There are many questions that people ask when they look to start a privacy claim for compensation with us, and one of those is what can you claim for in terms of damages and amounts?
In this article, we will give you some brief insight into what we look at in terms of whether you can claim, as well as how we value cases and what our estimated damages amounts are based on current figures. To speak to us about starting a No Win, No Fee claim for compensation, please contact our team here now for free, no-obligation advice.
What can you claim for in a data breach claim?
People often ask: what can you claim for when you pursue a data breach case? It is not always immediately obvious, especially when you consider things like personal injury claims where you are pursuing damages for any pain, suffering and loss of amenity that has been caused. When it comes to a data breach claim, if you have not lost anything, what is it that you are actually pursuing damages for?
In short, it is a kind of injury that you are pursuing, which we often refer to as “injury to feelings”. Ultimately, the GDPR can entitle you to pursue a claim for compensation if you have lost control of your personal information through some form of negligence. We are entitled to control over who knows what about us because we have the right to privacy, and we do not want everybody to know everything about us. So, if this control is lost, it can cause us to feel worried, upset, angry, and concerned that our privacy has been breached. This is what we often call distress or injury to feelings and is what you are pursuing your claim for.
What could you be entitled to receive?
When people know that they can pursue a case, one of the next questions that they often ask is: what can you claim for in terms of monetary amounts? People are often keen to know precisely what they could be entitled to recover when pursuing a GDPR compensation case, and we can give you a little guidance to give you an insight into how we look at valuing claims.
First things first, it is very difficult at the start of the case to know what you could be entitled to receive. There will be a number of factors that can be dependent on how we value a case, such as the nature of the information affected, how much is affected, who information has been misused by (or exposed to), and the personal impact on you. Whilst all of those can be measured in a fairly linear way, the last one about the personal impact on you can be very different and can differ greatly from person to person. There is also the context of the breach to consider, with an easy example being that a name and address might not cause too much distress for some people, but the name and address belonging to the victim of domestic abuse and this being exposed to a perpetrator means you can see how the context of such a little information can actually have a really big impact.
In terms of trying to answer the question about what can you claim for in monetary amounts, we can give you some very loose guidance using our expertise as a leading firm of data breach lawyers. In simple claims, you could be entitled to recover a few thousand pounds. Some serious medical data claims can be valued between £15,000 and £25,000, potentially more depending on the context. But one of the best things we can probably do is give you our average settlement which, as of this year, is at just over £6,000 in damages per claimant. You could be entitled to more than this or less than this, but this is our average amount for mostly individual claims and includes the broad spectrum, including minor cases.
How do you start your privacy claim?
Starting a privacy claim for compensation with our hassle-free process is quick and easy, and you could find out in minutes if you are entitled to pursue a case on a No Win, No Fee basis.
All you need to do is complete a contact form here now and we can speak to you over the phone to discuss what has happened and assess your claim there and then. If we can take your case forward, we can go through all we need to do in one simple phone call, and we can even take your instructions if you are happy for us to proceed with the case for you without delay.