You could be awarded medical data breach compensation when you suffer as a result of your personal information being compromised. Data breaches can be caused by accident or deliberately and can be catastrophic.
If your personal information has been subject to a data breach, you could be owed compensation. However, you’d need to show that you suffered financially or psychologically as a consequence. You’d also need to demonstrate that the data breach was caused by the wrongful conduct of the organisation that was supposed to be protecting your personal information.
A guide on claiming medical data breach compensation
To learn more about medical data breach compensation, contact our team. Available 24/7, our advisors can give you an obligation-free consultation and advise on how to further your claim.
Contact us by:
- Calling on the number at the top of the page
- Using our form to discuss making a claim
- Using the live chat at the bottom of the page
Choose A Section
- Guidance On How To Claim Medical Data Breach Compensation
- What Is A Medical Data Breach?
- Example Of Medical Data Breaches
- How Much Could I Get When Claiming Medical Data Breach Compensation?
- How Do I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
- Further Information About Claiming Medical Data Breach Compensation
Guidance On How To Claim Medical Data Breach Compensation
A medical data breach involving your personal information can have a devastating impact on you, whether financially or mentally. If you are unfortunate enough to have experienced this, you may want to consider taking legal action.
To make a valid claim, you’d need to show that:
- Your personal data was involved in a breach
- You suffered financial loss or mental harm (or both) as a result
- The data breach was caused by the organisation’s wrongful conduct
Certain organisations need to use our personal data. For example, your employer needs your bank details, name and address in order to be able to pay you. Under data protection legislation (like the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR), organisations should protect any personal information they hold, collect or process. If they fail to do this through wrongful conduct, such as not training staff properly in data protection but asking them to handle personal information anyway, and it causes a data breach, you could claim if you’re harmed as a result.
What Is A Medical Data Breach?
Data breaches come in many forms. The definition of a personal data breach includes a security incident that leads to any of the following:
- Loss of personal data
- Access to personal data
- Alteration of personal data
- Destruction of personal data
- Disclosure of personal data
The above could be accidental or unlawful. A data breach itself can be deliberate or accidental.
Personal data breaches can be caused by everything from ineffective storage or even leaving documents on trains. More targeted attacks by cybercriminals can occur too.
Personal data is information that can be used to identify you. Special category data is a type of personal data that requires more protection. It includes sensitive information such as genetic information or data relating to your health.
Examples Of Medical Data Breaches
Data breaches can be the result of malicious action, as seen with cybercrime, or they can be accidental. Your personal data can be used by different parts, but only if there’s a lawful basis.
Data controllers decide how to process personal data, the purpose for the processing and what data to collect. They may also process personal data. Medical institutions, universities and militaries are examples of potential data controllers.
Data processors follow the instruction of controllers regarding the processing of personal data. These agencies or organisations aren’t always used by data controllers. Medical
Medical data breaches could involve personal data held physically or digitally.
Physical Data
This is where the information taken is stored on physical documents. Some potential instances of data breaches involving personal data held on physical documents are:
- Leaving paper documents on public transport.
- Data posted to an unauthorised person.
- Theft of paperwork.
- Incorrect disposal of paper.
- Records stored in unsecured cabinets or boxes.
These can be remedied with security measures. A security guard, locks and alarm systems are some examples of ways to protect personal data.
Digital Data
Some examples of digital data breaches are:
- Personal data emailed to an unauthorised recipient.
- A failure to redact personal information when published online.
- A failure to use BCC in emails to multiple personal email addresses
The Data Protection Act 2018 and UK GDPR brought in strong protections for special category data, which needs more protection because it’s sensitive. Special category data is related to:
- sex life or orientation
- health
- biometrics (where used for identification)
- genetics
- trade union membership
- religious or philosophical beliefs
- political opinions
- race
- ethnic background
The Data Protection Act and UK GDPR are legislative pillars regarding medical data breach compensation claims.
What Do Data Breach Statistics Tell Us?
The data security trends published by the ICO show that in the third quarter of 2021/22, there were more non-cyber security incidents than there were cyber security incidents.
Out of a total 2,404 reported data breaches, 631 of them were cyber security incidents. Furthermore, the sector most affected by data breaches was health, with 467 recorded.
How Much Could I Get When Claiming Medical Data Breach Compensation?
You could seek two different types of compensation when making a personal data breach claim. These are material and non-material damage.
Non-material damage: These relate to the psychological ramifications of having your personal information compromised. This will vary from person to person but can involve some level of distress or anxiety.
Material damage relates to the financial losses that stem from the personal data breach. For example, when a personal data breach occurs, your bank details may be accessed. If someone is able to use these to steal from you, and you aren’t able to recover it from the bank, you could claim it back as compensation.
You could claim either form of compensation, or both.
The compensation table below illustrates how psychological injuries might be valued. It takes figures from the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG). Legal professionals use this publication when valuing injuries.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Bracket | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric damage (a) | Severe | £54,830 to £115,730 | The injured person will be unable to function normally, with little chance of improvement. |
| Psychiatric damages (b) | Moderately Severe | £19,070 to £54,830 | Prognosis more optimistic than (a). |
| Psychiatric damages (c) | Moderate | £5,860 to £19,070 | Professional help leads to a marked improvement by trial. |
| Psychiatric damages (d) | Less Severe | Up to £5,860 | The length of the period of disability can dictate the award. |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (a) | Severe | £59,860 to £100,670 | Case involves permanent effects that prevent the individual from working or living as before. All aspects of life will be affected. |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (b) | Moderately Severe | £23,150 to £59,860 | Prognosis should suggest recovery is plausible with professional help. Still likely to suffer disabilities for the foreseeable future. |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (c) | Moderate | £8,180 to £23,150 | The injured person will have mostly recovered and continuing effects. |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (d) | Less Severe | £3,950 to £8,180 | Fully recovered within two years. |
The JCG’s compensation brackets are based on cases that are settled in court. As the majority of people settle cases outside of court, your compensation could differ.
For our advisors to value your claim for free, why not get in touch?
How Do I Make A No Win No Fee Claim?
Our panel of solicitors may offer you a No Win No Fee agreement should you ask them to represent you. This would suggest that you may have a strong claim as No Win No Fee agreements are conditional fee agreements (CFA). This means that a set condition(s) must be met for your representative to receive payment. In this case, the aforementioned condition is that your claim is to be successful.
With a successful medical data breach compensation claim, you pay your solicitor a success fee. This is a previously agreed rate of payment that is subtracted from your compensation sum. Should your claim not be successful, however, you will not have to pay the solicitor’s fee at all. No Win No Fee agreements can protect you from the costs and fees associated with hiring legal representation.
To learn more about medical data breach compensation, contact our team. Available 24/7, our advisors will give you an obligation-free consultation and advice on how to further your claim.
Contact us by:
- Calling on the number at the top of the page
- Using our form to discuss making a claim
- Using the live chat at the bottom of the page
Further Information About Claiming Medical Data Breach Compensation
Data Security And Protection Toolkit | NHS
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Publisher Ruth Voss
Writer Ryan Wall