Another big year for data breach compensation actions

2019 has been another big year for data breach compensation actions. As leaks and hacks continue to happen at alarming rates, our work has never been more important than it is now.

People are entitled to claim compensation when their personal information is misused or exposed. You can claim for the distress that’s caused by the loss of control of your data, as well as for any financial losses.

This year, we’ve seen a huge surge in new clients signing-up for our No Win, No Fee services, which is to be expected given our importance in the field.

2019’s big data breach compensation actions

This year, we’ve taken forward a number of new data breach compensation actions, meaning we’re now involved in over 30 different group and multi-party cases. This is on top of the individual claims that we represent people for.

We concentrate on serious incidents that stem from breaches, leaks or hacks. Where we consider that there’s a breach of important data protection legislation, we’re happy to represent people – individually or in groups – on a No Win, No Fee basis.

There has been a number of new incidents that we’re involved with this year. The Police Federation of England and Wales was one of the earliest ones, and the Greater Manchester “mass snooping” scandal affecting the Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust was a big one that followed. In that scandal, over 2,000 patients were informed that their personal medical data may have been improperly accessed.

The Lancaster University data breaches that resulted in the data for applicants and students being exposed in two separate incidents was also significant. We’ve been involved in compensation claims for earlier university incidents that go back a few years such as the University of Greenwich action that we took forward back in 2016.

One of the most serious compensation actions that we’ve launched this year was for the Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic Email Leak. We were quickly contacted by victims who needed our expert help, especially having been involved in the similar 56 Dean Street Clinic leak of 2015.

Big developments in the BA Group Action

In terms of ongoing data breach compensation actions, there was a huge and significant development in the BA Group Action. In a landmark decision, Mr Justice Warby approved of the formal Group Litigation Order (GLO) that’s now the action for victims to join in order to pursue compensation for the 2018 cyber incidents.

By Order of the High Court of Justice, we were appointed to the Steering Committee that’s responsible for the overall conduct of the litigation. You can sign-up before the final deadline falls by going to the BA Group Action website here and starting the claims process.

Our expertise and specialism

Victims are becoming more aware of their rights nowadays. As such, we’re now seeing more and more people coming forward and asking us to fight for their rights for justice.

However, we’ve also seen a surge in law firms advertising that they can help people too. It’s important to discuss this because you need to make sure that you’re dealing with true data breach compensation experts. Instructing the right law firm can be the difference between positive justice or ending up wasting your time (and perhaps even your money!)

Way before other law firms started taking data breach compensation actions forward, we were fighting for the rights of victims. Some of our earliest actions go back to 2015, and as a niche law firm that specialises in data protection compensation and consumer actions, our focus in this complex area of law sets us aside as an established firm championing the rights of victims in a world of continually occurring data breaches, leaks and hacks.

We’re often in the media discussing the key issues in today’s increasingly digitalised world as we focus on making sure that victims know that they’re not alone. You have a voice, and we can make sure that you’re heard when we pursue a claim for compensation on a No Win, No Fee basis on your behalf.

As ever, our initial assessment advice is available on a free and no-obligation basis. We’re open until 10pm on most weekdays and 9am to 5pm on most weekends as we strive to be as available as we can for our clients.

We expect that 2020 will be filled with its own new cases and actions, and we’re more than prepared for it. For help and advice, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

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