Medication Data Breach Claim Guide

This guide will look at whether it is possible to make a medication data breach claim. A pharmacy, GP or dental surgery, a hospital or a private health care facility all may hold data about the treatments you have received and what medication has been provided. Under data protection legislation, medical data that is considered personal, such as information about medical conditions, tests or treatment or data that reveals anything about someone’s health, is given added protection. 

In this guide, we’ll discuss what to do if your medical records are breached. Furthermore, we’ll explain the data breach claims process and how No Win No Fee solicitors could help you get the compensation you might be entitled to.

We’ll also answer some questions you may have, including:

• “What are the consequences of a medical data breach?”
• “How do I report a data breach?”
• “Can I sue the NHS for a data breach?”

However, before we begin, you might want to know about the various legislation in place that protects your data from being mishandled or misused. 

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 controls how your personal data can be used and how it should be protected. These pieces of legislation only protect personal data. Health data is considered a type of personal data. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) enforces data protection laws and investigates potential breaches.

To contact us, you may:

• Call our 24/7 claims line on 0800 073 8804
• Speak to an online claims advisor via our live chat function
• Complete the claim online form and we’ll call you back free of charge

Select A Section

• What Is A Medication Data Breach Claim?
• Types Of Medication Data Breaches
• What Are The Consequences Of A Medication Data Breach?
• Can I Sue The NHS For A Data Breach?
• What Is The Average Medication Data Breach Claim Payout?
• No Win No Fee Solicitors For Data Breach Claims

What Is A Medication Data Breach Claim?

According to data protection law, personal data breaches are security incidents that affect the availability, confidentiality or integrity of an individual’s personal information. An incident may result in accidental or unlawful access to, alteration, destruction, loss or unauthorised disclosure of someone’s personal data.

Personal data is any information that may identify a person, such as their name, address, email address or phone number. Some personal information is considered more sensitive, such as your health data or information on your ethnicity, and requires more protection under UK GDPR. 

What is a medication data breach claim? Lots of medical data or health data is considered personal data. If you can prove how personal data relating to your medication was breached because those who had a responsibility to protect this type of data failed to adhere to data protection law you may be able to claim for the harm you have suffered. 

The below entities must comply with data protection laws. 

• The data controller: Decides how and why your data is collected and processed. In your situation, it might be a pharmacy or hospital.
• The data processor: Responsible for processing data on the controller’s behalf. Usually, a third party external to the data controller.

When a data breach affects your personal data, you might suffer financial losses or psychological injuries as a result. 

Healthcare Sector Data Breach Statistics 

The latest data security incidents reported to the ICO in the 4th financial quarter of 2021/22 found that:

• The health sector was the most affected by data security incidents
• There were 427 incidents reported
• Unauthorised access to personal data was the most common incident type

Our advisors can offer a consultation on your case completely free of charge and with no obligation to continue.

Types Of Medication Data Breaches

Whilst criminal activity may lead to breached patient data, for example, cybercriminals may target data through phishing scams or ransomware threats, human errors can also result in personal data breaches. Here are some examples:

• Failure to use BCC where appropriate: If a sexual health clinic fails to use BCC when sending out emails to patients, other recipients may see each other’s names and email addresses.
• Misdelivery of data: If a psychologist has your correct email address on file, but accidentally sends an email containing your personal information to the wrong recipient, that data may be accessed by someone who is unauthorised.
• Loss or theft of paperwork: Documentation regarding your medical data should be stored securely by hospital staff. However, a breach could occur if staff accidentally forgot to lock a cabinet that contains your files, allowing someone to steal this information and result in a loss of medical records.

Your situation may not be listed above, however you still may be able to make a medication data breach claim. Speak to an advisor and they can offer you free legal advice.

What Are The Consequences Of A Medication Data Breach?

If personal information about your medication is breached, then others may gain access to it which can reveal information about any medical conditions that you are suffering from. When data is breached that reveals something about your health, a personal data breach has occurred. 

Quite clearly, this can be a very distressing time. You might suffer psychological harm, or any mental health conditions you are suffering from may be exasperated by the breach. If health data is leaked, you might be left feeling stressed or suffering symptoms of an anxiety disorder. For example, you might feel worried or left in fear, which may result in you struggling to sleep or eat.

We’ll discuss what you might receive for any financial loss or emotional harm in a medication data breach claim later on in this guide.

Can I Sue The NHS For A Data Breach?

What could potentially be an NHS data breach? Data breaches can happen for a variety of different reasons. As we have explained, some are accidental, while others can be deliberate, intentional actions.

The following entities may be considered data controllers under data protection law;

• NHS Trusts
• Hospitals
• GP surgeries
• Opticians
• Pharmacies
• Dentists
• Private healthcare companies 

If a data controller has ensured they have thoroughly complied with data protection laws in order to keep your personal and personally sensitive data safe, then should a data breach affect them, it is not likely that they will be liable.

You can only make a medication data breach claim if the information that has been breached is considered personal data. It must be able to identify you or be used in conjunction with other data to identify you. It must also be proven that the data controller or processor failed in their legal obligation to take the necessary steps in keeping your personal data secure.

Our advisors can go through the data breach compensation claims process and are available via our live chat window on your screen.

What Is The Average Medication Data Breach Claim Payout?

You might wonder how much compensation you could get when making a personal data breach claim. Solicitors will take into account any material and non-material damage to value your claim. Whilst material damage deals with financial losses caused by a data breach, non-material damage relates to any psychological harm you have suffered.

In Vidal-Hall and others v. Google Inc. (2015), the Court of Appeal decided that you can make a claim for non-material damage alone. 

To calculate your potential compensation, we may apply the Judicial College Guidelines. Legal professionals use the JCG to value injuries. We’ve taken compensation ranges from the 16th edition. Please be advised the figures below are just guidelines.

Our advisors can assess your case for free and could even provide an estimate of what you could claim. If they can see that the data controller is liable for the personal data breach, they could connect you with one of our data breach solicitors.

No Win No Fee Solicitors For Data Breach Claims

A No Win No Fee arrangement is another name for a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). An arrangement like this usually means no upfront fees. If the claim is won, you will be charged a success fee which is taken from the award but is capped by law. If the case loses no success fee to pay. 

If you think you would benefit from using a CFA solicitor, speak to an advisor and they can verify your eligibility to work with us. Furthermore, our advisors can offer free legal advice and answer any questions regarding a data breach claim.

To contact us, you may:

• Call our 24/7 claims line on 0800 073 8804
• Speak to an online claims advisor via our live chat function
• Complete the claim online form and we’ll call you back free of charge

Related Medical Data Breach Claims 

Please find below some more of our guides and additional resources that you may find useful in regards to making medication data breach claims:

• Can I Claim After A GP Data Breach?
• Can I Claim Compensation for Loss of Medical Records?
• How To Make A Psychologist Data Breach Claim
• NHS advice on how to get your medical records
• The latest figures from the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022
• The ICO explains why your data matters

That concludes our guide on medication data breach claims. If you are ready to take action, we could support you every step of the way.

Throughout this article, we examine how your personal or special category data, if involved in a clinic data breach, can cause you harm. Two main pieces of legislation govern data protection and set data breach compensation eligibility criteria. We examine these and investigate what the claiming criteria are.

We discuss what personal data may be involved in a breach. As well as looking at what impact a data breach involving your personal data could have on your life.

We look at data security incidents in the health sector with the latest statistics. We also examine how organisations could prevent a data breach.

If your personal data was involved in a clinic data breach, you might want to know how much compensation you will get for a data breach in the UK. Due to every claim being different, we can’t provide you with an exact figure, but we do examine the two heads that could make up a data breach claim. 

If you decide to claim data breach compensation, you may find the process easier with medical data breach solicitors. We discuss No Win No Fee arrangements and how one could benefit your claim. 

Our health data breach claims team is available to answer questions if your personal data was involved in a clinic data breach 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  

Contact the team:

• Call:  0800 073 8804
• Use the claim online form
• Why not chat to an advisor using the chat box below  

Choose A Category 

1. What Is A Clinic Data Breach?
2. Why Is Data Protection Important In Healthcare?
3. What Is The Most Common Cause Of Healthcare Data Breaches?
4. The Lister Fertility Clinic Data At Risk
5. What Compensation Can I Get For A Clinic Data Breach?
6. Claim With No Win No Fee Solicitors

What Is A Clinic Data Breach?

You may wonder what defines a personal data breach. A personal data breach is defined as a security incident. The availability, integrity or confidentiality of your personal data will be impacted. Clinics can offer all different kinds of treatments, some medical and non-medical. However, if a clinic decides how and why your personal data should be processed under data protection laws, they are known as a data controller. 

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), along with the Data Protection Act 2018, governs data protection. Under this legislation:

• Data controllers are held responsible for data protection legislation compliance. A data controller is typically an organisation, such as a clinic, that processes data. A controller may appoint a data processor to act on their behalf they too are held accountable for data protection. 
• Data subjects are given increased rights over the processing of their personal data. 
• Sets specific data breach compensation eligibility.  

If your personal or special category data was included in a clinic data breach, you might have a valid compensation claim under Article 82 of the UK GDPR. Eligibility criteria include:

• You must prove the organisation didn’t adhere to the data protection legislation. 
• The breach included your personal data. 
• You were harmed as a direct result of the data breach. This could be a monetary loss or mental health harm such as stress. 

Our advisory team can help you start a clinic data breach claim today. 

Time Limit For Clinic Data Breach Claims

You might be wondering what time limits apply to clinic data breach claims. Unlike personal injury claims, in which you typically have three years to take action, the limitation period to claim when your data is breached is six years from the date of the incident.

However, the time limit is shortened to just one year if the breach impacts your human rights or it involves a public body. Therefore, you should act as quickly as possible when beginning a claim for data breach compensation. The sooner you start your claim, the more time you’ll give yourself to gather evidence, contact a solicitor and work together to fully prepare your case. 

Should you have any other questions about the time limit for health clinic data breach claims, please don’t hesitate to contact our team of friendly advisors. If you seek legal support, you could also be connected to our specialist data breach solicitors.

Why Is Data Protection Important In Healthcare?

Data protection legislation gives additional protection to your medical records. This is due to their sensitivity. Personal data that is sensitive in nature, including your sexuality or race, is known as special category data. 

Personal data may include:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Address
• Phone number
• Email address

If someone were to gain unauthorised access to your medical records, they could gain access to your personal identifying data as well as your special category data. This could be used to commit identity theft. Additionally, if a clinic data breach involves the loss of medical records, treatment you may require could be delayed. 

Contact our medical data breach claims team for free legal advice. 

What Is The Most Common Cause Of Healthcare Data Breaches?

Human error is behind a lot of data breaches. An organisation should provide data protection training to staff with data access. Additionally, they should ensure their cybersecurity systems are up-to-date to prevent cyber attacks, such as hacking. Staff should also be trained in cybersecurity. This could prevent phishing attempts, for example. 

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent authority established to help protect data. Their role includes monitoring reported data security incidents. We’ll look at reported incidents in healthcare below. 

As you can see in the graph, unauthorised access was the most common reported non-cyber incident in the health sector. Following this is posting or faxing data to the wrong person, with emailing data to the wrong recipient coming in third. Lost or stolen paperwork was also a common occurrence during the timespan the statistics cover. 

Our health data breach claims team can discuss the circumstances of your personal data included in a data breach. 

Medical Data Security Incident Statistics

The graph below contains information about reported non-cyber data security trends in the health sector. The data controller made the reports to the ICO during the fourth financial quarter 2021/22. 

The Lister Fertility Clinic Data At Risk 

Document management company, Stor-a-file Limited experienced a ransomware attack. Lister Fertility Clinic contracted Stor-a-file Limited to scan medical records. A letter was sent to 1,700 Lister Clinic patients’ about their medical records being at risk. The hackers demanded a ransom that Stor-a-file did not pay. The ICO was notified. 

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-59156683 

What Compensation Can I Get For A Clinic Data Breach?

If your personal data breach claim for a clinic breaching your data is a success, as long as you have evidence, you could claim two areas of damage.

Material damage will look to compensate you for the financial losses you have suffered and any which you are predicted to lose in the future.

Non-materiel damage will take into account the mental health issues the data breach has caused you. This can be emotional distress, stress, anxiety and depression. In some severe cases, you may have also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

We have provided a table below with the latest Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is very often used by professionals when calculating a figure that can reflect injury or illness in civil compensation claims.   

Our health data breach claims team can estimate the non-material head of your claim. 

Claim With No Win No Fee Solicitors

If you decide to seek health data breach compensation for your personal data’s inclusion in a data breach, you may want to hire specialist medical data breach solicitors. You could hire a No Win No Fee solicitor that helps with healthcare sector data breach claims. They may provide their legal assistance with an arrangement such as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). 

This means that you won’t be charged an upfront solicitors fee. A successful claim will see a legally capped success fee deducted from the compensation. If your personal data breach claim isn’t successful, however, you will not have to pay a success fee. 

Our data breach claims team can answer your questions regarding a clinical data breach. If your claim seems valid and you wish to proceed, you could be connected to a No Win No Fee solicitor specialising in data breach claims. 

Contact our data breach claims team:

• Call:  0800 073 8804
• Use the claim online form
• Why not chat to an advisor using the chat box below  

Related Medical Data Breach Claims

Here are some external resources:

• NHS Stress Guide
• Government Guide to Complaining About Misuse of your Data
• ICO Guide to Claiming Data Breach Compensation 

Further medical data breach claims guides:

• Psychiatrist Data Breach
• Medical Conditions Breached Data
• Data Breach Reporting Process

In this guide, we will look at who could be eligible to make customer service UK GDPR data breach compensation claims. If a customer support team loses your data, or sends your personal information to the wrong recipient then we look at how this could affect you.

We will explain how your personal data is protected by the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. You will also learn what criteria you need to meet in order to claim and the kinds of personal data that customer services might hold about you.

Please contact Legal Expert to see if you are eligible to claim data breach compensation. If you have legitimate grounds to claim, one of our expert No Win No Fee solicitors can help you pursue compensation. Get in touch using the details below:

• Call our claims helpline on 0800 073 8804
• ‘Contact us’ to see if you can claim
• Or ask us a question using the web chat in the corner of your screen

Select A Section

• What Are Customer Service UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims?
• How Could A Company’s Customer Service Department Breach Your Data?
• What Sensitive Or Personal Information Could Customer Services Hold?
• How Does Data Protection Affect Customer Service?
• Calculating Customer Service Data Breach Compensation Claims
• Can I Use A No Win No Fee Solicitor For Customer Service UK GDPR Data Breach Claims

What Are Customer Service UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims?

A customer services data breach could happen if a customer support department at a company compromises the protection of a customer’s data. Human error can cause a data breach, or a data breach can happen deliberately. For example, if criminals carry out a cyberattack on a business to steal customer data.

Data breaches can happen for different reasons, and not all who suffer through a data breach will be eligible to make a personal data breach compensation claim. Below, we look at the eligibility criteria for such a claim:

• An organisation fails to meet their obligations under data protection laws. For example, they may not have trained their employees to protect the data. Or, the company may have had an inadequate cyber security system that did not prevent a cyber attack.
• Your personal data was affected in a resulting breach.
• As a consequence, you experienced psychological harm or financial loss (or a combination) because of the data breach.

Please get in touch with us to see if you are eligible to make a UK GDPR personal data breach claim.

How Could A Company’s Customer Service Department Breach Your Data?

A personal data breach is considered a data security incident that compromises the security, confidentiality and integrity of your personal data. But what can actually cause this to happen:

• An employee from an organisation loses physical files containing personal data, leading you to suffer anxiety.
• Inadequate staff training results in a customer’s personal information being published online, causing them to spend substantial amounts on additional home security.
• A customer support representative discusses a customer’s data with colleagues without authorisation.
• Despite having your correct details, a customer service employee sends an email to the wrong address. The disclosure leaves you with long-term anxiety.
• Customer data is accessed without authorisation when a customer service representative shares a password with a colleague from another department.

Unfortunately, cyber-attacks are a growing problem for businesses. According to the Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2024, 50% of UK businesses reported a cyber attack in the last 12 months. The most common type of attack involved phishing, affecting 84% of those businesses.

Our examples aren’t exhaustive, so please don’t hesitate to share your own experience with our team. They are live 24/7 and can provide you with a free, no-obligation case assessment to see if you can claim.

What Sensitive Or Personal Information Could Customer Services Hold?

What personal information could be involved in customer service UK GDPR data breach compensation claims?

A customer support department may collect your personal data to provide you with a service. Personal data is information that identifies a person, such as your first name and surname, national insurance number, and date of birth.

Sometimes, a business may also hold more sensitive information. Under the UK GDPR, such information needs extra protections as special category data. This type of personal data can include information related to your:

• Racial or ethnic origin
• Health and biometrics
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Sexual orientation

Can Customer Support Departments Breach Your Special Category Data?

It is possible for customer support departments to breach your special category data. For example, a private healthcare provider will store medical records. Or a counselling service may be privy to personal information about the client’s mental health.

That can have far-reaching consequences and potentially cause psychological harm. You can speak to our team to learn more about the different types of personal data that a breach might affect.

How Does Data Protection Affect Customer Service?

Customer service departments must protect the personal data they collect under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and the Data Protection Act 2018.

Businesses could do the following to help prevent data breaches from taking place:

• Provide their employees with data awareness training to stop employees from making errors that lead to customer service data breaches.
• Companies should ensure adequate onsite security to prevent workplace devices from being stolen.
• In addition, businesses should make sure they have a robust cyber security system to protect against malware, hacking and cyberattacks.

If a business fails to comply with the UK GDPR, it could be liable for any harm caused by a personal data breach. You can share your own experience by getting in touch with our advisory team.

Calculating Customer Service Data Breach Compensation Claims

Customer service data breach compensation claims are calculated using a variety of factors. Your claim may be made up of:

• Non-material damage: Psychological harm, such as depression and anxiety.
• Material damage: Financial losses stemming from the breach.

Solicitors sometimes use the Judicial College Guidelines to assess non-material damage. This document publishes suggestive compensation brackets for many kinds of harm, including those resulting in conditions like post-traumatic stress disorder.

You can use the table below to see a selection of JCG brackets (excluding the top row, which isn’t from the document). The table should only be used as a guide as every single claim is different.

Whatever queries you have about compensation, our team of advisors are happy to help. Get in touch today by using the contact details listed in this guide.

 Can I Use No Win No Fee Solicitors For Customer Service UK GDPR Data Breach Claims

Yes, you can use No Win No Fee solicitors for customer service UK GDPR data breach compensation claims if you get in touch with our advisory team today.

If eligible, you can seek data breach compensation under the generous terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement, meaning:

• You won’t have to pay upfront solicitor fees
• There will be no additional solicitor fees appearing during the claims process.
• Zero solicitor fees to pay if your claim fails.

If you win compensation, you will pay for your solicitor’s work in the form of a success fee. While it comes out of your compensation, the fee is kept small as the percentage taken is legally capped. So, you can have peace of mind that you will keep the majority of your compensation.

Why Work With Our Personal Data Breach Solicitors?

Our personal data breach solicitors use their decades of combined experience to make customer service data breach claims more straightforward for eligible claimants. They are experts in data breach claims, and have successfully secured more than £80 million in compensation for clients across the country.

Here’s how one of our experienced solicitors can assist with your case and help you pursue compensation:

• Helping you to collect the evidence that will improve your chances of success
• Handling communication with the defending party and courts where required 
• Providing you with simple legal definitions and helping you to understand key parts of the process
• Explaining what your potential customer service data breach compensation might cover and expertly negotiating your payout to reflect this
• Connect you with specialists who may assist with your recovery, such as an experienced psychologist 

Customer service UK GDPR data breach compensation claims do not require those affected to hire a solicitor to represent them. However, if you have been harmed because of a data breach, it is likely that you already have a lot on your plate. One of our solicitors can ease some of the strain by taking on all aspects of the claims process, so you can stay focused on your wellbeing.

If you have any questions about claiming customer service UK GDPR breach compensation or would like to assess your eligibility, reach out to our team today. They can give you the answers you need free of charge and with no obligation to work with us afterwards.

• Call us on 0800 073 8804 to speak to a claims advisor
• Enquire by using our ‘contact us’ form
• Otherwise, use the live support feature to ask a question

Data Breach Claims Against Companies

The following guides may also be helpful:

• See how to make a mortgage company data breach claim
• Find out about loan company data breach claims
• Learn whether you can sue a company for a data breach

External Resources:

• ICO statistics on data security incident trends 
• Government information on data protection
• NHS guidance on stress

We are grateful that you have read our guide about customer service UK GDPR data breach compensation claims.

In this guide, we will look at what could be meant by a debt collection UK GDPR data breach. But first, let’s look at the laws that protect your personal data; the UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018 DPA are key pieces of data protection legislation for UK residents. Debt collection companies, if dealing with personal data, must ensure that it is protected in accordance with the UK GDPR.

If a debt collection data breach has harmed you, please get in touch with Legal Expert today. Our advisors can go through the merits of your case and see if you could be eligible for data breach compensation.

Please get in touch with us today to make your enquiry:

• Call us on 0800 073 8804
• Use our online claims form to write to us
• Or ask us a question in confidence via our Live Support widget

Select A Section

• What Are Debt Collection UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims?
• How Could Debt Collectors Breach Your Data?
• What Data Could A Debt Collector Need Access To?
• What Is Sensitive Data?
• How Are Debt Collection UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims Calculated?
• No Win No Fee Debt Collection UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims

What Are Debt Collection UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims?

A personal data breach is generally a security problem that has meant your personal data’s integrity, confidentiality, and availability have been comprised. If your personal data happens to get lost, be stolen, is altered, accessed without authority or verbally disclosed accidentally or unlawfully, then this said data has been breached.

However, that said, not all those who suffer financial or mental illnesses because of a data breach will be eligible to make a claim.

Under Article 82 of the UK GDPR, to be entitled to make a debt collection data breach compensation claim, you must meet the following criteria:

• Firstly a debt collection business failed in its legal obligation to comply with data protection laws.
• Consequently, this meant that identifiable data was breached, and
• As a result, you suffered lost money or mental hardship.

To find out if you have a valid debt collection UK GDPR data breach claim, call our advisors for free advice.

How Could Debt Collectors Breach Your Data?

A debt collection data breach could occur under the following circumstances:

• A debt collector allows an authorised party to access your personal data
• The debt collector processes your personal data without a lawful basis to do so.
• An employee of the company lost personal data when their phone was stolen
• An email containing your personal data is sent to the wrong recipient
• Or a debt collector sends personal data to the wrong person. For example, a debt collector may send a bill to the wrong address.
• A phishing attack may happen, whereby a fraudster impersonates another party to request information. Businesses can train their staff to spot and avoid these attacks.

To find out if you could make a personal data breach claim against a debt-collecting company, please call our advisors today and receive free legal advice.

What Data Could A Debt Collector Need Access To?

A debt collection data breach could breach your personal data. Personal data is information that identifies a person. You may experience stress if your personal data is breached. Moreover, a breach of your personal data can lead to financial losses.

Examples of personal data:

• Names
• Address
• Date of birth
• Email address
• Phone number
• Bank account
• Debit card
• Credit card
• Password

Data controllers tend to be organisations that say why and how data processing should take place. Sometimes they can hire a company to process the data on their behalf, known as a data processor. Both of these entities must comply with data protection laws. If there is a failure to adhere, then they become liable should a data breach cause you harm. Call our advisors to find out more.

What Is Sensitive Data?

As we have mentioned in the previous section, personal data is data that can identify you alone or in conjunction with other information as a living person. However there is also another type of personal information that tells you about the person that is considered sensitive and needs more security. This is known as special category data.

Special category data can include:

• Racial or ethnic background
• Sexual orientation or personal data about your sex life.
• Biometric or genetic data
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Trade union status
• Health data

In order to legally process personal data, a lawful basis must be met. There are 6 in total. However, to process special category data as well as establishing a lawful basis under Article 6 of the UK GDPR, you must also satisfy a condition for processing under Article 9. If a company fails to do this, they are in breach of the UK GDPR.

How Are Debt Collection UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims Calculated?

You can potentially receive up to two heads of loss if your personal data breach claim for compensation is successful. These are:

• Material damage is the financial loss you have suffered, such as money stolen from accounts or damage done to your credit score.
• Non-material damage is the psychiatric injuries or emotional distress you experienced because of the data breach. This can include stress, anxiety, depression or even post-traumatic stress disorder.

We have used the compensation brackets from the 16th edition Judicial College Guidelines JCG in the table below. What’s more, the Judicial College has updated its guidelines for 2022. The JCG is used by lawyers and solicitors when valuing non-material damage.

The table does not include material damage. Because each compensation claim is unique, if your claim succeeds, the final settlement may differ from the compensation amounts in the table.

No Win No Fee Debt Collection UK GDPR Data Breach Compensation Claims

To find out if your claim for a debt collection UK GDPR data breach is valid, please contact Legal Expert today, and an advisor will speak to you about your case. If they can see that you have a good chance of being g awarded compensation, they can assign one of our expert No Win No Fee skilled data breach solicitors to your case.

A type of No Win No Fee agreement is known as a Conditional Fee Agreement CFA. Generally, under these terms, there are no fees for you to pay your solicitor upfront. If the claim fails, you do not pay for the service the solicitor has provided you with. However, should you be successful in your case, the solicitor will deduct a success fee from the compensation awarded at a capped rate and send the rest to you.

To find out more about No Win No Fee agreements, call our advisors today for free legal advice.

Please contact Legal Expert today to see if you can claim data breach compensation:

• Call our compensation helpline, dial 0800 073 8804
• Or fill out our online claims form to make your enquiry
• Otherwise, please use our Live Support widget to chat online with an advisor

All communications with us will be in the strictest of confidence.

Related Personal Information Breach Claims

The following information may be of interest to you.

Credit Score Data Breach Claims Guide

Wrong Email Address Data Breach Claims Guide

Bank Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide

Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2022 – a report from the UK government

10 Steps to Cyber Security – A National Cyber Security Centre Guide

Credit – an ICO guide to your personal data and credit reference agencies

We are thankful you have read our debt collection UK GDPR data breach claims guide.

An immigration information data breach can involve a violation of your data protection rights. If an organisation failed to adhere to data protection law and your personal data was compromised as a result, you might suffer psychological harm such as stress or monetary losses. In this guide, we explain when you could make a compensation claim.

Legislation is in place to govern data protection. This legislation holds data controllers and data processors responsible for protecting personal data. A data controller is usually an organisation, that determines the reason behind processing your personal information. A data controller may process the information themselves or outsource this to a data processor who acts on behalf of the controller.

Your employer, for example, may hold information about your immigration status as proof to show your eligibility to work in the UK. If their failings cause your personal data to be compromised, you might have grounds to claim. However, you must prove that the data breach caused emotional distress or financial loss.

For more information, please get in touch with our team. You can:

• Call on 0800 073 8804
• Use our claim online form to get in touch
• Direct a question at an advisor via the live support feature below.

Select A Section

• What Is An Immigration Information Data Breach?
• How Could An Immigration Data Breach Happen?
• Report A Breach Of Your Data Protection
• Examples Of Data Breach Claim Payouts
• Start Your No Win No Fee Immigration Information Data Breach Claim

What Is An Immigration Information Data Breach?

A data breach is a security incident that can lead to your personal data being compromised. This can include an unauthorised party accessing or disclosing your personal data as well as your personal data being lost, destroyed or altered.

The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) set out a data controller and data processors responsibility to protect your personal data.

If they fail to adhere to data protection laws, it could result in your personal information being affected. Please continue reading to find out what personal information is protected under data protection law.

What Information Could Be Breached?

If an immigration information data breach occurred, your personal data could be compromised. Personal data is information that can be used to identify you. It includes information such as your name, date of birth, address and email address. Any of these pieces of personal information may be included in your immigration records.

Additionally, there is a type of personal data that requires more protection under the UK GDPR due it’s sensitive nature. This is known as special category data.

Your immigration records might include special category data such as information relating to your race or ethnic background, political beliefs, religious or philosophical beliefs, medical conditions or details about your sex life or sexual orientation.

Talk to our data breach team to discuss what steps you could take if your personal data was affected in a personal data breach.

How Could An Immigration Data Breach Happen?

In recent years, there have been several high profiles instances of immigration information data breaches.

In 2019 a personal data breach by the Home Office occurred leading to 240 EU citizens having their details accidentally shared. The breach involved the failure to use blind carbon copy (BCC) when sending out a mass email.

BCC conceals email addresses when sending a mass email. When using the BCC column other email recipients cannot see the email addresses of anyone else included in the email. Due to the failure to use the BCC in this instance, the email addresses of recipients were exposed to other recipients of the email.

Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-47888214 

Personal Data Breaches

There are various ways an immigration information data breach could occur, including:

• Your employer sends immigration information to the wrong email address. Therefore, disclosing personal data to an unauthorised person.
• A receptionist leaves a file about your immigration status on a public-facing desk. Therefore, the public has access to sensitive information.
• An organisation fails to keep their cyber security systems up to date leaving them more susceptible to a cyber attack. As a result, your personal information is stolen in a ransomware attack.

To claim the compensation, you will need to prove that the organisation failed to properly comply with data protection law. This could mean not training staff in data protection resulting in a human error, or failing to have updated cybersecurity systems in place to prevent cybercriminals gaining access.

You will also need to prove that you experienced financial losses, emotional distress or other mental health problems because of the breach of your personal data.

Free legal advice is available from our data breach claims team if your personal data was compromised.

Report A Breach Of Your Data Protection

An organisation should report a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if it meets the relevant criteria for reporting within 72 hours. The ICO is a public body that is responsible for enforcing data protection laws and upholding the rights and freedoms of data subjects. Furthermore, the ICO has the power to investigate and fine organisations that breach data protection law.

An organisation should notify you if a personal data breach has occurred and risks your rights and freedoms. However, if you suspect your data has been compromised, you can contact the organisation directly.

If the organisation does not appear to take your complaint seriously enough, you can complain to the ICO. They may investigate your complaint.

Our data breach claims team can help you with your next steps following an immigration information data breach.

Examples Of Data Breach Claim Payouts

You may wonder how much compensation you can receive for an immigration information data breach. If your claim succeeds, you could receive a settlement that comprises compensation for material damage and non-material damage.

Firstly, the material damage head of claim compensates you for the money you lost because of the personal data breach. To recover lost monetary losses, you must be able to prove what you lost. This could be done through bank statements, for example.

Secondly, the non-material damage head of claim compensates you for the psychiatric injury the personal data breach has caused.

The compensation amounts in the table below are based on 16th edition guidelines from the Judicial College. Legal professionals, including data breach solicitors, use the guidelines to assign value to the non-material damage head of claim. The guidelines were updated in 2022. However, your compensation may vary because every data breach claim is different.

Please contact us today to speak with an advisor for more advice about how much you could receive after a successful claim.

Start Your No Win No Fee Immigration Information Data Breach Claim

Please reach out to us today to see if you can claim compensation for an immigration information data breach. An advisor can assess your case and if it’s valid we can provide a lawyer to handle your claim. What’s more, the lawyer can offer you a type of No Win No Fee service called a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA).

You don’t pay a fee for the services your solicitor provides if your claim fails under a CFA. You will pay a success fee if your claim succeeds. The success fee is deductible from your compensation payout at a legally capped rate.

To learn more, please use the details below to contact us.

• Telephone: You can call us on 0800 073 8804
• Online form: You can use our claim online form to make an enquiry
• Live support: You can enter your question into the live support feature below.

Find Out More About Immigration Data Breach Claims

Please read below to learn more about making a data breach claim.

• HR Data Breaches Compensation Claims Guide
• Local Authority And Council Data Breach Compensation Claims
• My Ethnicity Was Disclosed In A Data Breach – Can I Make A Claim?
• Court Case Data Breach Claims Case Study
• Conveyancing Solicitor Data Breach Claims Guide
• HIV Data Breach Claims Guide
• Hospital Mental Health Data Breach – Case Study
• Monzo Bank Data Breach – Could I Claim?
• My Medical Information Was Shared – Can I Claim?
• Metro Bank Data Breach – Could I Claim?
• How To Report A Data Breach To The ICO
• Image Data Breach Claims Case Study
• An ICO guide to identity theft
• Information from the ICO on the right to object to the use of your data
• A government guide to filing a data protection complaint.
• If you are seeking advice on claiming compensation following a Government data breach which has affected you, you can read our guide on the subject.

Thank you for reading our guide on making an immigration information data breach claim. If you have any other questions, please get in touch on the number above.

Writer Chelache/ Brown

Editor Mitchell

In this guide we examine what you could do if a trainee breached your personal data at work. Learn about the impact of a data breach on employees and employer data breach compensation eligibility.

We investigate what rights you as a data subject are given under the data protection legislation. Additionally, we explore what defines a data breach. We look at who could be potentially held accountable for a data breach should your protected personal data be included in one. The legislation also sets out specific compensation eligibility criteria should you wish to claim.

Employers hold various personal and special category data about their employees. We explore a few examples and also look at what impact this could have on your life if it is included in a data breach.

To conclude this guide, we explore what a No Win No Fee agreement means. You may wish to claim compensation for a personal data breach at work and may find the process easier with legal representation, which is where a No Win No Fee solicitor could help.

If at any point while reading this guide, you have any questions about what to do following a trainee that has breached your personal data at work, you can speak to our advisors.

To speak to a member of the team:

• Start your claim online
• Use the live chat
• Call 0800 073 8804

 Select A Section

1. Who Is Accountable If Data Is Mishandled In Your Place Of Work In The UK?
2. What Could Be The Impact Of A Data Breach On Employees?
3. Types Of Personal Data Handled In The Workplace
4. A Trainee Breached My Personal Data At Work – Can I Claim Compensation?
5. What Could I Claim If A Trainee Breached My Personal Data At Work?
6. No Win No Fee Claims For A Data Breach At Work

Who Is Accountable If Data Is Mishandled In Your Place Of Work In The UK?

As a data controller, your employer is responsible for ensuring that staff with data access are provided with data protection training. A personal data breach is defined as a security incident that could occur accidentally or unlawfully. If a data breach occurred, personal and special category data held by your employer could be:

• Destroyed
• Lost
• Altered
• Disclosed
• Accessed without authorisation.

The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 govern data protection.

Under this legislation:

• Data controllers, typically an organisation, so your employer, is held responsible should a data breach occur due to their failure to comply with data protection legislation. A processor may be appointed to act on behalf of a controller.
• More rights are given to data subjects over the processing of their personal data.
• Additionally, the legislation sets the data breach compensation eligibility. We’ll examine this later on in this guide.

Call us today if a trainee breached your personal data at work.

What Could Be The Impact Of A Data Breach On Employees?

Now we’ve established who’s accountable if your data is mishandled in your place of work, this section looks at the potential impact of a personal data breach on employees. Below we have included a few example scenarios to show how a breach of personal data could affect employees:

• A lack of instruction on how to safely dispose of hard copies of employee records resulted in HR reports being thrown out with the office recycling instead of being destroyed. This allowed other employees to learn about your discrimination case when they were not authorised to do so, causing significant distress.
• Due to inadequate cyber security measures, a trainee’s computer was infected by spyware and the names and addresses of multiple employees were exposed, including your own.

For a free assessment of your eligibility to claim compensation after “a trainee breached my personal data at work,” get in touch with our advisory team today via the contact information given below.

Types Of Personal Data Handled In The Workplace

If a trainee breached your personal data at work, you may be interested to know what data is protected by the legislation. Data that could be used to identify you is considered personal data. It includes:

• Name
• Address
• Email address
• Phone number
• Bank account and sort code.

The legislation gives additional protections to special category data. This is due to its sensitivity. Your employer may hold some of your special category personal data such as your Trade Union membership, or details of a medical condition you may have.

Get in touch with our advisors 24 hours a day, 7 days a week if you need more information on whether you can claim if a trainee breached your personal data at work.

A Trainee Breached My Personal Data At Work – Can I Claim Compensation?

Article 82 of the UK GDPR sets data breach compensation eligibility. To make a claim valid:

• You must prove that your employer failed to adhere to data protection legislation.
• The breach included your personal or special category data, such as your employer breaching your mental health information.
• The breach caused you harm, either financially or mentally.

If a trainee breached your personal data at work, you might wish to seek legal advice. Even if it was an accidental data breach at work, you still might have a valid claim. A No Win No Fee solicitor could provide their services under the terms of a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). We’ll discuss CFAs further in this guide.

Our data breach claims team can advise on your next steps if a trainee breached your personal data at work. If your claim seems eligible and you wish to proceed, they could put you in touch with a No Win No Fee solicitor .

What Could I Claim If A Trainee Breached My Personal Data At Work?

You might be interested to know how much compensation you could get for a personal data breach. In this section, we examine the two heads that could form an employer data breach compensation claim. These are material damage to recover financial losses and non-material damage to compensate for mental injuries, such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Since the Vidal-Hall and Others v. Google Inc. (2015) Court of Appeal case, the way data breach compensation is awarded changed. Prior to this case, you could only claim for your mental harm if the data breach caused financial losses. This case set a precedent, however, and now, you can claim mental health damages without claiming for financial loss.

Non-material Damage

If the data breach caused harm to your mental health, such as stress, you could claim non-material damage. To help assign value to your mental suffering, legal professionals will use a document called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). It provides a list of injuries sitting alongside compensation brackets.

We have compiled the latest JCG figures for psychological harm here. Please be advised that the first entry was not taken from the JCG and that this information has been provided to act as guidance only

Material Damage

Under this head, you could recover your monetary damages. Evidence is required, such as bank statements.

Our data breach claims team can estimate your potential employer data breach compensation.

No Win No Fee Claims For A Data Breach At Work

As stated previously, you may wish to hire the services of a specialist data breach solicitor under the terms of a CFA. You won’t pay an upfront solicitors fee. A success fee is taken from the awards of successful claims instead. If a claim doesn’t succeed, however, there is no success fee to pay. Legal caps apply to the success fee.

Our data breach claims team can advise on the steps to take after a trainee breached your personal data at work. Get in touch 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for free legal advice.

To speak to a member of the team:

• Start your claim online
• Use the live chat
• Call 0800 073 8804

Related Claims Against Employers

The following links might be useful:

• ICO Claiming Compensation Guide
• Government Making a Data Protection Complaint
• NHS Stress Guide 

Further guides:

• HR Data Breach
• Disciplinary Records Data Breach
• Reporting a Data Breach

Criminal solicitor data breach compensation claims may apply when your legal representation fails to protect your personal data. We shall examine how a personal data breach like this can happen and how criminal convictions or a criminal record needs added protections. We also look at how damages are awarded and what you can seek compensation for in a personal data breach claim.

Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide

The Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) protect your data rights. These laws mean that every organisation, business and public body has to handle personal information according to these laws. Failure to comply can mean an organisation is liable if personal data is breached.

Speak to our advisors about what to do next:

• Call us on 0800 073 8804
• Contact us online for a callback
• Alternatively, we have instant chat, this is at the bottom right for instant help with criminal solicitor data breach compensation claims.

Select A Section

1. What Are Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Compensation Claims?
2. How Could Criminal Solicitors Breach Your Data?
3. Sensitive Data Handled By Criminal Solicitors
4. Correct Handling Of Criminal Records And Offence Data
5. Criminal Solicitor Data Breach – How Much Could You Claim?
6. No Win No Fee Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Claims

What Are Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Compensation Claims?

Firstly, what is personal data? Personal information includes any detail like your name, address or phone number that could be used on its own or with other details to identify you. Personal data relating to criminal convictions are given added protection under the UK GDPR.

Companies and organisations like law firms are often known as data controllers because they decide how your personal data should be processed and why. Under data protection laws, data controllers must always secure any personal data they process.

So criminal solicitors and law firms must protect and keep secure personal data they process about you, giving special category information and personal data relating to criminal records even more protection.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR, any organisation that needs to collect or use your personal data must meet one of the  6 lawful bases for processing.

In order to pursue criminal solicitor data breach compensation claims, you will need to show how the law firm or solicitor failed in their obligation to comply with data protection law, how this led to a data breach and finally, what harm you were caused.

There are  7 core principles of the UK GDPR that data controllers must follow:

• Data collection must be lawful, fair and for obvious reasons
• Data requested must be kept to a minimum
• Purpose limited
• It should be accurate
• Kept only for set periods of time
• Data storage or movement must be secure
• Everyone who uses this data must take personal responsibility to practice these principles.

How Could Criminal Solicitors Breach Your Data?

A criminal solicitor’s breach of data could arise after the loss, alteration, destruction or unauthorised sharing of your personal data in a security incident. Personal data breaches can be accidental or deliberate actions. They can also be caused through human error or cyber-attacks and breaches.

So how could this happen? Below we look at the situations that could cause a security incident like this:

• An email forwarded to the wrong recipient
• Legal documents sent to the wrong address
• A fax sent to the wrong person
•  An unauthorised verbal disclosure between staff or solicitors and the general public
• Lost devices that contain data, such as laptops, memory sticks or smartphones
• Lost or stolen paperwork
• Documents left in an exposed or vulnerable way for others to see
• Failure to protect data when stored or transported

Any of these accidental or deliberate actions (or inactions) have the potential to create a data breach that harms you.

Sensitive Data Handled By Criminal Solicitors

A type of personal data is considered sensitive and known as special category data. This can be anything related to information about you, such as ethnic origin and ethnicity, medical data, biometric data and religious beliefs. This data needs more protection than general personal data. As well as special category data, personal data relating to criminal information also needs added protection.

Criminal data relating to an offender or suspected offender that is protected include:

• Criminal activity and records
• Allegations and unproven allegations
• Investigations and proceedings

Criminal solicitor data breach compensation claims can potentially involve any of this information. It might be an accidental human error or a deliberate act. You may be living with the reprisals or repercussions of a criminal data breach.

If so, get in touch with our team to discuss your case in greater depth in a free consultation where there is no obligation to use our services.

Correct Handling Of Criminal Records And Offence Data

Any party wishing to process criminal data needs to do so under the control of an official authority otherwise, a specific condition for processing it in Schedule 1 of the DPA 2018 must be met.

A lawful basis also still needs to be demonstrated. In addition to this, a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) needs to be completed if the data is high risk.

Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) should

• • Describe the purposes of the processing also the nature, the scope, and all context
  • Be compliant and have measures in place to assess necessity and proportionality.
  • Always assess the risks to the data subject.
  • Bring in measures to mitigate any risks.

Time Limit For Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Compensation Claims

There is a time limit you must adhere to when making a personal data breach claim for a data breach by a solicitor. The time limit for starting a data breach claim will depend on what type of organisation your claim is being made against. You’ll usually need to start your claim within one year if you’re making it against a public body. Alternatively, you will have six years to start the claim if it’s against a non-public body.

Please get in touch with our advisors online or on the phone today to learn more about your eligibility to claim for a criminal solicitor data breach. They may also be able to connect you with one of our No Win No Fee solicitors, who could assist you with your case and ensure your claim is started within the correct time limit.

Criminal Solicitor Data Breach – How Much Could You Claim?

Material damage examines the ways in which you suffered loss or expenses because of the breach. This may be because your details leaked and caused trouble where you live, forcing you to move. Or you might have suffered theft from bank accounts after cyber criminals got hold of your personal data. Keep all bank statements and receipts as proof to claim these damages.

Non-material damage can be claimed if you suffered psychologically from the criminal solicitor’s data breach. Worry, stress, anxiety, depression and even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can all be a consequence of a data breach.

A Court of Appeal case: Vidal-Hall and Others v Google Inc, set a precedent for claiming non-material damage in its own right. The Judicial College Guidelines are used to help assess psychiatric injury in personal injury claims so now it can apply to data breach cases, as the table below shows:

These amounts are just guidelines. Speak to our team to learn how you could have your criminal solicitor data breach compensation claim valued more accurately today.

No Win No Fee Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Claims

All our data breach solicitors work under a No Win No Fee agreement.

When you enter into a contract like a Conditional Fee Agreement CFA with a solicitor, it means there are often no fees needed upfront. 

Cases that get a successful outcome only need a capped 25% deduction from any payout made. This goes as a success fee to the solicitors for winning the case for you. This means the majority of any compensation always goes to you. If the case fails, there is usually nothing that needs to be paid to your solicitors at all.

Learn more about how No Win No Fee agreements could help your criminal solicitor data breach compensation claim right now by:

• Call us on 0800 073 8804
• Contact us online for a callback
• Alternatively, we have instant chat, this is at bottom right for instant help with criminal solicitor data breach compensation claims.

Criminal Solicitor Data Breach Compensation Claims Resources

The links below offer further reading to this criminal solicitor data breach compensation claims guide:

• Learn more about what you can do after data breach 
• Have you suffered a medical records data breach?
• Or read more after a data breach involving your bank
• You can read about data breach statistics provided by the ICO
• Tips on staying safe online from the Gov.UK
• In addidtion, read more on why your data matters

By Cat Way. Last Updated 7th July 2025. If a Universal Credit data breach was to occur, you may be curious as to what this could mean for your personal data. Throughout this guide, we will examine what personal data is, what laws there are that protect such data and how you could be affected should such personal information be breached.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is responsible for supervising and overseeing Universal Credit. In order to provide this service to the public, the DWP will need to process personal data. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 DPA personal data is protected. This means that anyone responsible for your personal data must keep it secure in line with data protection laws.

You can also speak to our team of advisors, who are available 24/7, to receive free and confidential legal advice. They can assess your claim for no cost, and should they find that you could be eligible to bring forward a claim, they may connect you with one of our data breach solicitors. However, they will not place you under an obligation to progress your claim with us.

To get in touch, please:

• Call our helpline on 0800 073 8804
• Contact us by filling out our online form, or
• Use the live support feature at the bottom of this page

Select A Section:

• Universal Credit Data Breach – Can I Claim Compensation?
• Are You Eligible To Claim Compensation?
• What Action Could I Take Should A Universal Credit Data Breach Occur?
• Compensation For A Data Protection Breach
• For Advice If A Universal Credit Data Breach Occurs And Involves Your Personal Data, Call Our Team

Universal Credit Data Breach – Can I Claim Compensation?

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), an independent UK body responsible for upholding information rights, defines personal data. This information can be used alone or in combination with other data to identify you. Personal data can include:

• Your name
• Date of birth
• Email address
• Home address
• Phone number
• Credit card
• Debit card

There is also personal data considered sensitive and requiring extra protection, called special category data. This includes:

• Personal data concerning health, such as medical records
• Sexual orientation
• Genetic data

Also, the ICO broadly defines personal data breaches as security incidents which affect the availability, confidentiality or integrity of personal data. This could occur due to accidental or deliberate causes.

Please speak to our team of advisors if you would like to discuss the steps you could take should a Universal Credit data breach occur and compromise your personal data.

Are You Eligible To Claim Compensation?

There are data protection laws in place that control the use and storage of both digital and physical personal data. Also, they create an avenue for people harmed by a personal data breach to seek compensation. These are laid out by:

• The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), and
• The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA).

The UK GDPR outlines the rules data controllers, and processors must comply with when handling personal data. Data controllers are the overall decision-makers responsible for deciding the purpose and means of processing personal data. They may then recruit data processors to act on their behalf and follow their instructions.

Not every security incident that causes personal data to be compromised will result in a compensation claim. If the data controller has adhered to data protection laws, but a breach has still occurred, they may not be liable for the harm you are caused.

The criteria of eligibility that must be met for you to pursue a personal data breach compensation claim are as follows:

• Firstly, the data controller or processor failed to adhere to data protection laws laid out by the UK GDPR and the DPA.
• This results in a breach involving your personal data.
• This causes you to suffer financial losses or psychological harm.

If you would like insight into whether you may have valid grounds to make a personal data breach claim, please get in contact with our team of advisors.

What Action Could I Take Should A Universal Credit Data Breach Occur?

An organisation may contact you to notify you that a data breach has occurred involving your personal information. They are expected to do this without undue delay if it puts your rights and freedoms at risk.

Alternatively, you may not have been notified but suspect a breach has taken place. Either way, we will provide some steps you can take below:

• Firstly, you can contact the data controller directly and ask about the data breach.
• Then, in the event that you receive an unsatisfactory response, you could escalate the complaint.
• You may want to make a complaint to the ICO. It is important to note that they cannot award compensation, however, any findings from an investigation could provide useful evidence to support a claim.
• Additionally, seek legal advice. Our team of advisors are available all day, every day, to provide confidential legal advice.

Contact us to find out what you could do if a Universal Credit data breach were to occur and compromise your personal information.

Compensation For A Data Protection Breach

If you are interested in claiming compensation for a data protection breach, you may be wondering how much you could receive. Since every claim is unique, and compensation is awarded based on the individual circumstances of each case, we can’t provide an average data breach compensation amount.

However, you could get an idea of what you could receive in terms of non-material damage compensation through the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Non-material damage covers the psychological effects you suffered because of the breach. For example, you could experience anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

The JCG provides solicitors with guideline compensation awards to help them value this head of claim. Below, you can find some data breach compensation examples from the JCG. Please note that the figure in the top row was not taken from the JCG and this table is only provided as a guide.

Your data breach compensation amount could also include material damage compensation. This addresses the financial losses you suffer as a result of the breach. For example, this could include:

• Purchases made on your credit card
• Damage to your credit score
• Withdrawals from your account
• Debt accrued in your name

For more information on claiming compensation for a data protection breach, get in touch with our team.

For Advice If A Universal Credit Data Breach Occurs And Involves Your Personal Data, Call Our Team

Although not a legal requirement, using a solicitor to bring forward a claim could provide benefits, as they will be experienced with the claims process. Additionally, opting for a No Win No Fee data breach solicitor operating under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) will commonly mean:

• There will be no payments to be made for the services of your solicitor upfront, during the claim or if your claim is unsuccessful.
• If your personal data breach claim is successful, a No Win No Fee solicitor can take a small percentage of the compensation, which is often called a success fee. The law caps this amount.

If you would like to discuss the action you could take should a Universal Credit data breach occur and involve your personal data, please contact one of our advisors.

Why Work With A Data Breach Solicitor?

Our No Win No Fee solicitors can help to simplify the process of claiming for a universal credit data breach. They have decades of combined experience in data breach law, which enables them to efficiently navigate the legal system.

Of course, there is no legal obligation to hire a solicitor. However, managing the case yourself can be demanding and stressful. If you are eligible to proceed, the benefits they could offer to your case include:

• Helping you to collect adequate evidence that will strengthen your chances of success
• Offering reassurance throughout the process and explaining anything you are unsure of so that you feel supported
• Connecting you with trusted specialists who can help with your situation, such as an expert psychologist
• Negotiating for your universal credit data breach compensation settlement to cover the full extent of your losses, both in terms of psychological suffering and financial losses
• Handling communication with the defending party on your behalf in a professional manner

Our solicitors have already gained over £80 million in compensation for our clients so far. With our proven track record of success, accessible fee agreements and dedicated legal services, why would you not want to make an enquiry?

There is no obligation to follow up with Legal Expert after you have made contact, so you reach out today with any questions you may have.

• Calling us on 0800 073 8804
• Filling out our online form to contact us
• Using the live support feature at the bottom of this page

Data Breach Claim Resources

Please take a look at further guides from our website:

• Medical Data Breach Claims
• My Data Has Been Breached, What Can I Do?
• My Sort Code And Account Number Have Been Disclosed In A Data Breach – Can I Claim?

Explore the external links below to learn more:

• ICO – The right to object to the use of your data
• GOV.UK – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
• GOV.UK – Data protection

Thank you for reading this article on the steps you could take should a Universal Credit data breach occur and compromise your personal information.

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 9th June 2025. If you fell through a roof at work and were injured as a result, you may be wondering if you are eligible to claim compensation.

This guide will explain the ways that an accident like this can occur and the injuries a fall could cause. We will discuss the medical and financial evidence that you can present which would support your claim for compensation, and explain what makes an eligible claim.

We will also discuss the benefits of hiring legal representation to assist you in your claim, as well as detail potential compensation payouts.

Our team of friendly advisors can provide free legal advice, and can give you a free consultation when you get in touch today. If our advisors find your claim to be valid, they may connect you with one of our expert solicitors. Read on to learn more, or get in touch today by:

• Calling on 0800 073 8804
• Contacting us online
• Using the live chat feature

Select A Section

1. The Work At Height Regulations 2005
2. Employer’s Duty Of Care To Those Working On Roofs
3. Time Limit For Claiming For Injuries After Falling Through A Roof
4. Case Study – A Worker Fell Through A Roof
5. How To Claim If You Fell Through A Roof
6. Claiming For Injuries With A No Win No Fee Solicitor
7. How To Claim If You Fell Through A Roof?
8. Can I Claim If A Loved One Died From A Fall Through A Roof At Work?
9. Learn More About Accidents At Height

The Work At Height Regulations 2005

All employers owe a duty of care to employees as detailed in the Health and Safety At Work etc. Act 1974 (HASAWA). According to this legislation, employers must take all reasonably practicable steps to keep employees safe in the workplace or while they are carrying out work duties. Should an employer fail to deliver this duty of care correctly, leading to an employee becoming injured, then they may be liable for any suffering caused.

Similarly, The Work At Heights Regulations 2005 exists to help prevent death and injury caused by a fall from a height. Under these regulations, employers must ensure that work done at a height is properly planned, carried out by competent people, and appropriately supervised.

Our advisors can tell you if you have a valid claim when you get in touch today.

Employer’s Duty Of Care To Those Working On Roofs

As mentioned in the previous section, all employers owe a duty of care to their employees, as laid out by the HASWA. Part of this duty of care includes following other health and safety legislation, such as the work at heights regulations. For example, some of the safety measures laid out by these regulations to help prevent injuries and deaths while working at a height include:

• Plan the work in advance
• Supervise the work
• Ensure work is carried out by a competent person
• Ensure that correct and adequately maintained equipment is provided

To hold a valid personal injury claim after falling through a roof at work, the onus will be on you to prove your employer was liable for what happened. This will mean providing evidence to show how they breached the duty of care they owed you and how this resulted in you sustaining the harm you suffered.

Contact our advisors today if you fell through a roof as a result of a breach of your employer’s duty of care.

Time Limit For Claiming For Injuries After Falling Through A Roof

If you are eligible to make a personal injury claim after you fell through a roof at work, you should be aware that there’s normally a time limit for claims like these. The Limitation Act 1980 establishes that there’s usually a three-year time limit for starting a work injury claim. This time limit normally begins on the date of the accident.

Under some circumstances, the three-year time limit can work differently. If, for instance, the injured party is under the age of 18, then the time limit will not begin until their 18th birthday. A claim could be made on the child’s behalf by a court-appointed litigation friend. However, if this does not happen, then the injured party will have three years to start their own claim once they turn 18 years old.

If the injured party lacks the mental capacity to start a work injury claim on their own, then the three-year time limit is suspended indefinitely. A litigation friend could claim instead on the injured party’s behalf. If this does not happen, and the injured party later regains the mental capacity to claim on their own, then the time limit will start from the day of recovery.

For more advice on your eligibility to claim for injuries after falling off a roof at work, contact our advisors for free today.

Case Study – A Worker Fell Through A Roof

A primary school was found to have breached health and safety law in 2019 when a teaching assistant fell through a ceiling and suffered a serious back injury.

After accessing the loft space in order to retrieve a spare desk, the ceiling gave way, causing the teaching assistant to fall around four meters. This incident left the victim with a broken back and necessitated three weeks of hospital treatment. After an HSE investigation, it was found the incident occurred because of the fragile ceiling due to only partial boarding of the access area. The school was fined £4,000.

Contact our team of advisors today to find out how to claim if you fell through a roof at work.

How To Claim If You Fell Through A Roof

If you have had an accident at work, you should seek medical attention. It’s important to make sure any injuries are treated so that you don’t sustain any further harm. Your injuries and treatment will also be logged in your medical records, which will come in useful when you are gathering evidence.

It’s also in your best interest to record the incident in your workplace’s accident book. However, if you are unable to, a colleague could do this for you. The record can be used to prove that you were injured in a roof accident at work.

Other examples of evidence you should collect to prove that your employer has breached their duty of care to you and that you were injured, include:

• CCTV footage of the accident, if possible. For example, if you fall from scaffolding, CCTV cameras may capture this and show the cause of the accident.
• Photographs of the accident scene and your injuries
• The contact details of any colleagues or witnesses who can provide a statement corroborating your version of events
• A medical report produced by an independent medical expert, who can assess your injuries and offer insight into the extent of any harm you have suffered

Finally, you may consider seeking legal advice. An accident at work solicitor can cover all bases of your claim and assist you with gathering evidence. If you would like to work with one of our experienced solicitors, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Can I Claim If A Loved One Died From A Fall Through A Roof At Work?

You could be eligible to claim compensation if your loved one or family member suffered a fatal injury after they fell through a roof at work. The eligibility to claim and what the compensation covers depends on several factors, as we will outline for you in this section. 

Under the Law Reform Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1934, only the estate of the deceased can make a claim within the first 6 months. They may claim compensation for the pain and suffering that the deceased experienced due to their injuries. They may also claim compensation in relation to:

• The financial losses that the deceased suffered due to injury (such as lost earnings)
• Funeral costs
• A dependency claim

Other qualifying loved ones, such as children or parents of the deceased, can make a claim for compensation if the estate has not made a claim within 6 months after the fatality. This is established by the Fatal Accidents Act 1976. They may be able to claim compensation regarding:

• A bereavement award
• The loss of financial dependency 
• Funeral costs

For more information about fatal fall through roof compensation claims, you can reach out to our advisory team. They can explain whether you are eligible to make a claim and what your potential compensation payout would cover.

I Fell Through A Roof, How Much Could I Claim?

If you fell through a roof because your employer acted negligently, you may be wondering what kind of compensation could be due. There are two potential heads of claim to be considered.

The first is called general damages. General damages aim to provide compensation for the pain and suffering you endure as a result of your injuries, as well as any loss of amenity.

By referring to a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG), you can get a broad idea of how much you could potentially receive should your claim succeed. The JCG provides guideline compensation brackets for various illnesses and injuries. This helps solicitors value compensation claims. You can find some examples of these figures below.

Please note that these are guideline figures only. The actual amount you may receive if you fell through a roof can differ. Additionally, the figure in the first row was not taken from the JCG.

Special Damages

The second head of claim is special damages. Special damages provide compensation for the financial impacts of your injuries. For example, under special damages, you may be able to claim back the costs of:

• Lost earnings
• Domestic care from family, friends or paid carers
• Adaptations needed at home to accommodate a new disability
• Physiotherapy costs or other treatments unavailable on the NHS
• Travel expenses to essential appointments
• Damage to personal items, such as your phone

Our team can provide a free consultation if you were injured after you fell through a roof at work caused by your employer being negligent. Get in touch today to learn more.

Claiming For Injuries With A No Win No Fee Solicitor

Our No Win No Fee solicitors can support a valid work injury claim you plan to start after you fell through a roof. A Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA) can be offered by our solicitors when one of them is happy to take on your case. When claiming under a CFA:

• You won’t need to pay your solicitor for their services if your claim is not successful.
• It won’t be necessary for you to pay for your solicitor’s work either upfront or while your case is in progress.
• Your solicitor will take a small, legally capped percentage of the compensation awarded if your claim is successful. This percentage your solicitor takes is known as a success fee and the legal cap for it ensures that you’ll get to keep most of your compensation.

To learn more about claiming for injuries after you fell through a roof at work with a No Win No Fee solicitor, contact our advisors today. Our team can also answer other questions you may have about the claiming process. Get in touch by:

• Calling our team on 0800 073 8804
• Using our contact page online
• Using the 24/7 live chat feature

Learn More About Accidents At Height

For more guides:

• Compensation for a broken neck
• Compensation after falling on uneven pavements
• Slip, trip, and fall head injury settlements
• Learn more about claiming compensation for a fall at work here. You can find potential compensation payouts and advice on working with a No Win No Fee solicitor.
• Find out how to claim if you fell down the stairs at work with our guide.

Or, for further resources:

• GOV – Statutory Sick Pay (SSP)
• HSE – Workers’ Health & Safety
• NHS – Broken Leg

Thank you for reading our guide on how to claim compensation if you fell through a roof at work.

Has your or your family’s personal data been involved in a data breach? Are you wondering whether you can make a claim for family data breach compensation? 

Family Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide

This guide will examine the claims process. We’ll look at how data breaches can happen and what data can be involved. If your personal data breach claim is successful, two types of damages are open for you to receive compensation for. 

Our advisors are available to offer free advice on your claim. If they can see that your case has good solid grounds, they will ask if you would like one of our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors to work on your case for you. 

Here is how you get in touch with us: 

• Phone: 0800 073 8804
• Website: Contact us today
• Live chat: Message us today

Select A Section

1. Can We Claim Family Data Breach Compensation?
2. What Types Of Data Are Protected By Law?
3. How A Personal Data Breach Could Impact You
4. Can My Family Claim For A UK GDPR Breach If Our Personal Data Has Been Breached?
5. How Much Can My Family Claim For A UK GDPR Breach If Our Personal Data Has Been Breached?
6. Call Us To See If You Can Claim For Family Data Breach Compensation

Can We Claim Family Data Breach Compensation?

UK Residents’ personal data is primarily protected by two main pieces of legislation: the UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018. Any data that can identify you or be used with other information to reach the same result is protected by these regulations. Also, a type of personal data that tells something about you called special category data is also protected. 

Under the UK GDPR, you, the data subject, have the right to make a personal data breach claim against a data controller, i.e. an organisation that says why and how your personal data should be used or processors that process on behalf of data controllers if your case meets specific criteria:

• The organisation responsible for your personal information failed in its legal obligation to keep it secure.
• Personal data or special category data was breached,
• You suffered mental and/or financial damages as a result

There are also specific time limits for personal data breach claims. Data breach claims must be started within 6 years. However, this is reduced to 1 year when making a claim against a public body. 

Contact us today for more information on if you can make a claim for family data breach compensation. 

What Types Of Data Are Protected By Law?

Personal processed data and a type of personal data known as special category data are both protected by data security laws. Here are examples of personal data; 

• Home address
• Email address
• Phone numbers 
• Full names 
• Passwords

Special category data would include the likes of medical records, ethnicity and ethnic origin, Trade Union membership and religious beliefs. This list is by no means exhausted however, this particular type of data requires even more protection due to its sensitive nature.

If an organisation or a company has breached your or your family’s personal data and you have evidence of this taking place, contact us today. We can assess whether family data breach compensation is possible. 

How A Personal Data Breach Could Impact You

A data breach could affect you in a number of different ways. It could have a psychological impact if personal and sensitive information is breached, and there is a risk of it being exposed. Stress can be considered as one of the potential consequences of a data breach.

Likewise, if credit or debit card details are breached, that could cause you to suffer financial losses. Even the worry of suffering financial losses can cause mental health issues. 

It could also make you more vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. Unfortunately, many data breaches can occur due to human error. 

Talk to us today for more information on how a data breach can impact you. Our advisors are trained in giving free advice and guidance about personal data breach claims. 

Can My Family Claim For A UK GDPR Breach If Our Personal Data Has Been Breached?

When making a claim for a personal data breach, you can take steps to strengthen your claim. You will need evidence to prove that the organisation failed in its obligation to correctly protect your personal data. Also, you will need evidence of how you suffered as a consequence of the breach. 

You can start to gather evidence by contacting the organisation you hold responsible for the data breach. Additionally, You can ask whether a breach has taken place and, if so, what information has been breached. 

You have the right to report a data breach incident to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if the organisation fails to reply or does not offer a satisfactory explanation.

Any organisation that suffers a data breach that affects your rights and freedoms must let you know about it as soon as possible. It must also inform the ICO within 72 hours. 

The ICO has the power to open an investigation into the company. Also, the ICO can issue fines to those companies found to be at fault for a data breach. 

Contact us today for more information on whether you have valid claim for family data breach compensation. 

How Much Can My Family Claim For A UK GDPR Breach If Our Personal Data Has Been Breached?

Successful personal data breach claims allow the claimant to be compensated for two types of damages. Firstly, we have material damages that compensate for your financial losses.

Secondly, non-material damage will award damages for the psychological suffering that has been caused. 

The table has been created from the information in the 16th edition of the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). The JCG is a publication that lists injuries and illnesses alongside compensation brackets. It is used by legal professionals in civil claims. 

If you need any more information on the different types of damages, get in touch with us today. 

Call Us To See If You Can Claim For Family Data Breach Compensation 

Should you have a strong valid claim, our No Win No Fee data breach claim solicitors can offer to take on your case. 

This will usually mean you signing a Conditional Fee Agreement. With this type of fee arrangement it generally means;

• Firstly, no upfront solicitor’s fee
• Secondly, if the case is successful and you are awarded compensation, a maximum percentage of 25% is taken as a success fee.
• Lastly, if the claim does not succeed, there is no success fee to pay.

Contact us today. Our team of advisors are available 24/7, offering free advice and guidance for your claim. 

How you can get in contact with us:

• Website: Contact us through our online contact form
• Phone: 0800 073 8804
• Live chat: Message us today

Family Data Breach Compensation Resources

If you have been a data breach victim, take a look at these additional resources we’ve gathered. 

• Bank data breach compensation claims 
• Nursery data breach compensation claims
• Hotel data breach compensation claims 

Additionally, we have some external links for you to have a read through. They can provide additional information on what you can do if you believe that you have been impacted by a data breach.

• ICO – Report a breach
• ICO – How to minimise the risk of a personal data breach happening
• ICO – Make a complaint

To conclude this article, if you believe that you have been a victim of a data breach and are looking for family data breach compensation, then you can contact us today.