Last updated 13th September 2024. South Staffordshire Water (South Staffs Water) experienced a serious incident in August 2022. Cybercriminals were able to access the personal data of some 249,000 customers. If you were one of these customers, our highly experienced data breach solicitors could help you claim South Staffs water data breach compensation.
In this guide we examine what the South Staff water data breach is, who could be eligible to seek compensation and what evidence could be used to support such a claim. We also examine how data breach compensation is calculated for the two types of damage.
At the end of the guide, you’ll see a short section examining the type of No Win No Fee agreement our solicitors can offer their services under.
To get a free assessment of your claim, you can:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804.
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Select A Section
- What Is The South Staffs Water Data Breach?
- Who Could Claim For A Personal Data Breach?
- What Evidence Of A Data Breach Could Support Your Case?
- Potential Compensation Payouts For A Data Breach
- Connect With Specialist No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitors
- Learn More About The South Staffs Water Data Breach And Compensation Claims
What Is The South Staffs Water Data Breach?
South Staffordshire Water PLC (also known as South Staffs Water) experienced a significant data breach that took place on the 16th of August 2022.
Customers’ banking details and other types of personal data may have been accessed by hackers and potentially leaked on the dark web.
This includes information such as names and addresses of account holders, as well as their sort codes and account numbers.
South Staffordshire PLC, the parent company of South Staffs Water, has said they have informed the customers involved, but at the time of writing, their investigation is ongoing.
Contact our team of advisors for advice if you have been informed that your personal data was involved in the South Staffs Water data breach. A compensation claim could be possible.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-63809829
What To Do If Impacted By The South Staffs Water Data Breach
If you’re a customer of South Staffs Water and want to know if you’ve been impacted by the data breach, then here are some tips on what to do next:
- Get in touch with South Staffs Water to see if you’ve been impacted. Their contact number is 0800 389 1011. You can also complete the form on their contact page to submit an enquiry. You can also find lots of helpful information and support on their website, such as frequently asked questions.
- In the response, you should be informed what data has been impacted and what steps have been taken to secure it.
- South Staffordshire Water PLC should get back to you within a reasonable amount of time. However, if you do not hear from them within 3 months of your initial email, then you can make a complaint to the ICO.
- You do not need to wait for the ICO to respond to you to make a data breach claim. However, it helps to have some form of correspondence from South Staffs Water confirming that your personal information was exposed.
As well as the above, you should also speak with your bank and ask for their advice. Keep a close eye on your credit rating and look out for any suspicious calls, texts or emails—they could be phishing attempts to try and extract more information from you.
If you need any help or guidance on what to do if you suspect you’ve been impacted or for advice on the South Staffs Water data breach and compensation claims, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Who Could Claim For A Personal Data Breach?
There are two main pieces of legislation in place to protect the use and storage of physical and digital personal data:
- The UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR)
- The Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA)
To do this, they outline the rules data controllers and processors must adhere to when handling personal data. Data controllers have the overall power concerning the means and purposes of processing personal data. They can employ data processors to follow their instructions and process data on their behalf.
Below we will lay out the criteria of eligibility that must be met to bring forward a personal data breach claim:
- A data controller or processor failed to comply with data protection laws, leading to a data breach.
- This breach involved your personal data.
- As a result, you have suffered from psychological harm and/or financial losses.
One cause of a personal data breach is human error. For example, an email containing personal information is sent to the wrong email address. Additionally, a data breach could happen due to deliberate action, such as criminal activity. The breach must have been caused by a data controller or processor failing to adhere to data protection laws to lead to a claim.
Do Data Breach Claim Time Limits Vary?
Generally, you have six years to initiate a personal data breach claim. It is advisable that you contact our team at Legal Expert to learn more about whether your personal data breach claim is within the relevant time limits. They can also offer insight into whether your case meets the eligibility criteria to bring forward a claim.
What Evidence Of A Data Breach Could Support Your Case?
Following a personal data breach that puts the rights and freedoms of data subjects at risk, the data controller must report the incident to the ICO within 72 hours. Also, they must notify the data subject without undue delay. After being notified of a breach involving your personal data, or if you suspect a breach has occurred, there are steps you can take next:
- First, contact the organisation that was responsible for your personal data when the breach occurred. You could use this correspondence as evidence to support your claim.
- Then, if the organisation does not respond or their response is unsatisfactory, you can report the incident to the ICO. They cannot award compensation but may investigate the data breach. Should they do this, and the findings are in your favour, you could use them as evidence to strengthen your claim.
If the South Staffs Water data breach compromised your personal data, please get in touch with a member of our team.
Potential Compensation Payouts For A Data Breach
If you make a successful data breach claim against South Staffs Water, you could receive compensation for material and non-material damage.
Firstly, non-material damage is the psychological harm you sustained as a result of the personal data breach. This includes depression, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and stress.
To value non-material damage, data breach solicitors and others responsible for calculating compensation can use the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) to assist them. This is a document that contains various different injuries accompanied by guideline compensation brackets. Therefore, we have used the JCG to create the table below as a guide.
Guideline Compensation Table
Please note, these figures do not represent guaranteed amounts that you would receive if your case is successful. Compensation awards are unique to every case. Additionally, the figure in the top row is not from the JCG. To find out more, please get in touch.
| Type of Mental Harm | Severity | Guideline Compensation Brackets |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple serious types of harm with material damage | Serious | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychiatric Damage | Severe (a) | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £23,270 to £66,920 | |
| Moderate (c) | £7,150 to £23,270 | |
| Less Severe (d) | £1,880 to £7,150 | |
| PTSD | Severe (a) | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe (b) | £28,250 to £73,050 | |
| Moderate (c) | £9,980 to £28,250 | |
| Less Severe (d) | £4,820 to £9,980 |
How Material Damage Could Also Compensate You
As part of your data breach compensation, you could also receive an award for material damage. This is the financial losses you suffered as a result of the personal data breach, including:
- Damage to your credit score due to unauthorised payments being made on your stolen credit card.
- Loss of earnings due to needing time off work.
It is essential for you to provide evidence of these losses. To do this, you could provide payslips, bank records and a copy of your credit history.
If you would like to inquire whether you may be eligible to receive South Staffs data breach compensation, please speak to a member of our team.
Connect With Specialist No Win No Fee Data Breach Solicitors?
Our team of advisors have access to our specialist No Win No Fee data breach solicitors. A No Win No Fee solicitor may offer to represent you under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This would generally mean the following:
- Firstly, no upfront or ongoing fees for the services provided by your solicitor.
- Secondly, no payments for your solicitor’s services should your claim be unsuccessful.
- However, if your claim succeeds, your solicitor can take a small percentage of the compensation. The legislation outlining the terms of a CFA caps this success fee.
Get In Touch With Our Team
Please contact our advisors for a free consultation. If a member of our team were to find that you may be eligible to pursue personal data breach compensation, they could place you in contact with one of our specialist No Win No Fee solicitors.
To get in touch:
- Call us on 0800 073 8804
- Claim online via our form
- Use our live chat feature below
Learn More About The South Staffs Water Data Breach And Compensation Claims
Please explore more of the guides on our website for further information regarding personal data breach claims:
- Failure To Use Blind Carbon Copy (BCC) On Email Data Breach Claim
- My Personal Data Has Been Lost After A Breach, What Are My Rights?
- Lost And Stolen Devices Data Breach Claims
- A similar incident to the South Staffordshire Water data breach occurred in February 2024 with Southern Water. Find out about data breach compensation claims for that incident here.
Also, take a look at the external links below:
- Data breaches: guidance for individuals and families – National Cyber Security Centre
- Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) – GOV.UK
- Get urgent help for mental health – NHS
To learn more about the South Staffs Water data breach, compensation claims, and what to do if impacted, please get in touch.
