Do Data Breach Protection Solicitors Offer No Win No Fee?
By using data protection solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis you could receive legal representation without having to pay an upfront fee. In this guide, among many other areas, we are going to be discussing the relevance of having a data breach solicitor pursue your case for you. Since 2018 the way our data can be used has changed with the introduction of new laws and legislation. In this guide, we shall determine which parts of our data should be protected and if they are not what you can do about it.
Data protection solicitor
If your data has been exposed to unlawful access or use, you may be able to make a claim. However, even though your claim might be similar to others, it won’t be entirely the same. The reason for explaining this, is so that you understand why we cannot possibly answer every potential question in one guide. Your claim will be unique in one or more ways. If you do find that this guide leaves you with unanswered questions, please call our claims team on 0800 073 8804. They are available 24/7 and can answer all of your questions. They can also explain how we can organise a solicitor to process your claim for you.
Select a Section:
- What Is Data Protection And Do Data Protection Solicitors Offer No Win No Fee?
- How To Prove Liability For A Claim
- What Are Examples Of Data Protection Breaches?
- Do I Need A Data Protection Solicitors For A No Win No Fee Claim?
- What Situations Could Lead To A Data Protection Breach?
- How To React To A Data Protection Breach
- Data Protection Statistics
- How Do Data Protection Solicitors Calculate Compensation?
- What Goes Into A Compensation Settlement For A Data Protection Breach?
- The Next Steps To Take After A Data Protection Breach
- Do Data Protection Solicitors Offer No Win No Fee?
- Working With Legal Expert For A Data Protection Breach Claim
- Contact Us To Start Your Claim Today
- Extra Research On Data Protection Solicitors And No Win No Fee Agreements
What Is Data Protection And Do Data Protection Solicitors Offer No Win No Fee?
In this section, we will look at what a data breach or data leak is. This is so that we can later discuss how using the services of data protection solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis works
We can say that in general, a data breach is a security incident related to the unlawful handling of personal data. An incident that has had a measurable impact on the availability, integrity or confidentiality of your data. Basically, whenever your data is disclosed, altered, destroyed or lost, because of a security incident and through unlawful or accidental actions this could be construed as a data breach.
Additionally, if your data is accessed or shared without a lawful basis, this could also be deemed to be a data breach.
In some cases, data protection breach solicitors might be able to help you make a claim for reasons such as those explained above. We urge you to call and talk to a claim advisor if you think you have fallen foul of a data breach.
How A Data Breach Could Effect You
Now we have a general idea of what a data breach is, it’s time to look at how one might have an impact on your life. Below are a few examples;
- If your data is lost or corrupted – a device that has stored files containing data subjects’ personal information is lost and not password protected. Meaning that anyone who discovers this could have access to personal data.
- Your data is shared without a lawful basis – for example, your employer provides a pension firm with information about you, so that they can contact you to try and sell you a pension product.
- An unauthorised party accesses your data – an example would be a hacker that gains access to your credit card information and uses it.
- A company sends a letter to the wrong address – the letter contains personally identifiable information – even though you had provided them with details of your new address but they failed to update their files.
In each example, if you could prove that the data breach was caused by a liable third party, a claim might be possible. You can call and speak to our claims team for more information about this.
Are There Time Limits To Claim?
There is a need to begin your claim within the time limit that applies, based on your situation. General data breach claims usually need to be started within 6 years. But other factors might influence this. For example, if you are claiming for a data breach against a public body, the time limit would only be one year.
We would advise you to actually call and speak to one of our claims experts. Explain to them why you are claiming, and who against, and they can tell you the time limit that is going to apply.
By using data protection solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis you are providing yourself with legal representation and no upfront solicitor fee. If your data has been used or accessed unlawfully, or has become unavailable a data breach solicitor can be contacted if you require legal advice.
How To Prove Liability For A Claim
For data protection solicitors to offer No Win No Fee terms they will first want to check that your claim is valid. A data subject is someone who supplies their personal data to an organisation (a data controller), who needs it to provide a service. Not all data subjects can make a data breach claim if their personal data is breached. It has to be proven that the data controller failed to do all it could to protect this data in order for liability to be proven.
Furthermore, the onus is on you to prove liability. Here are some general steps for proving liability in a data breach claim.
- Check whether the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has a record of the data breach happening.
- Check reliable news sources to find out if there has been general news about the data breach published.
- Gather evidence such as credit card or bank statements that could potentially prove that a third party has accessed your data.
- If the data breach was witnessed, try to find out the contact details of these witnesses.
- Contact the organisation you think is responsible for breaching your data privacy. If your rights and freedoms are affected by a breach then a data controller has to inform you of the breach.
Your Rights Under UK GDPR
In 2018 the EU introduced the General Data Protection Regulation GDPR which was then enacted into UK law through the Data Protection Act 2018 DPA. However, once the UK left the European Union it no longer had to follow EU Directives. In 2021 the DPA was updated and UK GDPR was introduced.
Under UK GDPR, you are inferred certain basic rights that empower you to control the way your data is being used and stored. Below, is a basic overview of these rights.
- The right to be informed – of any potential issues such as a data breach that has affected your rights and freedoms.
- Your right of access – so that you can find out what data is stored about you.
- The right of rectification – meaning any errors in your data must be put right.
- Your right to be forgotten – you can exercise this right to request to have an organisation delete all of the information they have about you.
- The right to restrict processing – to stop your data from being used in specific ways.
- Your right to data portability – if you request to see the data stored about you, it must be provided in an easily accessible format.
- The right to restrict profiling – and also automated decision making using your data.
What Are Examples Of Data Protection Breaches?
When would data protection solicitors offer No Win No Fee terms? Below are examples of the kinds of issues that a data breach lawyer might be able to help you with.
- An organisation that holds your personal data does not have an up to date cyber security system and a hacker is allowed to exploit its vulnerability and access your data.
- The data controller does not train staff on data awareness and your personal data is accessed by those who do not have authority to see it.
- Your data, medical records, for example, were sent to the wrong person.
- Digital storage devices that contained your data were lost or stolen and were not encrypted.
Do I Need Data Protection Solicitors For A No Win No Fee Claim?
In order to claim data breach compensation, it is not compulsory to have a solicitor support you. This is something that is a choice. You are entirely in your own right to make the claim by yourself. That said, data breach solicitors will have knowledge, experience and capabilities when it comes to filing a claim like this. Some data breach claims may be straight forward while others can be rather complex. For this reason, we always suggest having a professional on your side.
What Situations Could Lead To A Data Protection Breach?
Let’s take a look at examples of potential data breaches that we have yet to discuss;
- A doctor discusses your medical records with family members without your permission.
- A bank mistakenly uploads a database with individual account details onto its website.
- Your employer lets unauthorised people access your personal data, leading to work colleagues finding out about your religious practices for example.
- An email data breach is when an email containing private information is sent to the wrong recipient.
In each of these examples, if liability can be proven, a solicitor could help with a claim. For more information on how to get a claim started, please call and talk to our team.
How To React To A Data Protection Breach
How to report a data breach? We will cover this question in this section. The first thing you can do is to contact the organisation that you believe has suffered a data breach. When a data controller suffers a data breach that affects the rights and freedoms of individuals they must inform the ICO within 72 hours and anyone affected without undue delay. Firstly, ask if a data breach has happened. Secondly, if it has, ask how badly your data has been breached.
The next step, would be to contact the ICO to make a data breach complaint. Additionally, you can also make a complaint if the organisation involved has not upheld your rights under UK GDPR in some way.
How long do you have to report a data breach? In most cases, the ICO will not follow up on a complaint about a data breach if the last meaningful communication you had with the organisation that caused the breach was more than three months ago.
Data Protection Statistics
Using data that was provided by the ICO, we have made this graph. It shows the causes of non-cyber security data breaches in the second financial quarter of 2021/22 across different types of organisations.
How Do Data Protection Solicitors Calculate Compensation?
Due to the unique nature of claims, we can’t give you an average for privacy breach compensation. You can refer to the table below though. We used the guidelines that are produced by the Judicial College to make this table.
| Mental Injury | Severity | Information | Compensation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Severe | Severe mental health problems, that will have a high impact on the quality of life of the sufferer, potentially permanently. | £56,180 to £94,470 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Moderate to severe | Moderate to severe mental health problems, that will have a significant impact on the quality of life of the sufferer, and would likely last into the long term. | £21,730 to £56,180 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Moderate | Moderate mental health problems, that will have a measurable impact on the quality of life of the sufferer. However, they should be treatable, and will only last for the short to medium term. | £7,680 to £21,730 |
| Post-traumatic stress disorder | Less severe | Less severe mental health problems, that will have a minor impact on the quality of life of the sufferer. Treatment will resolve these issues, likely fully, in the short term. | £3,710 to £7,680 |
| Psychological damage | Severe | Severe, long-term mental health problems caused by repeated trauma, such as ongoing sexual or physical abuse. The sufferer will have a reduced quality of life due to symptoms such as depression or anxiety. | £51,460 to £108,620 |
| Psychological damage | Moderate to severe | Moderate to severe, long-term mental health problems, that was likely caused by a very traumatic experience. The sufferer will have a somewhat lower quality of life due to symptoms such as depression or anxiety. | £17,900 to £51,460 |
| Psychological damage | Moderate | Moderate mental health problems are likely caused by stress, trauma or shock. The sufferer will recover fully with time. | £5,500 to £17,900 |
| Psychological damage | Less severe | Less severe mental health problems likely caused by significant levels of stress, trauma or shock. The sufferer will recover fully with time, but may have a reduced life quality until recovered due to issues such as depression or anxiety. | £1,440 to £5,500 |
You could try to use our compensation calculator to get a rough estimate of the value of your claim. Alternatively, reach out to our claims team, and they can organise a solicitor to value your claim more accurately.
What Goes Into A Compensation Settlement For A Data Protection Breach?
If your data protection claim is successful, you will likely receive damages for a number of different reasons. These make up your overall compensation settlement. Firstly, there are non-material damages. These each covers a type of pain, suffering, or harm you have encountered. Here are some examples of non-material damages.
- Psychological issues, such as anxiety or depression caused by stress or trauma.
- Physical injuries, and the pain they cause.
- The suffering endured during long-term therapy.
- Long-term mental health issues that will negatively impact your life for some time.
Material damages are paid to make up for financial losses. Including predicted losses. You must provide documented proof of these losses. Some examples of material damages are given below.
- Money stolen from bank account
- Credit score affected
- Loss of earnings
Call our team to find out what types of damages might be appropriate to claim based on your own circumstances.
The Next Steps To Take After A Data Protection Breach
We already covered how to deal with a data breach in a previous section. Now we will cover the steps to start a claim. Why not consider using data protection solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis to avoid upfront solicitor charges. To begin the claims process and find a good No Win No Fee solicitor to help you;
- Call our team, and have any questions you have answered. You will also be given other important information, such as the applicable claims deadline.
- One of our claim advisors will talk over your claim with you, and let you know whether it is potentially valid or not.
- A lawyer will start working on your data breach claim as soon as possible if your case is valid.
Do Data Protection Solicitors Offer No Win No Fee?
How does No Win No Fee work? Let’s explain this now. This type of legal finance arrangement for getting legal help with a claim for compensation is also known as a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). No Win No Fee data protection solicitors will process your claim for you, and you don’t pay them anything until the claim has been won. If it is won, you will be asked to hand over a small success fee, that is legally limited in amount.
Working With Legal Expert For A Data Protection Breach Claim
Why not use one of our data protection solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis to help you pursue your claim.
Our team has been helping claimants to get the compensation that they are entitled to, for many years. They have the expertise and knowledge needed to ensure your claim is filed correctly and in full as you cannot go back and ask for more once the claim is settled. Call today to learn how to get a claim started.
Contact Us To Start Your Claim Today
Call for data protection solicitors who offer No Win No Fee terms. We can provide you with an experienced data breach lawyer. Or if you simply have questions about a possible claim, you can use the information below to contact us.
Telephone: 0800 073 8804
Email: info@legalexpert.co.uk
Or use our contact form.
Extra Research On Data Protection Solicitors And No Win No Fee Agreements
Here are some links to more claims guides that might be of use.
Claiming For A Social Services Data Breach
Employer Data Breach Claims Are Explained
Making A Claim For A School Data Breach
And here are some links to other useful websites.
Guide By Wheeler
Edited By Melissa.
