Data Breach
Has your personal data been exposed?
If an organisation exposes your private information, you may be entitled to compensation, even if you haven’t suffered financial loss. Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, organisations must safeguard your data. If they fail, Complex Law can help you hold them accountable and recover what you’re owed.
The Facts
What is a data breach?
A data breach occurs when your personal data is disclosed, accessed without authorisation, altered, or destroyed, either intentionally or by accident. Examples include hacked databases revealing your bank details, emails with personal information sent to the wrong recipient, or staff at a company you use viewing your data without permission.
The law
Under UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, any organisation which handles personal data must process it lawfully and securely. They have an obligation to implement technical measures and staff training to prevent data breaches. If a breach happens, they must document it and, in most cases, notify the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) and inform affected individuals without undue delay.
Your rights
Yes. The ICO has the power to investigate and fine organisations for breaches, but compensation is pursued through negotiation or the courts. You may be able to claim compensation for both material damage, such as financial loss resulting from the breach, and non-material damage, such as distress or reputational harm. You may also be able to obtain corrective action, such as deletion of protected data.
Next steps
Preserve evidence of the breach, such as screenshots, emails, text messages, and any correspondence from the organisation responsible or the ICO. Document any impact the breach has had on you, whether that’s time spent fixing issues, financial loss due to fraud, or lost sleep as a result of anxiety. Then speak to Complex Law. We’ll review the evidence, assess if you have a claim, and advise you on the best course of action.
How Complex Law can help
We assess your data breach claim and act on your behalf, engaging the organisation or their insurers, coordinating expert evidence, and issuing proceedings if necessary to secure the compensation you deserve swiftly and fairly.
Common types of breaches
Common breaches include employers leaking payslips, HR/disciplinary or medical info, hacked databases, missent emails, misuse of health, sexual orientation, or ethnicity data, and unlawful marketing or data sharing.
Managing your claim
We gather evidence, liaise with the organisation and their legal team, prepare the pre‑action letter, and, if needed, issue court proceedings. We’ll also coordinate ICO complaints where helpful.
No‑win, no‑fee available
We offer a range of funding options. In appropriate claims, we may act on a no‑win‑no‑fee basis. We’ll let you know the options available to you at the outset and clearly explain all associated costs.
How we calculate costs
Where no-win, no-fee applies, we’ll usually charge 25% plus VAT of any compensation you are awarded. In other cases, we offer fixed or staged fees where possible to reduce the financial impact.
Do you have a claim?
If any of the points on our checklist apply to you, or you’re in a similar situation, it may be advisable to seek urgent legal advice.
You may be able to claim compensation for distress and any financial losses. Speak to Complex Law to plan the next steps.
Claim checklist
Your employer disclosed your payslips, HR or medical details without consent.
A council, school, or NHS body sent your documents to the wrong person.
A company you used was hacked, and your personal or payment details were exposed.
Your email or private information was exposed due to a group email error.
Your data was shared for marketing without permission.
Legal services tailored to your needs
Our practice is focused on three areas of law: Consumer Claims, Individuals, and Businesses (Complex 360), making it easy to match your legal issue with the right team and strategy.
Consumer Claims
If you’ve been missold a loan or targeted by fraudsters or scammers, you don’t have to face the fallout alone. We’ll represent you on a no-win, no-fee basis.
What Others Say
Hear from our past clients
We’re proud of our success rate. Over the last four decades, we’ve helped thousands of clients secure the judgments, compensation, settlements, or resolutions they were seeking.
Excellent rating
Paul W
Ridiculously easy to check and apply. All the searching is done for you in literally one minute. A soft credit check is required but doesn't impact your score. Go and claim what’s rightly owed!
Kathleen H
This is the first time I have contacted Complex Law. It was easy and I got a quick response. I was shocked how many finance companies they found within half an hour. There was no way I would have remembered these companies.
Sidali S
Really pleased with how easy it was to fill out the complaint form. The layout was clear, and the steps were simple to follow, which made the whole process quick and stress-free. It’s great to see such an efficient and user-friendly system in place.
Frequently asked questions
If you don’t find the answer to your question here, get in touch with us and we’ll be happy to help.
No, there’s no requirement to have suffered financial loss to bring a claim – in many cases, such as breaches relating to medical data, leaking of personal documents, or misuse of data for marketing, there is no direct financial impact. However, you may still claim for non-material loss, such as distress caused by the breach, or time spent fixing or responding to issues that occurred as a result.
As the party suffering the breach, you’re not obliged to inform the ICO yourself. However, while the ICO does not award compensation, informing them can be helpful, as their findings may be useful as supporting evidence if you later make a claim for compensation. Complex Law can guide you through the process, including escalating the matter to the ICO if needed.
Yes, it may still constitute a breach. Data protection laws consider both personal and professional email addresses to be personal data, as they can be used to identify an individual. This does not usually apply in the case of a generic company address that you may have access to – such as sales@(company) or info@(company), as these cannot be linked to an individual. As with other forms of data, businesses must handle email addresses with care, including secure collection, storage, and use, and comply with GDPR rules when processing this data.
If your personal data was disclosed to other people at your workplace without your consent, you may have grounds for a data breach claim. Common examples include employers inadvertently sharing HR, payroll, or health information by sending emails to the wrong recipients or failing to manage access to company databases correctly. There are also cases of malicious breaches, for example, a disgruntled employee sharing salary details with the wider organisation. If you believe you have been the victim of a workplace data breach, speak to Complex Law to assess your options.
It shouldn’t – you have the right to protect your personal data by taking legal action where a breach has occurred, and you should not be treated differently by employers or service providers such as banks or insurance companies simply for raising a breach or making a claim. In fact, retaliation for exercising data rights can create further legal issues for the organisation responsible for the alleged breach.
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