence you collect, the greater chance our panel of solicitors will have in helping you obtain a compensation payout. However, if you need help with this, they could assist you.
For more examples of evidence that may support your data breach claim, please contact our advisors.
When To Report The Breach To The ICO
You should report a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 3 months of your last meaningful communication about the data breach with the organisation responsible.
The ICO is an independent authority that is responsible for upholding data protection rights in the UK. Additionally, they can issue fines to those in breach of data protection laws.
So, if your data is breached, you may issue a complaint to the ICO. They may then choose to investigate this breach, and their findings could be used as evidence for your data breach claim.
Contact our advisors for more information about reporting data breaches to the ICO.
Seek Advice On Claiming For Data Breach Compensation
Get in touch with us to seek advice on claiming data breach compensation for the mental harm or financial losses you suffered. Our friendly advisors can assess the eligibility of your case, offer free advice, and advise you on what to do if your data has been breached.
If you meet the claims criteria, our excellent panel of solicitors may help you pursue a claim on a No Win No Fee basis. By providing their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA), a type of No Win No Fee agreement, there will be no upfront costs for them to begin working on your claim. You also will not need to pay them for their services as the claim is ongoing or if it is not successful.
Rather, if your claim is successful, a success fee will be taken from your compensation. This success fee will be a legally limited percentage.
At Data Breach Claims, our panel of solicitors are specialists in this field of law. They have the necessary skills and training to try to help you get the compensation you deserve for the distress caused by the breach of your data. Some of the expert services they can offer to you include:
- Help with accessing any therapy you may need for your psychological injuries.
- Communicating with the organisation responsible for the data breach on your behalf.
- Ensuring your compensation covers both your financial and mental harm.
- Gathering supporting evidence for your data breach claim.
Contact Data Breach Claims
Contact us today to learn more about what to do if your data has been breached and how a solicitor from our panel could help you:
- Call on 020 8050 6279 to discuss the circumstances of your data breach
- Messaging them with any questions on their live chat for quick and informative answers
- Contact us online
More Information
For more information on data breach claims, please click on the links below to read more of our informative guides:
- Here are some examples of data breach claims
- Read the answers to our frequently asked questions on data breach claims
- Learn about the types of incidents that may lead to data breach claims
References:
- Find access to mental health services, NHS.UK
- Learn some tips for keeping data safe online, NCSC.GOV.UK
- Advice for cyber security for you and your family, NCSC.GOV.UK
Thank you for reading our guide, which explains what to do if your data has been breached.