My Banking Details Were Breached – Can I Claim Compensation?
By Cat Way. Last Updated 8th August 2023. Different types of organisations have access to your banking and financial information, not just banks. Under data protection laws such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, personal data, which is information that can be used to identify you, must be kept secure. Debit and credit card details are amongst the personal data that need to be kept safe. If such information fell into the wrong hand, you could not only suffer financially but also mentally too.
Banking details breached claims guide
If you have evidence that your personal financial details have been breached, call our helpline, and an advisor can answer any questions you may have about making a data breach compensation claim. Moreover, suppose we can see you are owed compensation for the breaching of your bank account information, an experienced data breach solicitor may offer to handle your claim.
- To discuss your options, please call us today on 0800 073 8804.
- Or see if you can make a claim online.
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Select A Section
- What Is A Data Breach?
- What Data Could Banks Handle?
- Types Of Errors Which Could Breach Your Banking Details
- Examples Of Banking Data Breaches
- My Banking Details Were Breached; What Could I Claim?
- Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Claim If My Banking Details Were Breached?
What Is A Data Breach?
A personal data breach generally is a security issue that means the availability, confidentiality and integrity of your data may have been comprised. This can happen in several ways, for example:
- Lost data
- Stolen data
- Data accessed or disclosed without authorisation or authority
- Altered or destroyed
Data controllers, an entity such as a bank that will decide how and what data is to be processed, and processors sometimes used to process personal data are bound by data protection legislation. Data that is considered personal and personally sensitive data must be kept secure.
What Happens If Banking Details Are Breached?
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation, businesses such as banks are responsible for protecting the personal data they handle. If a bank breaches personal information, this can have different consequences for you, the data subject.
To protect your personal data, it is vital that data controllers and processors take steps such as:
- Firstly use robust and up-to-date cybersecurity systems
- Furthermore, provide workforce data protection training.
- And adhere always to data protection laws.
Personal data breaches cannot only cause psychological injuries, but data subjects can also suffer financial losses. Call our data breach claims team today for advice on your claim.
What Data Could Banks Handle?
If banking details are breached, customers’ data can be released into an insecure environment. Here are some examples of data which could be breached:
- Credit card number
- Debit card number
- Account number
- Sort code
- Online banking login information
- Name
- Address
- Date of birth
- Email address
- Phone number
How could data subjects be affected by a personal data breach?
Criminals may use revealed bank account details to steal from a customer’s account. Or fraudsters could use credit card information to make purchases online.
What’s more, if a customer’s email is breached, fraudsters may impersonate the bank and target the customer for phishing scams, enabling them to steal money.
Moreover, victims could experience stress due to a data breach or mental health problems. For example, victims may experience anxiety because their personal data was exposed.
Types Of Errors Which Could Breach Your Banking Details
Most data breaches happen because of human error. Therefore the data breach was unintentional but can still cause harm. On the other hand, criminals or people with bad intentions can deliberately cause data breaches for financial gain or personal reasons.
So, let’s look at the types of errors which can lead to banking details being breached:
- Misdelivery of data, which means that information is posted or emailed to the wrong person.
- Or a bank fails to redact personal data in its communications.
- Moreover, paperwork containing personal data could be lost or stolen.
- The bank has an out-of-date cyber security system, so it cannot defend itself against a cyber attack.
- An unauthorised person gains unlawful access to banking information. For example, an employee who is not authorised to view the client’s information.
- Or the bank failed to train its workers to spot the signs of a phishing scam. Therefore a worker may have given out protected information to a fraudster.
Examples Of Banking Data Breaches
Sending personal data to the wrong postal address or email address, faxing personal data to the incorrect recipient, and leaving files or USB sticks containing personal information in unsecured locations are all types of personal data breaches. These are what are considered non-cyber data breaches. But what other data breaches can occur? Generally speaking, there are two types of breaches: those that happen through human error, as we have mentioned above and others that happen due to cyber-attacks and online criminals.
Equifax Ltd
The ICO has given Equifax a monetary penalty of £500,000. Equifax in the US was hit by a cyber attack in 2017. Personal data of UK residents were affected. The ICO explained that Equifax Ltd had not taken the proper precautions to prevent the unauthorised and unlawful processing of said data.
My Banking Details Were Breached; What Could I Claim?
Only data breach victims that meet the criteria under Section 82 of the UK GDPR will be entitled to pursue a personal data breach compensation claim. This means answering yes to the following 3 questions:
- Did the data controller or processor fail to adhere to data protection law?
- Was your personal data affected by a breach?
- Did you suffer mentally and/or financially?
If your personal data breach claim is successful, you could be awarded two types of damages:
- Firstly material damage, compensation is paid out for financial (material) losses.
- Secondly, non-material damage is paid out for emotional distress or psychiatric injuries.
You can use our data breach claims table to estimate how much your compensation claim could be worth. The table includes brackets for non-material damage. The compensation brackets are based on the 16th edition guidelines from the Judicial College, released in 2022. However, if your claim succeeds, the amount of compensation you receive may differ.
| Mental Injury | Severity | Payout And Damages | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mental Harm | Severe | £54,830 to £115,730 | Injured parties could face problems in many areas of life. |
| Mental Harm | Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 | Whilst still facing similar problems, the person does have a better and more optimistic diagnosis. |
| Mental Harm | Moderate | £5,860 to £19,070 | Though left facing problems in many areas of life, their condition will have improved. |
| Mental Harm | Less Severe | £1,540 to £5,860 | Patterns of sleep could be disturbed. |
| Anxiety Disorder | Severe | £59,860 to £100,670 | There may be permanent effects preventing the person returning to pre-trauma life. |
| Anxiety Disorder | Moderately Severe | £23,150 to £59,860 | There is some chance for recovery if professional medical care is sought. |
| Anxiety Disorder | Moderate | £8,180 to £23,150 | This person will largely have gotten better. |
| Anxiety Disorder | Less Severe | £3,950 to £8,180 | A very close to full recovery has happened. |
The table excludes material damage compensation. So, to get a personalised claim valuation, please call us to speak with an advisor.
Could A No Win No Fee Solicitor Help Me Claim If My Banking Details Were Breached?
If you are interested in making a claim for bank data breach compensation, one of our solicitors could help. They take on claims from around the country, which means you don’t have to choose a solicitor local to you, and they have years of experience handling various types of personal data breach claims.
One of the benefits of working with our data breach solicitors is that they work on a No Win No Fee basis under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). When you work with a solicitor under this arrangement, you can access their services without paying an upfront fee. Similarly, you won’t pay any ongoing costs for their work, nor will you pay a fee for their services if your claim does not succeed.
If your bank data breach claim does succeed, then your solicitor will take a success fee. This fee is taken straight from your compensation as a small, legally-capped percentage; the cap is in place to help ensure that you keep the majority of what you receive.
To find out if one of our solicitors could help you with your personal data breach claim, contact our team of advisors today. They can answer any questions you may have about the claims process and may be able to connect you with a solicitor from our panel. To get in touch:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us online.
- Use the live chat feature.
Banking Details Breached Resources
If you want to claim compensation for a banking or finance data breach, please have a look at these online resources.
My Employer Sent Personal Information To The Wrong Address
My Existing Mental Health Issues Were Made Worse By A Data Breach
Personal Information Was Shared Without My Consent
To learn more about the British Library data breach and compensation claims surrounding it, head here. That breach also arose because of a cyberattack.
Here are some external links you may find useful:
An Information Commissioner’s Office guide to avoiding identity theft
An ICO guide on credit
Your right to object to the use of your data – information from the ICO
Thank you for reading our guide on what to do if your banking details are breached.
