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

My Data Privacy Was Breached By MoneySuperMarket, Could I Claim Compensation?

If you’re looking to learn more about data protection breach claims against MoneySuperMarket, this may be because you’ve suffered financial damage or distress, anxiety or depression as a result of a breach.

Whether you have received spam e-mails after removing yourself from their e-mail lists, or you have evidence of another breach of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation that has affected you in a different way, you may be looking for a data breach solicitor who could help you take action.

Here at Legal Expert, we could provide you with a data breach lawyer to help you make a claim. We could also provide free, no-obligation advice and case checks over the phone.

MoneySuperMarket data breach claims guideThis guide explains in detail what constitutes a MoneySuperMarket Ltd data breach, and how it could affect you. We explain the justifications behind data protection breach claims against MoneySuperMarket, including the mismanagement of data privacy, hacking or a simple human error, and the benefits of using data breach lawyers to make your claim.

We also introduce our services and explain how we could help you claim without having to pay for legal assistance until and if you’re awarded compensation. If you would like to talk to our team, you can call us for free on 0800 073 8804.

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A Guide To Data Protection Breach Claims Against MoneySuperMarket

While you may not think nuisance e-mails from a price comparison website could be a breach of data protection, you might be surprised to hear that this may not be the case.

If you have tried to remove your details from a mailing list, and the company in question does not act upon your request, this could breach the Data Protection Act. If you’ve been affected in this way, particularly by MoneySuperMarket’s breach of data protection, and can prove that you have suffered financial damage or emotional distress as a result, you could have grounds to make a claim.

Data breaches could happen in a variety of different ways. A human error could mean that your personal details are sent to the wrong people, or a company that holds or processes your personal data could be the victim of a malicious attack, such as a virus, malware, spyware, DDoS or ransomware attack.

If this affects you financially or psychologically, you could have the justification to make a data breach compensation claim against the company that has breached your privacy. In the sections below, we explain the types of breach you could experience, what you could claim for, and how courts and lawyers calculate the value of such claims.

Remember, if you have any questions, simply call our team of data breach advisers on the number at the top of this page.

What Are Data Protection Breach Claims Against MoneySuperMarket?

Before we explain in more detail how data protection breach claims against MoneySuperMarket work, we should explain what a data breach is in more detail.

What Is Personal Data?

Personal data, as stated by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is information that could be used on its own or in combination with other data to identify a person.

It could include your name, phone number, location details or online identifiers such as your IP address, for example.

Under the Data Protection Act 2018, which enshrines in UK law the GDPR, organisations that process or store personal data have certain legal responsibilities to protect it. If a data breach occurs, and you can show that you’ve suffered damage as a result, you could seek the services of a data breach solicitor to help you claim compensation.

What Is A Data Breach?

A data breach, according to the ICO’s definition, is a breach of data security that leads to the unlawful or accidental alteration, disclosure, loss, destruction of or access to personal data.

Such a breach could happen in many different ways. It could be a mistake made by a member of staff, it could be caused by inadequate security measures or a malicious attack. Data breach examples could include:

  • A cyber attack, such as a hack
  • Negligent cyber security provision by a data controller
  • Theft or loss of devices that contain personal data

There was a MoneySupermarket Ltd data breach that occurred in 2017 in which the company was found to have breached Regulation 22(2) of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 (PECR) for the ‘sending of unsolicited direct marketing e-mails’, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

We explain more about this breach in a later section of this guide. If you’ve been affected by such a breach and have taken steps to report spamming or nuisance e-mails from people you’ve requested not to contact you, we could help you.

Even if you have not yet reported a breach, talking to our expert advisors could help you ascertain what steps you could take. We could also advise on whether you could be eligible to make a data breach claim against the company.

How Does The GDPR Affect Ecommerce?

GDPR, or the General Data Protection Regulation, came into force in 2018. It is currently the strongest data security and privacy law in the world. It requires any organisation that processes personal data to ensure its security and integrity.

There are several principles that data controllers and processors must abide by to avoid a breach of the GDPR. These include:

  • Accuracy – controllers must keep data up-to-date and accurate
  • Limitation of storage – controllers must only store data for the minimum period necessary for the purpose it is held for
  • Transparency, lawfulness and fairness – controllers must ensure they are transparent with data subjects over the processing of their data, and the processing must be fair and lawful.
  • Accountability – controllers are responsible for demonstrating compliance
  • Limitation of purpose – controllers must specify explicitly the purpose of the processing of data when they collect it. They must not use the data for other unspecified purposes.
  • Minimisation of data – controllers must only collect data necessary for the specified purposes.
  • Confidentially and integrity – controllers must process data in a way that does not risk its confidentiality, integrity or security.

You could claim compensation for a GDPR data breach if you have experienced financial or mental harm because of it. We explain more about the types of compensation you could be eligible for in a GDPR breach claim later on in this guide.

Fines By The ICO Against MoneySuperMarket

In 2017, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined MoneySuperMarket £80,000 saying that the company had breached regulation 22(2) of PECR for the “sending of unsolicited direct marketing e-mails’. The company were said to have sent 7.1 million e-mails over the course of just 10 days to recipients that had opted out of direct marketing.

As well as this ICO monetary penalty notice, the ICO revealed that the company’s website also acted illegally in asking those who have already opted out of marketing e-mails to give their consent to future marketing emails.

While the fine by the Information Commissioner’s Office may seem high, their ability to issue fines under GDPR could mean organisations incur fines of up to £17.5 million or 4% of their annual turnover (global), whichever is higher. This is for more serious breaches of data protection law, however.

How Online Businesses Could Breach Users Data Privacy

There are many ways in which an online business such as MoneySuperMarket could breach a user’s data privacy. They could:

  • Send nuisance e-mails
  • Collect details under a false pretence and use those details for marketing purposes
  • Fail to act on a marketing opt-out request

A data breach could, however, occur for another reason, such as:

  • A loss of availability of personal data
  • The theft or loss of computer equipment on which personal data has been stored
  • The alteration of a user’s data without their permission
  • Unauthorised access to data by a third party

Whatever the reason you’ve experienced a data breach, if you have evidence of the breach and the damage it has caused, we could help you claim the compensation you deserve.

Can You Report An Online Business To The ICO?

Those who breach data protection laws could face a fine by the Information Commissioner’s Office, known as an ICO monetary penalty notice. Whether you believe your data has been breached due to nuisance e-mails, or for another reason, you could report your concerns to the ICO.

The steps to reporting data breaches to the ICO are below:

  1. Firstly, the ICO advises that you attempt to contact the organisation directly. If you contact MoneySuperMarket and don’t receive a response, or they don’t respond to your satisfaction, you could complain to the ICO.
  2. You should report your concerns to the ICO in detail, describing how you believe the breach happened. You should attempt to do so without undue delay. If you take too long to report a data breach to the ICO, they may not investigate it.

You may be surprised to learn, however, that there is no legal requirement for you to complain to the ICO. If three months have passed since the last meaningful contact with a company that has breached your data, you could seek legal advice. Our legal experts would be glad to help with this. 

How Data Breach Compensation Is Calculated

When claimants seek to make data breach claims, they may wish to get an idea of what compensation they could claim. Compensation for a GDPR data breach can account for:

  • Material Damage – Data breach compensation claims could include the financial cost of a breach. This could include money taken from your financial accounts, or the cost of fraudulent purchases made in your name, for example.
  • Non-Material Damage – If you experience emotional distress, anxiety or depression, this could affect you significantly. You may worry about the impact of the data breach, as compromised data could pose a risk to you long-term. You may worry about identity theft, or whether someone could access your accounts in the future. This could cause you to suffer anxiety and stress, and could even lead to depression or loss of sleep.

Each case could be assessed on its own merits, and the amount you could receive would depend on the seriousness of the breach and how it affects you.

What Could I Claim For A Data Breach By MoneySuperMarket?

A No Win No Fee data breach solicitor could help you claim damages that reflect the emotional distress and financial expenses you’ve suffered because of a breach of the GDPR. To evidence the financial impact of the breach, you may have to provide evidence. Documents such as bank statements or credit card bills could be useful here.

Making Data Protection Breach Claims Against MoneySuperMarket For Emotional Harm

There is a legal precedent for claiming compensation relating to the psychological impact of a data breach. In Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015], the Court of Appeal changed the law. Prior to the case, financial damage was required in order to seek compensation for mental harm. That position was changed so that a data breach claim could be made for either.

The Court said awards for psychiatric and psychological injuries in data breach cases should be valued in accordance with personal injury law. This means you could claim for the psychological impact of a data breach. But how could you evidence such injuries?

As part of your claim, you would need to undergo an assessment with an independent medical professional. They would speak to you about the impact of the data breach, take into account any past medical notes, and write a report detailing their professional opinion on your injuries and prognosis.

Courts and lawyers could use this to come to an appropriate payout amount for you. To illustrate how much compensation could be appropriate for varying levels of psychological harm, we have collated figures from a publication called the Judicial College Guidelines. This regularly updated publication is something that courts and lawyers could use to value claims.

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Type of injuries Approx Compensation Bracket Severity
A case of PTSD/Post-traumatic stress disorder Up to £7,680 Less severe
A case of PTSD/Post-traumatic stress disorder £7,680 to £21,730 Moderate
A case of PTSD/Post-traumatic stress disorder conditions £21,730 to £56,180 Moderately severe
A case of PTSD/Post-traumatic stress disorder conditions £56,180 to £94,470 Severe
General psychological harm Up to £5,500 Less severe
General psychological harm £5,500 to £17,900 Moderate
General psychological harm £17,900 to £51,460 Moderately severe
General psychological harm £51,460 to £108,620 Severe

If you’d like a more precise estimate of the value of your case, we’d need to learn more about it. So why not give us a call on the number at the top of this page to discuss.

How To Claim Compensation Or Take Your Case To Court

You do not have to claim with the help of a data breach solicitor when making data protection breach claims. Instead, you could opt to report spamming e-mails to the organisation and ask them to investigate.

You could also make a Subject Access Request to find out what information the organisation holds on you. When complaining about a data breach, whether it is due to a breach of cybersecurity or other types of data breaches, you could complain about how it has affected you and ask for compensation.

Data breach compensation amounts in the UK vary from case to case. Therefore, make sure you assess how the breach has impacted you and communicating this clearly to the organisation is important. It could impact how much compensation for a GDPR data breach you could receive.

If the response you get is not acceptable to you, you could raise a complaint to the ICO. Or you could retain the services of a data breach lawyer who could fight for compensation on your behalf.

That’s where we can help.

How A Data Protection Solicitor Could Help You

Using a data breach solicitor is something many claimants may consider. After all, data breach claims against MoneySupermarket could be complicated, and claimants may not want to go it alone. A data breach lawyer could help by:

  • Building the strongest case possible for data breach compensation
  • Use their experience and knowledge to ensure you don’t miss out on damages you could claim
  • Negotiating the maximum payout possible for your case
  • Supporting you through the court process should the liable party dispute or reject your claim

Here at Legal Expert, we know only too well how stressful some people find the claims process. This is why our service works so well. An experienced Legal Expert solicitor could take on all the hard work of proving your claim. They could also help by fighting for the maximum compensation possible for you.

Compensation may not take back what has been done. However, it could help you move forward and recover from any psychological harm you suffered.

No Win No Fee Data Protection Breach Claims Against MoneySuperMarket

Making a data breach claim with a No Win No Fee solicitor is an option you may want to consider. No Win No Fee claims allow victims of data breaches to claim compensation without funding their case upfront. If you’re wondering how these claims work, the following process would usually apply:

  • Your data breach solicitor sends you a Conditional Fee Agreement (the formal title for a No Win No Fee agreement). This contains details of the lawyer’s success fee, which you would only pay if your case succeeds. The success fee is a small proportion of your total settlement. It is subject to a legal cap.
  • You sign and send back the agreement and the solicitor starts to work on your claim. They build a body of evidence and negotiate a settlement for you. If necessary, they would help you claim compensation through the courts.
  • Compensation is paid out. Your solicitor deducts their success fee. You benefit from the balance.

If your claim fails, you may worry about what funds a No Win No Fee solicitor would demand from you. You may be relieved to learn that the solicitor cannot demand you pay the success fee or cover their costs if your claim fails.

To learn more about making claims under No Win No Fee terms, why not take a look at this guide. Or, you could always talk to our team for further information. We’d be happy to help.

Begin Your Data Protection Breach Claim

Whether you have questions about data breach compensation claims or would like us to provide you with a data breach solicitor to help you, you can reach us:

Helpful Data Protection Resources

Data Encryption ICO Guide – Here, the ICO discuss how data transfer via a virtual private network (VPN) or via TLS could be a secure method.

A Guide To Data Protection – This ICO guide offers insight for organisations looking to protect data and avoid a GDPR breach. It contains details of their responsibilities, as well as how to assess threats.

Guide To Better Cyber Security – In this guide, you can find methods of improving cybersecurity and network security. It talks about risks from the cloud, software, a bot, a hacker and more. You can also find advice on using a firewall and such to improve security.

Data Breaches And Distress – This guide provides a wealth of advice about how a data breach could affect a person emotionally. It explains how they could go about taking action by making data breach compensation claims.

Could Data Loss Lead To A Claim – If an organisation loses your personal data, you could suffer psychologically or financially. This guide shows how you could claim for a data loss incident that has harmed you.

Had Your Personal Data Breached At Work?– If an employer breaches your data, you may worry that you would not be able to claim compensation. This guide illustrates how and when you could claim compensation for a data breach at work.

Other Useful Compensation Guides

Thank you for reading our guide to data breach claims against MoneySuperMarket.

 

Guide by Jeffries

Edited by Billing