Wigan Data Breach Solicitors – Expert Claims Support
This guide will explain how data breach solicitors for Wigan could help you when it comes to making a data breach claim. It is normal for organisations to collect our data for operational and commercial purposes. For example, employers will collect information about their employees. And businesses may collect personal data belonging to their clients. However, there is legislation in place, such as the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 DPA to protect the publics’ data privacy. And organisations must follow these laws.
Data breach solicitors for Wigan guide
Therefore what happens if a business, public body or any other type of organisation has allowed your data to be breached? Under the GDPR, you could be eligible to claim data breach compensation. In this guide, we will explain how data breaches can happen and we will look at the process of making a data breach claim.
If you live in Wigan, we can provide you with a data breach solicitor covering your area. Please call our helpline on 0800 073 8804 to begin your claim or to speak to an advisor today. Alternatively, please get in touch with us via our website. Or continue reading this data breach claims guide to learn more about claiming data breach compensation.
Select A Section
- A Guide To Data Breach Solicitors For Wigan
- What Is A Breach Of Data Protection?
- What Are The Common Causes Of Data Breaches?
- How Common Are Data Breach Incidents?
- Why Contact A Data Breach Solicitor Before Taking Action?
- How Much Can I Claim For A Breach Of Data Protection?
- Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis With Data Breach Solicitors For Wigan
- Start A Claim With Data Breach Solicitors For Wigan
- Useful Resources About Data Breach Solicitors
A Guide To Data Breach Solicitors For Wigan
A personal data breach can be a distressing thing to experience. Moreover, it may mean private and personal information you did not want to share with others is now out there in the public domain. And unfortunately, criminals may use your exposed data to target you for identity theft and other nefarious activities.
In this guide, we will explain how to claim compensation for a data protection breach. What’s more, we will look at specific examples of data breaches that may have happened to Wigan residents. Such as the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust data breach.
You may be eligible to claim compensation for a GDPR data breach if you have experienced financial losses and emotional stress because of a data breach. You could potentially claim compensation if you have experienced emotional stress or psychological injuries with no financial losses. The key thing to remember here is not all data breach victims will be eligible to claim compensation. If an organisation who are data controllers did all they could to protect and keep your personal data safe and a breach happened anyhow it would be unlikely that your case would be valid.
To begin your claim, please get in touch with Legal Expert today. Our team of skilled data breach solicitors for Wigan can manage your claim and secure the compensation you deserve.
What Is A Breach Of Data Protection?
What is a data breach? First of all, lets us discuss what data is. Not all types of data are protected under UK law. Only data that can identify you or be used alongside other information to identify you. A data breach is a security incident at an organisation—that causes personal data to be lost, stolen, altered or accessed without a lawful basis.
A data breach can happen because of human error; for example, an employee can make a mistake. Or a person with malicious intent can deliberately cause a data breach. For example, data may be lost, stolen or wrongfully disclosed and without a lawful basis. Or unauthorised persons can gain access to the data. In other circumstances, the data can be wrongfully altered or destroyed.
Under the GDPR, organisations that collect personal data must protect it. So, organisations must have processes in place to do so. Such as training staff on how to manage personal data effectively. Organisations must have a proper cyber security system in place to protect the data they collect.
So you may be eligible to claim compensation for a data breach under the GDPR if the organisation caused the data breach or enabled it because they had not taken sufficient steps to protect your data. At Legal Expert, we can provide you with data breach solicitors for Wigan to handle your claim.
What Are The Common Causes Of Data Breaches?
Now, let’s look at some examples of how a data breach could happen.
- A medical data breach could potentially happen if patient results are sent to the wrong address. Therefore, this could lead to an NHS data breach.
- An employer could breach their employee’s data by leaving a private file on a desk where unauthorised persons can access it.
- A company can send a mass email to clients but not put the email addresses in the Bcc bar. The email data breach would cause email addresses to be shared without permission.
- A disgruntled employee could intentionally leak personal data to the public realm or press to get “revenge” on a company.
- Or hackers could carry out a cyberattack on a dating app, then use the stolen information to blackmail customers. The hackers may contact individuals and extort money from them.
- A business may improperly dispose of files containing employees’ or customers’ data.
The Wigan Hospital Data Breach Case
You may have been affected by a case, often referred to as the Wigan hospital data breach incident. What happened? In 2019 the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust confirmed a data breach had taken place, whereby NHS staff had wrongfully accessed patients’ medical records. The staff were not directly involved in treating the patients and had no professional reason to access their files.
The data breach affected over 2,000 patients over 18 months. A criminal investigation had been launched. And the Information Commissioner’s Office was investigating the NHS data breach.
Patients affected by a hospital data breach may experience emotional distress, especially if the information accessed was sensitive data. If you have any questions about a data breach please get in touch with our solicitors handling data breach enquiries by calling Legal Expert today.
Source: https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/nhs-investigation-after-personal-medical-16934646
How Common Are Data Breach Incidents?
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) publishes the number of data breach reports that it receives. At the time of writing, the financial Q2 2021/22 data security incident trends are the latest available figures.
- The ICO received 2,431 data breach reports.
- There were 714 reports of cyber security incidents
- And there were 1,717 non-cyber security incidents
Which sectors have the highest rates of data breaches? During Q2 2021/22, the health sector had the highest reported data breaches (435). After that, the education and childcare sector had 313 reported data breaches. And the finance, insurance and credit sector had 259 data breaches.
Why Contact A Data Breach Solicitor Before Taking Action?
Clients often ask us, “What can I do if my data has been breached?“. If you are the victim of a personal data breach, you could possibly take the following actions.
If an organisation has breached your data, they should inform you within 72 hours. This is only if it affects your rights and freedoms. What should you do if you discover a breach of data protection yourself? Then you could raise your concerns with the organisation. You can ask if a data breach has occurred and whether your data was affected. Most organisations have a person or team responsible for data protection, so please contact them. If necessary, escalate your complaint to a more senior person.
However, if the organisation cannot resolve the problem, you can report your information concerns to the ICO. The ICO can investigate the data breach and may fine the organisation. Please get in touch with the ICO within three months from your last meaningful contact with the data controller or they may not be able to act. What’s more, you can also contact a data breach lawyer to handle your compensation claim.
The ICO cannot award compensation. Therefore you may need to start a data breach claim if the organisation offers no compensation. You may wish to find a data breach solicitor for Wigan, to help you claim compensation from the organisation. As we have mentioned before, you must be able to prove the organisation is liable for the breach or your claim will not be valid.
How Much Can I Claim For A Breach Of Data Protection?
What are the consequences of experiencing a data breach? Data breach victims may experience psychological reactions such as stress, anxiety or depression. In extreme cases, the victim may develop post-traumatic stress disorder or another psychological injury.
Unfortunately, a breach of data protection can mean that sensitive data falls into the wrong hands. Criminals may use the victim’s stolen data to steal from them. Or target them for fraudulent activity such as phishing scams. As a result, the data breach victim may experience financial losses.
If you claim compensation for a data breach under the GDPR, you can receive up to two heads of claim. These are as follows:
- Material damages, which compensate you for any financial losses incurred.
- Non-material damages, which compensate you for any distress or psychiatric injuries experienced.
Predicting How Much Compensation You Are Owed
Our clients often ask us, “How much compensation can you get for a breach of GDPR?“. At Legal Expert, our data breach solicitors for Wigan will value your compensation claim accurately. We recommend you call our helpline, and an advisor can accurately predict how much compensation you are owed.
| Injury | Category | About | Settlement Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage Generally | Severe | The injured party will have marked difficulty with work, social situations, relationships and education. Their overall prognosis for recovery is poor. | £51,460 to £108,620 |
| Moderately Severe | Whilst this person will have significant difficulties in the same areas as the person above, they have a more optimistic prognosis and scope for recovery. | £17,900 to £51,460 | |
| Moderate | The injured party may have been affected in similar ways to those above, but by the time of trial has made marked improvement and has a good prognosis. | £5,500 to £17,900 | |
| Less Severe | The injured party has a much better outlook. Their settlement will factor in how long they suffered for and the degree to which they were harmed. | £1,440 to £5,500 | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe | All parts of the injured parties life will have been badly affected and damage will be permanent to some degree. They may be unable to work at all and will not be able to function in the way they did before the trauma. | £56,180 to £94,470 |
| Moderately Severe | Whilst this party may suffer significant disability for the foreseeable future, they have a better chance for recovery with professional help. | £21,730 to £56,180 | |
| Moderate | The injured party should have largely made their recovery. They should not have any (grossly) disabling symptoms. | £7,680 to £21,730 | |
| Less Severe | The injured party will have virtually made a full recovery. This should have happened in 12 – 24 months. | £3,710 to £7,680 |
Please note the table only includes non-material damages. The compensation amounts in this table are based on Judicial College Guidelines. However, the amount of data breach compensation that may be awarded will vary, depending on your circumstances.
Claim On A No Win No Fee Basis With Data Breach Solicitors For Wigan
Our data breach solicitors for Wigan can handle your claim on a No Win No Fee basis. No Win No Fee means that you don’t pay your solicitor’s fee upfront. Instead, your data breach solicitor will charge you a success fee if you win. You will sign a Conditional Fee Agreement to formalise this process.
Here are some of the benefits of making a No Win No Fee claim:
- You do not have to pay a solicitor’s fee before your claim is made. So you don’t need to worry about finding the funds upfront to pay for your legal representation. Instead, your success fee will be deducted from your compensation payout at a capped rate.
- Furthermore, there may be less risk involved when you make a claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor because you will only pay a success fee if your data breach lawyer wins your claim.
- And if you win, the majority of your compensation package goes directly to you.
You can read this No Win No Fee claims guide to learn more.
Start A Claim With Data Breach Solicitors For Wigan
Legal Expert can help you if you wish to claim compensation for a data breach in Wigan. We can provide you with a skilled data breach solicitor covering the Wigan area. Why trust Legal Expert to handle your claim? Our solicitors have solid experience handling data breach claims. And what’s more, your solicitor will assess your claim in-depth to make sure it is valued correctly. This is so you will receive the right amount of data breach compensation.
To claim compensation for a GDPR data breach, please get in touch with Legal Expert today.
- Claim online via LegalExpert.co.uk
- Or call our claims helpline on 0800 073 8804
- You can also chat with us directly using our Live Support widget
We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Useful Resources About Data Breach Solicitors
We hope that this guide to claiming compensation for a breach of data protection has proven helpful. If you wish to learn more about solicitors handling data breach enquiries, please look at these guides.
Solicitors Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide – How Much Compensation Can I Claim? – a guide to claiming compensation if a solicitor has breached your data.
GP Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide – How Much Compensation Can I Claim? – how to claim compensation for a GP data breach.
Private Healthcare Medical Data Breach Compensation Claims Guide – How Much Compensation Can I Claim?– a guide to claiming compensation from a private healthcare provider who has breached your data.
A personal data breach guide from the ICO.
A guide to phishing scams from the UK government.
An ICO guide to being data-aware for the public.
Thank you for reading our guide to finding data breach solicitors for Wigan.
Guide By Chelecahe
Edited By Melissa.
