By Lewis Houston. Last Updated 13th October 2023. Are you looking to work with a data protection solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis? If so, we will be looking at how you could do this throughout this guide. A data breach can leave you with financial loss and psychological suffering, which a data breach claim can compensate you for.
The Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Act (GDPR) are pieces of data protection legislation. Under data protection law, those who collect, hold or process personal information should take the appropriate measures to protect it.
In this article, we will look at how you may be able to work with a data protection solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis to receive compensation.
To discuss whether you may be entitled to compensation, you can contact our team of advisers. They can then assess how much compensation you could be owed and what your next steps are.
You can contact our friendly team of advisers via:
- A phone call on 0800 408 7825 to explore your claim.
- Our online contact form to receive a response when you’re next available.
- Our live chat box to chat straight away with an adviser.
How to make a claim with GDPR solicitors (No Win No Fee)
Select A Section
- Can I Claim With UK GDPR Solicitors?
- Do I Need To Use Data Breach Solicitors Near Me?
- What Claims Can UK GDPR Solicitors Help With?
- Can Data Breach Solicitors Help Me Gather Evidence?
- How Do I Know If My Data Has Been Breached?
- How GDPR Solicitors Calculate Compensation Payouts
- Make A Claim With UK GDPR Solicitors On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Learn More About GDPR Solicitors And No Win No Fee Agreements
Can I Claim With UK GDPR Solicitors?
If you’ve suffered due to a data breach, you could work with a data protection solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis to make a data breach claim. This can help you receive the maximum amount of compensation you’re owed for the data breach.
The below graph includes statistics taken from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It shows the percentage of businesses that report the following types of breaches or attacks as the most disruptive, excluding the organisations that have only identified phishing attacks in the last 12 months.
What Is The Time Limit For Data Breach Claims?
You must ensure that you are within the relevant time limit when making a personal data breach claim. You will generally have 6 years to start your claim. This time limit is reduced to 1 year for data breach claims against a public body.
If you are eligible to make a claim for compensation, the lawyers on our panel could assist you. They could help ensure that your claim is started within the relevant time limit and help gather evidence.
Contact our advisors today if you have any questions about data protection under the UK GDPR, or how the solicitors on our panel could help you with claiming compensation.
Do I Need To Use Data Breach Solicitors Near Me?
If you intend to make a claim for compensation under the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act, solicitors and their services could prove useful for your claim. For example, a data protection solicitor can help ensure that all areas of your claim are fully evaluated, and could also help you collect evidence to strengthen your claim.
However, you aren’t limited to local data protection solicitors when you make your claim. The solicitors on our panel assist claimants all over the country, giving help and advice throughout the claims process. To find out if you could be eligible to work with a solicitor from our panel, get in touch with our team today.
What Claims Can UK GDPR Solicitors Help With?
There are many different ways that a data breach can occur. Here are some examples of data breaches that a data protection solicitor on a No Win No Fee basis may handle:
- Lost or stolen personal data. For example, if an employee accidentally leaves personal information in a bag on public transport. This means that any member of the public could access the data inside the bag without consent.
- Wrong email address. If an email containing personal information is sent to the wrong recipient who isn’t authorised to see it, they could access this personal data without consent due to human error.
- Letter sent to the wrong postal address. This means that someone could open a letter containing someone else’s personal information as they were sent the wrong letter. Data controllers and processors must ensure they update addresses if they’re informed of the change to prevent this from happening.
Can Data Breach Solicitors Help Me Gather Evidence?
If you are eligible to make a claim following a personal data breach, one of the data breach solicitors on our panel could assist you with gathering evidence to help support your case. Some examples could include
- Correspondence between you and the organisation, wherein they confirm that a breach has occurred.
- A data breach notice letter from the organisation, confirming that your personal data was compromised.
- Proof of any financial harm you have suffered due to the personal data breach, such as copies of your bank and credit card statements.
- Medical evidence of any psychological injuries you have been diagnosed with following a personal data breach, such as a copy of your medical records.
For more information on the evidence that could be used to help support your claim following a breach of the UK GDPR, or how solicitors specialising in personal data breach claims could assist you, contact our advisors today.
How Do I Know If My Data Has Been Breached?
Here are some signs of a data breach:
- Being sent e-mails or texts from organisations that you haven’t associated with. This could mean someone has access to your information without your consent.
- Noticing suspicious behaviour on your bank account or receiving receipts for things that you haven’t purchased.
- Being notified that someone has accessed your social media accounts from a different phone or computer.
If you suspect you may have suffered a data breach, our team of advisers are available 24 hours a day to explore your situation. If you have a legitimate claim, they can then connect you to a data breach solicitor from our panel to discuss No Win No Fee agreements with you and begin working on your claim.
How GDPR Solicitors Calculate Compensation Payouts
Some articles include a data breach injury claims calculator, but our guide has a compensation table instead. This is so we can show different types of psychological injury and how much compensation they may be worth.
These figures have been taken from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) and are an example only. (Legal professionals use the JCG to help them value injuries.)
| Injury | Severity | Compensation |
|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric Damage (General) | Severe | £54,830 to £115,730 |
| Psychiatric Damage (General) | Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 |
| Psychiatric Damage (General) | Moderate | £5,860 to £19,070 |
| Psychiatric Damage (General) | Less Severe | £1,540 to £5,860 |
| PTSD | Severe | £59,860 to £100,670 |
| PTSD | Moderately Severe | £23,150 to £59,860 |
| PTSD | Moderate | £8,180 to £23,150 |
| PTSD | Less Severe | £3,950 to £8,180 |
Data breach compensation is generally made up of material and/or non-material damages.
Non-Material Damage
Non-material damage account for the mental harm you suffer due to the breach. For example, you might have developed stress or depression because of your personal information privacy being breached.
The above compensation figures show the amount of non-material damages each psychological injury may be worth.
The awarded bracket is dependent on factors such as how long recovery and treatment take and how serious the injury is.
You can evidence non-material damage by attending a medical assessment. The independent medical expert would check your injuries and make a report that aims to:
- Show the severity of your injuries.
- Conclude whether your injuries were likely to have been caused or exacerbated (or not linked to) the data breach.
If you use the services of a solicitor to claim, they could use this report alongside other evidence to value your claim.
Material Damage
Material damage account for the financial loss you’ve suffered due to the data breach. For example, a bank data breach could mean you had money stolen from your credit card.
If you’re unable to recover these losses, you could make a material damages claim. To prove your losses, you could use documents such as bank statements, bills or credit scores.
Make A Claim With UK GDPR Solicitors On A No Win No Fee Basis
You may want to know the benefits of using No Win No Fee solicitors after a UK GDPR breach that has caused you harm. Claiming via No Win No Fee can be seen as more financially beneficial. This is because you may otherwise need to pay the solicitor upfront and for ongoing costs as part of the claims process.
If you decide to use No Win No Fee data breach solicitors from our panel, you won’t have to worry about paying the legal fees of your solicitor during the processing of your claim. Instead, at the end of your claim, an amount of your compensation will be taken – a success fee that is legally capped – to cover their costs.
This means you wouldn’t have to pay your solicitor’s legal fees at any point during the claim. Furthermore, if your claim isn’t successful, you wouldn’t pay at all.
This means that solicitors from our panel won’t waste your time – they will only take your case if they feel you have a reasonably good chance of success.
Get In Touch
There are many financial benefits to a No Win No Fee claim, so why not get in touch with an adviser today?
If you have a legitimate claim, they can connect you to a data breach lawyer from our panel to help you gather evidence to support your claim. Consequently, they can then begin working on getting you the maximum amount of compensation you deserve.
We suggest you contact our team of advisers by:
- Ringing them on 0800 408 7825 to chat with an adviser.
- Chatting with an adviser on our live chatbox to receive an immediate response.
- Putting your information into our online contact form to receive a reply at your earliest convenience.
Learn More About GDPR Solicitors And No Win No Fee Agreements
To learn more about data breach claims, check out our guide below:
- Claim For A Failure To Use BCC Data Breach – Have you suffered a data breach due to an organisation not using BCC? Our guide explores how you could make a claim.
- UK GDPR – Claims For Breach Of UK GDPR – If you have suffered financially or mentally due to a data breach, our guide includes important information.
- A real-life example of a cyber attack can be seen with the Capita data breach that took place in March 2023. Hackers managed to access Capita’s system and targeted the personal data of tens of thousands of people. You can find out more in our comprehensive guide.
- Data breach claims – a complete guide with compensation examples
- The ICO’s Work To Recover Fines – This page shows how the ICO works to fine organisations for breaching people’s personal data privacy.
- Make A Complaint – This ICO page allows you to make a complaint about an organisation that has misused your personal data.
Thank you for reading our guide about working with GDPR solicitors on a No Win No Fee basis.