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Work With Data Breach Solicitors For Your Claim

By Stephen Hudson. Last Updated 16th September 2024. If your personal data has been compromised, you may have suffered psychological or financial harm. You may also be unaware of what steps you could take and how to claim compensation. That’s why we have made this guide to working with data breach solicitors to explain how you could seek compensation following a personal data breach and what they could help you with. 

We have included information on a range of topics, including whether you need to work with a solicitor, how they could help you with gathering evidence and the different forms of compensation they could help you claim.

Towards the bottom of this guide, we explain how working with a specialist data breach solicitor from our firm will be of notable benefit to you. Our solicitors work on a strictly No Win No Fee basis, more on this further down.

To get a free evaluation of your eligibility to start a data breach claim, or to ask any questions you may have, talk to our friendly team today using the contact details give here:

  • Call an advisor on 0800 073 8804
  • Begin your claim online by completing our callback form
  • Open the live chat at the bottom of your screen

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Select A Section

  1. Do I Need To Work With Data Breach Solicitors Near Me?
  2. When Can Data Breach Solicitors Help Me Claim?
  3. Can Data BreachSolicitors Help Me Gather Evidence?
  4. How Much Compensation For A Data Breach Could I Receive?
  5. How Do I Know I’ve Instructed The Best Data Breach Solicitors For My Case?
  6. Do Data Breach Solicitors Work On A No Win No Fee Basis?
  7. More Helpful Links On Data Breach Compensation Claims

Do I Need To Work With Data Breach Solicitors Near Me?

An understandable question following a personal data breach is “do I need to work with data breach solicitors near me?” There are certainly advantages to going local. You’d be able to attend in person meetings a lot easier and visit the office to deal with any issues that may arise during the claim.

You may also have been recommended a local solicitor by friends or colleagues and want to take advantage of their strong reputation in the area. While these are all valid and understandable reasons, you do not have to use a local solicitor.

The most important thing is finding a solicitor with a strong reputation and experience in handling data breach claims. Important documents can be sent via email, and meetings can be arranged via phone or video conference software. What this means is you can find the best solicitor for you without geographical restrictions.

To find out how our specialist data breach solicitors could help you make a claim, whether you’re local to us or not, get in touch with our advisors for a free eligibility assessment today.

When Can Data Breach Solicitors Help Me Claim?

Your personal data may be handled by data controllers and data processors. A controller decides the reasoning behind process your data plus it will be processed. They may also process your personal information themselves, or they may give this job to a data processor. A data processor handles the task of processing personal data on behalf of a data controller.

When handling personal data, both data controllers and processors must comply with the rules set out by legislation, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If your personal information has been compromised in a breach, you could have valid grounds to claim if you can prove the following:

  1. The data controller or processor failed to uphold their legal duties under relevant data protection laws.
  2. This failure was the cause of a data breach in which your personal information was affected.
  3. Because of this personal data breach, you experienced financial losses, psychological distress or both.

Get in touch with our advisors for free today to learn more about your eligibility to claim and how our data breach solicitors could help.

Can Data Breach Solicitors Help Me Gather Evidence?

Evidence is a vital component in any data breach claim. You will need to prove liability for the breach of your personal data and the damage you suffered as a result. In the list below, we look at a few examples of evidence that you could obtain to help support a claim for data breach compensation:

  • A letter of notification. If your personal information is compromised in a breach, the organisation must inform you without undue delay if this breach risks your rights and freedoms. They will do this using a ‘letter of notification’.
  • Correspondence between yourself and the organisation. If you suspect your personal information has been breached, you can make a complaint to the organisation. This can be done via email or letter, copies of which could support your claim.
  • Correspondence from the ICO. Should the response from the organisation be unsatisfactory, you can report the suspected breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent body set up to protect information rights in the UK. They could investigate your complaint, and any findings in support of your claim could be used as evidence.
  • Medical evidence. If you are claiming for psychological damage, you can submit a copy of your medical records.
  • Evidence of financial losses. If you suffered financial harm and would like to recover your losses, copies of your credit report or bank statements can help prove this.

A lawyer specialising in data breach compensation claims can help you gather sufficient evidence. Get in touch with an advisor to find out how a lawyer can help and for more information about evidence.

How Much Compensation For A Data Breach Could I Receive?

If your personal data breach claim succeeds, you could receive compensation for your non-material damage and material damage.

First, we’ll discuss non-material damage. This refers to the impact the breach has on your mental health. For example, a data breach might cause you to suffer from anxiety, depression, or even post-traumatic stress disorder.

When data protection solicitors value claims for non-material damage, they may refer to the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). This text provides compensation guidelines for different psychological injuries. You can find some figures from the 17th edition (2024) of this publication in the table below. Please note that these are guidelines only. It should also be noted that the top row is not from the JCG.

Mental Harm TypeSeverityGuideline Amount
Very Severe Psychological Damage and Financial LossesSeriousUp to £250,000+
Psychiatric DamageSevere£66,920 to £141,240
Moderately Severe£23,270 to £66,920
Moderate£7,150 to £23,270
Less Severe£1,880 to £7,150
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)Severe£73,050 to £122,850
Moderately Severe£28,250 to £73,050
Moderate£9,980 to £28,250
Less Severe£4,820 to £9,980

Material Damage Compensation

Material damage refers to the financial losses you experience as a result of a personal data breach. For example, if you need to take time off work to recover from the psychological effects of the breach, this could lead to lost earnings. You could potentially claim these lost earnings back under material damage compensation.

You might be wondering, “Do I need to work with data breach solicitors near me in order to claim data breach compensation?” One of the benefits of working with our solicitors is that they take on claims from all over the country, which means you aren’t limited to working with data breach solicitors in your area. Contact our team of advisors today to learn more.

How Do I Know I’ve Instructed The Best Data Breach Solicitors For My Case?

If you suffer due to a breach of your personal information, you can only make one compensation claim. It’s therefore important to instruct the best data breach solicitors possible because if you don’t get properly compensated, you can’t claim again.

To help you understand if you’re working with the right GDPR solicitors, there are some checks you can make:

  • Reviews – one of the best ways to check if you’re working with reliable data protection breach solicitors is to look at their reviews. Law firms, such as ourselves, take pride in the reviews left by clients and providing a service that goes beyond their expectations. You can look at honest review platforms like Trustpilot and Google Reviews to get an idea of the experiences of previous clients.
  • Registration Status – All law firms should be authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It’s a simple check, but search the name of your data breach lawyers on the SRA register here.
  • No Win No Fee – a quality law firm will offer to represent you in your data breach compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis. We explain more on this below.
  • Early Exchanges – If you’re trying to assess whether the solicitors you’ve instructed are the best fit for you, it’s important to check how you feel after the early exchanges with them, either by phone, live chat or email. The best data breach lawyers will explain the process in detail, answer your questions with patience, and make you feel confident you’ve made the right choice

Do Data Breach Solicitors Work On A No Win No Fee Basis?

You can call us for a free assessment to learn if you have a valid claim. If you do, your case could be taken by a specialist data breach solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis. Among the benefits of the Conditional Fee Agreement our solicitors offer are:

  • Not paying an upfront fee before your data breach claim begins for the solicitor to begin working on your case.
  • Having access to free legal advice from an expert data protection solicitor without any running service costs.
  • Knowing a solicitor will use their expertise to push for the best possible settlement and paying nothing for their work if the claim fails.

If the UK GDPR breach claim is resolved in your favour, your solicitor collects a percentage of the compensation awarded as their success fee. Due to there being a strict legal cap that applies to success fees, your solicitor can only take a small proportion of what you receive.

Start Your Claim

You could also take advantage of our initial consultation to get free legal advice on claiming for data breaches. Reach out to our advisors to see if we could start working on your case.

More Helpful Links On Data Breach Compensation Claims

Remember, if you need any advice from our data protection breach solicitors, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.