Data Breach Solicitors Cheltenham — Expert Claims Support
By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 5th December 2022. Are you looking for data breach solicitors in Cheltenham? Have you been affected by a data breach, for example, by a local council or another entity? We can help.
A guide on how data breach solicitors for Cheltenham could help you
Our advisors are available around the clock to provide free legal advice with absolutely no obligation for you to proceed with our services. This means that when you call us, you do not have to worry about being forced into legal representation. It is always your choice.
Looking for data breach solicitors in Cheltenham is an excellent starting point, but if you speak to us, we can connect you with our solicitors who can work for you from anywhere in the country. To find out more, you can continue reading or:
- Contact us through our website
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Use our live-chat function as seen at the bottom-right of our website
Select a Section
- Our Hands-On Guide To Data Breach Solicitors For Cheltenham
- Data Breaches And Data Security Explained
- Factors Causing Data Breaches
- How Often Do Data Breaches Impact People?
- Four Steps To Take After A Data Breach Notification
- What Damages Could Be Awarded And When?
- Should You Pick A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
- Claim Today With Data Breach Solicitors For Cheltenham
- What Other Claims Do We Handle?
Our Hands-On Guide To Data Breach Solicitors For Cheltenham
A data breach solicitor is a legal professional that focuses on data breach claims. This kind of solicitor can work with you to put together a claim, and also make the data breach claims process as easy as possible.
You are completely free to pursue a claim without legal representation, but a solicitor can:
- Value your claim accurately
- Negotiate with the other side
- Explain legal jargon
- Represent you if the claim goes to court (though most claims don’t need to go to court)
This guide will explain what a data breach is, how it impacts you, if you could be able to claim, and the type of legal help that is available to you. To find out more, get in touch with our advisors today.
Data Breaches And Data Security Explained
According to the UK’s authority on data protection law, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), a personal data breach is where sensitive information is lost, destroyed, disclosed, accessed, or changed unlawfully. Your personal information is anything that can identify you, including your home address, bank details, and email address.
The main pieces of legislation that protect your personal data are the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR).
For you to be able to claim for a data breach, some factors must be present. First, you must be able to prove wrongful conduct. This means that the party in charge of processing or protecting your data failed to do so because of their own failings. This includes not paying for antivirus software, for example. If personal data is breached as a result of hacking, and the data controller had done everything possible to mitigate risk, they may not be considered liable.
Secondly, it is not enough for the data breach to have happened. It must have also caused you material and/or non-material damage. Material damage is where you have suffered financial loss, and non-material damage refers to emotional or mental injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder or depression. If you have not sustained either kind of loss, you would be unable to make a claim.
If your data has been breached, you may already be dealing with high levels of stress and a legal case can add to that. Why not see if you can simplify matters and speak to one of our advisors today?
Factors Causing Data Breaches
It might be easy to associate data breaches with high-profile cyber attacks. However, sometimes data breaches happen because of human error, and can also happen with physical media such as paper.
A data breach can happen because:
- Someone failed to use blind carbon copy (BCC) on emails, exposing everyone’s email addresses to each other without authorisation.
- Lost or stolen paperwork containing personal data.
- Improper disposal or destruction of paperwork or hardware containing personal data (for example, memory sticks or portable hard drives).
- Personal information being posted to the wrong person who doesn’t have the authorisation to access it.
Data breaches have the potential to happen to anyone. If you’re looking for data breach solicitors for Cheltenham or in the area, speak to an advisor today to see what legal help you can receive.
How Often Do Data Breaches Impact People?
Not only do data breaches happen in more ways than you might expect, they also happen more frequently than you might expect, too.
According to the UK Government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021, 39% of businesses surveyed suffered a data breach attack, as well as over a quarter of charities in the last 12 months.
If you have been affected by a data breach and it has caused you material or non-material damage, you could be eligible to claim. Data breach solicitors for Cheltenham could be a help to your case, but why not speak to us first? We can offer free legal advice that could make a real difference to your claim. Find out more today.
Four Steps To Take After A Data Breach Notification
You may be wondering “what do I do if I am affected by a data breach?” There are steps you could take before contacting any data breach solicitors in Cheltenham or any area of the UK.
- The first step is actually finding out about the data breach. If data breaches happen and they risk your rights and freedoms, data controllers and processors are obliged to tell you that this has occurred. You may also find out about the breach yourself.
- If you have discovered the breach by yourself, you should make a complaint to the organisation. This will allow you to find out exactly which pieces of personal data have been exposed. This information is particularly important if passwords or banking information has been compromised.
- The third step happens if you have not received a satisfactory response from the organisation. Within 3 months of the organisation’s final meaningful response, you could contact the ICO. They could be able to start an investigation, which can determine liability and who was at fault.
- The fourth step is actually starting a claim. You do not need to make a complaint to the ICO to be able to start a claim, but they will be able to determine if a breach has happened, which can be used as evidence in your case.
The data breach claims process may be a confusing one. As such, get in touch with our advisors for free legal advice at a time that best suits you.
How Long Do I Have To Claim Data Breach Compensation?
If you have grounds to claim compensation for a data breach that occurred in Cheltenham, then you may have questions about how long you have to start your claim. You usually have six years to claim for a data breach. However, this is reduced to one year if you intend to claim against a public organisation.
We recommend starting a data breach claim as soon as possible. To find out if you are still within your time limit to claim, get in touch with our solicitors at any time.
What Damages Could Be Awarded And When?
As mentioned, there are two types of damages (compensation) that you could stand to receive in a data breach claim: material and non-material damages.
Non-material damages are provided for the mental injuries you suffer due to the data breach.
In light of this, we have taken figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) and created the below compensation table. The JCG is a document used by legal professionals to determine how much you could receive for your injuries. However, your own claim and injuries may be different.
You can also use our compensation calculator to value your injuries or call our advisors for a free estimate of what you could claim.
| Injury | Nature of incident | Possible compensation |
|---|---|---|
| (A) Psychiatric Damage Generally (a) Severe | In which the injured person experiences an adverse affect to life, work, interpersonal relationships, and education. More compensation is possible depending on the degree to which vulnerability in future and prognosis is affected. In this case, the prognosis will be poor and the mental injury severe. | £51,460 – £108,620 |
| (A) Psychiatric Damage Generally (b) Moderately Severe | As above yet less severe. Will be a better prognosis for future. Work-related stress can also fall into this area. | £17,900 – £51,460 |
| (A) Psychiatric Damage Generally (c) Moderate | As above, yet less severe again. A marked improvement will be noted and prognosis will be much more positive. | Up to £17,900 |
| (B) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (a) Severe | PTSD will usually occur as a result of psychological trauma causing flashbacks, nightmares, hyper-arousal, and ideation of suicide. At this level, the injured person would be unable to work, and all aspects of life would be badly affected. | £56,180 – £94,470 |
| (B) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (b) Moderately Severe | Not as severe as above, as some recovery is possible with professional help, but effects are likely to be ongoing into the near future. | £21,730 – £56,180 |
| (B) Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (c) Moderate | Not as severe as above. The injured person will have mostly recovered, and residual effects will have largely dissipated. | £7,680 – £21,730 |
Material damages relate to financial losses you have suffered as a result of the data breach. This may be in the form of lost wages as well as the cost of therapy sessions that the NHS couldn’t cover. Hold on to proof such as your receipts and payslips as not doing so may affect whether you could be eligible to receive compensation.
If you would like more information on the compensation that you could be entitled to, you could contact our team for free legal advice today. If you have a favourable claim, they could connect you to data breach solicitors for Cheltenham.
Should You Pick A No Win No Fee Solicitor?
Hiring a No Win No Fee data breach solicitor could be beneficial for you in various ways. You will not have to pay your solicitor any fees at the start of your claim or while it is ongoing. You will also usually not be required to pay for your solicitor’s legal fees if the claim is unsuccessful.
If you win your claim, then you’ll pay a legally-capped success fee which is taken out of your payout. To learn more about claiming data breach compensation amounts in the UK with a No Win No Fee solicitor, get in touch with one of our advisors today.
To find out more about No Win No Fee agreements, consult with one of our advisors today.
Claim Today With Data Breach Solicitors For Cheltenham
If you would like to get free legal advice for your data breach claim, you can always get in touch with us. Our advisors are available 24/7 to offer advice with no obligation to proceed with our services. They also have the power to connect you to our solicitors if you choose to take your claim further. To find out more, why not get in touch? You’re able to do so by:
- Contacting us through our website
- Calling us on 0800 073 8804
- Using our live-chat function as seen at the bottom-right of our website
Still not convinced? Don’t take our word for it. See the reviews of claimants who have given their testimonials.
What Other Claims Do We Handle?
Sharing an email address data breach
Lost/stolen device data breach
How to access mental health services — NHS resource showing where to find mental health resources in your area.
Report a breach — Report a data breach to the ICO.
Thank you for reading this article about data breach solicitors for Cheltenham.
Written by McCurry
Edited by Victorine
