Wrong Postage Address Data Breach – Could I Make A Claim?
By Lewis Cobain. Last Updated 3rd July 2024. In this guide, we look at making a wrong postage address data breach compensation claim.
During the course of the guide, we’ll look at how the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) have been introduced to help protect personal data. The idea behind this legislation is to stop personally identifiable information about you (the data subject) from being used in a way you wouldn’t agree with.
Legal Expert is here to help if you are interested in claiming for a wong postage address data breach. When you call, we’ll conduct a no-obligation assessment of your case and give free legal advice. If your claim is suitable our data breach lawyers can get right to work.
To learn more about our claiming compensation and how it works, why not check out our video below:
Please call today if you’d like to find out more on 0800 073 8804. Otherwise, please read on to find out more about postal data breaches.
Select A Section
-
- Could I Claim For A Wrong Postage Address Data Breach?
- How Could A Letter Get Sent To The Wrong Address?
- What To Do If A Letter Is Sent To The Wrong Address
- What Can I Claim If A Letter Was Delivered To The Wrong Address
- Can I Claim For A Wrong Postage Address Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Lawyer?
- Make A Wrong Postage Address Data Breach Claim With The Help Of Legal Expert
- Learn More About Human Error Data Breaches
Could I Claim For A Wrong Postage Address Data Breach?
Personal data is any information that could identify you directly or in combination with other information. Any organisation that processes your personal data must adhere to the rules and regulations found within the DPA and the UK GDPR, as together, these make up data protection laws. If an organisation fails to take the necessary steps to protect your personal data, this could lead to a personal data breach.
A personal data breach is a security incident that affects the confidentiality, availability and integrity of personal data.
If a letter for you is sent to the wrong address, to be eligible to make a claim for data breach compensation, you will need to prove the following:
- The breach must have been caused by the organisation’s failings.
- Your personal data must have been compromised in the breach.
- As a result of the personal data breach, you must have suffered financial or mental harm.
If you are eligible to make a personal data breach claim, you must also ensure that you start proceedings within the correct time limit. Generally, you will have 6 years to start a personal data breach claim. However, this is reduced to 1 year if you are making your claim against a public body.
Contact our advisors today to see if you could have a valid personal data breach claim if a confidential letter was sent to the wrong address.
How Could A Letter Get Sent To The Wrong Address?
Let’s now take a look at the types of incidents that could lead to a wrong postage address data breach.
Wrong Address
Quite simply, if a letter is sent to the wrong address, it could mean that a data subject is identified by the person who receives the letter.
The data controller may send a letter to an incorrect address because they don’t have your new one on file. In that instance, if you haven’t notified them of your change of address, they might not be liable for the mistake.
However, if they do have your correct address because you’ve notified them of it, and they send it to the wrong one anyway, the data breach could be seen as their fault.
Multiple Wrong Letters Being Sent
As part of the UK GDPR, personal data must be kept up to date. If a mistake is spotted it should be corrected or deleted. Therefore, when an organisation has contact with a data subject, it may be wise to confirm their current address. This action could prevent multiple letters from being sent to the wrong address.
Multiple Letters Sent In A Single Envelop
Another type of breach is where an envelope contains multiple letters that weren’t all intended for the recipient. In a recent example of this, a council resident reported seeing the names, addresses, tenant reference numbers, payments and dates of other tenants. As most of that information could identify other data subjects, a potential data breach may have occurred.
Source: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/19458894.oxford-city-council-apologises-potential-data-breach/
What To Do If A Letter Is Sent To The Wrong Address
So, if you become aware that a data breach involving your personal data has happened, what should you do? Well, we’d suggest that you:
- Collect any evidence that’s available. This might include a letter or email confirming the breach has happened. You could also use bank statements to show resultant losses or medical records to show diagnosed mental injuries caused or worsened by the breach.
- Call Legal Expert to ask for a free review of your case.
Another question you might ask is whether the ICO should be informed about the breach. The answer is that you don’t need to involve the ICO to take legal action. However, it may be helpful to have a report on the data breach if extra evidence is needed to support your claim. It’s probably a good idea to discuss this with your solicitor (if you use the services of one) and they’ll advise whether you need to speak with the ICO or not.
If you do, the process to do so is as follows:
- Raise a formal complaint with the data controller about your concerns.
- Await a response and escalate the complaint if necessary.
- If you don’t get a satisfactory response, before 3 months have passed since your last update from the data controller, contact the ICO.
Again, the ICO may decide to take action against a company found to be breaking data protection laws. However, they won’t necessarily get involved in your claim for compensation.
What Can I Claim If A Letter Was Delivered To The Wrong Address
If a successful claim for a letter sent to the wrong address is made, data breach compensation can be awarded for two types of damage. These are:
- Material damage: referring to financial harm.
- Non-material damage: referring to psychological distress.
Those valuing your claim for non-material damage could refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) alongside your medical evidence to reach a potential compensation figure. This publication contains guideline compensation figures for various injuries. We have used the psychological distress figures in the table below:
Compensation Table
Please be advised that the first entry was not taken from the JCG and that this information has been provided to act as guidance only.
| Claim Type | Level | Settlement Range |
|---|---|---|
| Severe Psychological Harm With Financial Losses | Severe | Up to £300,000+ |
| Psychiatric Injury (a) | Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Psychiatric Injury (b) | Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 |
| Psychiatric Injury (c) | Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Psychiatric Injury (d) | Less Severe | £1,880 to £7,150 |
| PTSD (a) | Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| PTSD (b) | Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| PTSD (c) | Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| PTSD (d) | Less Severe | £4,820 to £9,980 |
Material Damage
Mail sent to the wrong address could result in significant financial losses. This is referred to as material damage. We have given some possible examples of such damages here:
- The cost of relocation if your address was compromised.
- Counselling, therapy or other treatment for the distress caused.
- Installation of security measures at your home.
To get a more personalised idea of the data breach compensation you could claim after post was sent to the wrong address, contact our advisors today using the details provided below.
Can I Claim For A Wrong Postage Address Data Breach With A No Win No Fee Lawyer?
If your personal data was breached when an organisation sent a letter to the wrong address, you may be looking to be compensated for the harm this has caused you. You could benefit from having the support of a specialist data breach solicitor. One of our solicitors could support your case. They have lots of experience with data breach claims.
Typically, our data breach solicitors offer their services under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This is a type of No Win No Fee arrangement.
When your solicitor works under this type of agreement, you won’t be asked to pay any upfront or ongoing fees for their services. You also won’t have to pay for their work on your case if your claim is unsuccessful.
If your claim has a successful outcome, your solicitor will take a success fee out of your award. The law limits the percentage that can be taken as this fee.
For further information about what to do if your personal data was sent to the wrong address, get in touch with one of the advisors from our team. They can also assess whether you have valid grounds for a claim, and if you do, you could be passed on to one of our solicitors.
Make A Wrong Postage Address Data Breach Claim With The Help Of Legal Expert
If you believe that you’ve been harmed by a wrong postage address data breach and would like to take action, why not call Legal Expert? To do so, you can:
- Call our specialists on 0800 073 8804.
- Ask an advisor to review your options online.
- Email info@legalexpert.co.uk to tell us about how you’ve been affected.
- Use our claim online form so we can contact you at a time best for you.
If you have a busy schedule, don’t worry. Our advice line operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week so please call when it’s convenient for you.
Learn More About Human Error Data Breaches
Hopefully, our guide has explained whether a letter to the wrong address is a breach of data protection. To support you further, we have added a few more guides that could come in handy.
- Reporting A Data Breach – ICO guidance on when and how you should report potential data breaches.
- Depression Self-Assessment – This NHS tool can be used to help understand how depression is affecting you.
- Freedom Of Information – Details from the government on when you can ask public bodies for information.
- Data Breach Stress – Guidance on when you could claim for stress caused by a confirmed data breach.
- Loss Of Medical Records – Information about what problems can arise if your medical records are lost.
- Claiming Data Breach Compensation – This article explains why you might be allowed to claim for different types of data breaches.
If you need any more advice on what to do if a letter for you was sent to the wrong address, get in touch.
Meet The Team
Our Top Legal Guides
