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Easyleads Limited Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide – How Much Compensation Can I Claim? – Amounts For Easyleads Limited Data Breach

How To Claim Damages Against An Automated Call Marketing Company

Misleading and nuisance calls can be annoying, but did you know that in some cases, they could be illegal? Whether you’ve been harmed by the Easyleads Limited data breach or your data has been breached by a different automated calling company, this guide has been created to offer you advice and guidance on your legal rights and what’s required to prove a data breach claim.

Easyleads Limited data breach claims guideMaking data breach claims against Easyleads Ltd may be something you might not consider possible, especially since the company was dissolved after it breached The Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003, but in some cases, it may be possible for you to make a claim against a dissolved or liquidated company.

If you’d like us to assess your case to see if you could be eligible to claim data breach compensation, or you’d like to learn more about making such claims, you can read the guide below which gives some useful information about making data breach claims.

Alternatively, if you’d like us to advise you over the phone or provide a data breach solicitor to you to help you make a claim, all you need to do is call us on 0800 073 8804.

You can also write to us by clicking here or chat with us now using our live chat, bottom right.

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A Guide To Data Breach Claims Against Easyleads Limited

In 2017, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) took action against automated calling company, Easyleads Limited, because they broke the law by making 16.7 million unsolicited calls to the public. This breached the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003. While the company subsequently dissolved, this still constitutes a breach of personal data.

Whether you’ve been affected by the Easyleads data breach or your data has been breached by a company that has fallen foul of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which came into force in 2018, this could cause you to suffer not only financial but also emotional harm.

You may not be aware of this, but a breach of GDPR or the Data Protection Act can cause distress, anxiety or depression. And if you’ve experienced these symptoms, you could look to claim compensation from the organisation that has breached your data. This guide has been created to offer you some important insight into making such claims.

In the sections below, we’ll explain what constitutes a breach of data protection law, we’ll clarify what is meant by personal data, and we’ll also give you an idea of the kinds of compensation you could claim for a breach of your personal data. We will tell you how we could help you claim compensation for emotional distress and financial expenses caused by a data breach and how we can connect you to our No Win No Fee data breach solicitors.

What Is A Data Breach Claim Against Easyleads Limited?

Before we look at how the Easyleads Limited data breach occurred, we should first explain what constitutes a breach of your data. Essentially, according to the current laws, such as GDPR and The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), your data could be breached if it is subject to unlawful or accidental:

  • Loss
  • Theft
  • Storage
  • Processing
  • Transmission
  • Access
  • Alteration

What Could Happen If An Organisation Violated The Data Protection Act And My Data Was Breached?

If this happens, it could result in some harmful consequences. These could include:

  • Theft – If someone has enough information about you, they could access your accounts and take money from you. They could also make purchases in your name.
  • Identity fraud/theft – Someone could also pretend to be you if they had enough information, and this could result in them taking out finance in your name, for example
  • Data selling – Your details could be sold to a third party, who could then use them for their own means
  • Emotional damage – If you believe you have been the victim of an Easyleads data breach, you could worry about what could happen to your personal details and how they could be used against you. This could lead to loss of sleep, anxiety and depression, for example.

Making data breach claims against Easyleads Ltd might be complicated given it’s no longer in existence. However, in some cases, dissolved company’s directors could be held liable for compensation claims against them, as well as any insurance companies that provided cover at the time. This means that a claim is very much still a possibility, so don’t give up hope.

We should also mention that if you have suffered harm from a data breach caused by another company that is still trading, we could help with compensation claims against that company.

Personal Contact Information Protected By The GDPR

In terms of the personal contact information that is protected by GDPR, this includes any information that relates to an identifiable or identified person. This could include:

  • Your name
  • Your identification number
  • Your location
  • An online identifier
  • Your phone number
  • Your e-mail address
  • Your customer number
  • Your credit card details
  • Your account number or account data
  • Your appearance
  • Your number plate

If any of this information is breached, this could, either alone or in conjunction with other information be used to commit theft or identity fraud. Your details could even be sold onto a third party who could use them in the same manner.

ICO Crackdowns On Automated Call Marketing Companies

In 2017, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) handed Easyleads Limited a fine of £260,000 as a result of it making 16.7 million automated marketing calls, which breached  Regulation 24 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR).

Easyleads Limited were fined as part of a crackdown by the ICO into automated calls. The company did not have specific permission from those it made calls to, and in addition to this, did not include company contact details or even the company name in the recorded messages it made.

According to the ICO, there were over 550 complaints made about the misleading calls, which were about boiler grants. The ICO’s investigation found that Easyleads deliberately misled those it called, where the company referred to a free boiler scheme it claimed was part of a government scheme.

What Fines Can The ICO Impose?

According to the ICO, they do not issue fines for all breaches of personal data. However, they do have the power to issue monetary fines where they believe it is appropriate for them to do so. The fines are decided on a case by case basis, and there are 2 maximum penalty ceilings that could come into play; the standard, and the higher maximum.

What Is The Maximum Fine The ICO Can Impose?

The standard maximum fine the ICO can impose is £17.5m or 4% of the organisation’s worldwide annual turnover, whichever is the higher.

If you’re wondering ‘where does the money from ICO fines go?’, you might be interested to learn that the ICO does not receive these monies. Instead, the money goes into the Treasury’s consolidated fund.

Do I Need To Report My Data Breach To The ICO?

In general, if you suffer a privacy violation similar to the Easyleads data breach, you could report it to the ICO, but the ICO advise you to initially report it to the company that has breached your data.

They advise you to contact the company quickly and to be as specific as possible as to why you believe your data has been breached, how it has been breached and how the breach has affected you.

We would advise you to include details of not only the financial damage that has occurred because of the breach but also the way in which it has affected you emotionally. As part of your report, you should give a timescale for the company to respond to you.

What Happens If They Don’t Respond?

If the company doesn’t respond to you, you could then report them to the ICO, but you should try to do this within three months, as the ICO may not investigate if there’s been a long delay in letting them know about the breach.

If you’re considering making a claim for an incident like the Easyleads Limited data breach, then it could be well worth taking legal advice, whether you have reported the breach to the ICO or not.

What Types Of Compensation Could I Be Eligible To Claim?

In general, if you’re making a claim for a breach similar to the Easyleads Limited data breach, you could be eligible to claim compensation for financial harm you’ve suffered because of the breach, but you might be surprised to know that you could also claim for emotional distress.

The reason behind this is that legal precedent was set in a case that was heard at the Court of Appeal in 2015. In Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015] – Court of Appeal, issues surrounding psychological harm caused by data breaches were discussed. It was decided that such compensation could be considered even in the absence of any financial harm, which previously was required to make a data breach claim.

This means that any data breach that has caused you psychological harm, whether this is a loss of sleep, anxiety, depression or other negative mental health effects could lead to compensation.

Claiming compensation for financial expenses may not be as simple as calculating the amount of money you’ve lost. Data breaches could mean your data is at risk of being used in the future in some way, and an experienced lawyer could fight for a settlement that takes this into account when pleading your case.

This is something our data breach solicitors can help with, and if you’d like to learn more about this, then please get in touch with our team.

Calculating Damages Settlements For Data Breach Claims

As we mentioned, the compensation you could receive in a successful claim for an incident similar to the Easyleads Limited data breach could depend on the specific expenses you’ve faced. It could also depend on the medical evidence that would need to be collected to prove you’ve suffered emotional harm because of the breach.

If you’re claiming for emotional distress, you would have to see a medical expert, who could assess the level of psychological harm you’d suffered and write a report detailing this, as well as providing information as to how long these effects would last. This could be used to determine an appropriate amount of data breach compensation.

Psychological Injury Compensation Amounts

To illustrate the compensation amounts that could be appropriate for different levels of psychological injury, we have looked to the Judicial College Guidelines. You can see figures from this publication in the table below, which could give you some idea of how much could be deemed appropriate for your case.

Edit
Injury level Compensation bracket Remarks
Psychological injuries – moderately severe £17,900 to £51,460 While the prognosis would not be as poor as the most severe psychological injuries, the injured party’s ability to cope with work, education and life would be significantly impacted.
Psychological injuries – moderate £5,500 to £17,900 There would be an impact on the life of the injured party asper the above bracket but some marked recovery would have taken place already and their prognosis would be good.
Psychological injuries – less severe Up to £5,500 The injured party’s ability to perform usual daily activities and to sleep would be assessed, as would the length of time they’d suffered.
Cases of PTSD – moderately severe £21,730 to £56,180 The injured party, with some professional assistance, could have seen some improvement in their ability to cope with their life but significant disabilities would be ongoing.
Cases of PTSD – moderate £7,680 to £21,730 The person affected would have for the most part recovered. Continuing disabilities would not grossly disable them.
Cases of PTSD – less severe Up to £7,680 A virtually full recovery would have been effected between 1-2 years. Some very minor continuing symptoms may remain, however.

How Does The Damages Claim Process Work?

To make a damages claim against a company that has breached your data you might wish to put together a letter, detailing how you’ve been affected by the breach and asking them to investigate your claim.

You might want to include the ways in which you have been affected, including how it has impacted you emotionally. If they do not offer you compensation or respond to your claim in a satisfactory way, you could opt to report them to the Information Commissioner’s Office so that the ICO could investigate on your behalf.

But you may not want to make a claim for an incident like the Easyleads Ltd data breach alone. And in fact, it might benefit you to have a lawyer on your side when making such a claim. A solicitor could:

  • Deal with all the legal paperwork pertaining to your claim
  • Ensure that your case is as strong as it could be
  • Negotiate for the maximum settlement possible for your claim
  • Ensure all paperwork was submitted within the relevant time limit for your case (6 years for a data breach, 1 year for a breach of your human rights)

How We Could Help You Get The Compensation You Deserve

Here at Legal Expert, we are ready and waiting to help you make a claim for compensation if you’ve suffered due to a breach of your personal data. When you call us, we’ll ask you for a few details about what’s happened to you and we’ll give you advice based on your specific circumstances.

Our advice is free of charge and we’ll even perform a free eligibility check on your case, with no obligation for you to use our services. If we think you could have a valid claim, we could provide you with a lawyer to help you fight for the compensation you deserve.

We have many years of experience in helping claimants make a wide range of compensation claims. Our data breach solicitors work hard to get the maximum compensation possible for our client’s cases and the reviews they’ve left speak for themselves as to the level of service they believe we’ve provided. If you’d like to read some of these reviews, you can find them here. We’d be delighted to help provide the same great service to you.

No Win No Fee Data Breach Claims Against Easyleads Limited

A Legal Expert No Win No Fee solicitor could help you without taking a penny from you until your case is successfully won. The process would usually work as follows:

  • Initially, you’d be given a Conditional Fee Agreement (the formal name for a No Win No Fee agreement), which you’d be asked to sign. This would indicate the success fee that you’d be required to pay in the event of a successful claim
  • Once you’d signed and returned the agreement, the lawyer would begin work on your case
  • If they managed to secure compensation for you, the success fee would be taken from your payout
  • If no compensation was arranged, you wouldn’t pay the success fee or cover your solicitor’s costs

The success fee is usually calculated as a small percentage of your eventual payout and is legally capped. If you’d like to know more about how our No Win No Fee lawyers could help you make a claim for an incident like the Easyleads Limited data breach, we’d be happy to talk to you. If you’d like to learn more about No Win No Fee claims in general, we have provided a further resource at the end of this guide.

Contact A Specialist Solicitor

Are you interested in making a claim because you’ve been affected by an incident similar to an Easyleads Limited data breach? Or are you not sure whether you could be eligible to claim data breach compensation?

In any case, the team at Legal Expert are here to help you. All you need to do is get in touch and we’ll answer your questions and check your eligibility to make a claim. If we feel it would be appropriate to do so, we could even provide you with a data breach solicitor to help you make your claim. All you need to do is contact our friendly team:

We look forward to hearing from you.

Related Services

In this final section on Easylead data breach claims, we’ve included some other resources you may find useful.

Data Breach Claims– For general information relating to making a claim for a data breach. This guide contains guidance on reporting breaches and the legislation that protects your personal data.

Acting On Data Breach Reports– This guidance from the ICO gives organisations that believe they may have had a data breach incident guidance on what to do next.

Personal Data – How Is It Used?– The ICO also provides information about how your personal data could be utilised on its website. You could find this of interest.

Claiming Under No Win No Fee Terms– Claimants can find out more about conditional fee agreements and the No Win No Fee claims process here.

Credit Card Data Breach– We have produced a handy guide for those who believe their credit card data has been breached.

What Enforcement Actions Has The ICO Taken?– If you’d like to learn more about how the ICO has acted to enforce data protection laws, you might be interested in viewing this page.

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    • Patrick Mallon

      Patrick is a Grade A solicitor having qualified in 2005. He's an an expert in accident at work and public liability claims and is currently our head of the EL/PL department. Get in touch today for free to see how we can help you.

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