Last Updated 5th August 2025. If your personal data has been compromised, you may have suffered psychological or financial harm. You may also be unaware of what steps you could take and how to claim compensation. That’s why we have made this guide to working with data breach solicitors to explain how you could seek compensation following a personal data breach and what they could help you with.
We have included information on a range of topics, including whether you need to work with a solicitor, how they could help you with gathering evidence and the different forms of compensation they could help you claim.
Towards the bottom of this guide, we explain how working with our firm and our experienced solicitors will be of notable benefit to you. Our solicitors work on the basis of No Win No Fee, which we explore towards the end of this guide.
To get a free evaluation of your eligibility to start a data breach claim, or to ask any questions you may have, talk to our friendly team today using the contact details give here:
- Call an advisor on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us by filling out our online form
- Open the live chat at the bottom of your screen
Do I Have To Work With Data Breach Solicitors In My Local Area?
An understandable question following a personal data breach is “do I need to work with data breach solicitors near me?” There are certainly advantages to going local. You’d be able to attend in person meetings a lot easier and visit the office to deal with any issues that may arise during the claim.
You may also have been recommended a local solicitor by friends or colleagues and want to take advantage of their strong reputation in the area. While these are all valid and understandable reasons, you do not have to use a local solicitor.
The most important thing is finding a solicitor with a strong reputation and experience in handling data breach claims. Important documents can be sent via email, and meetings can be arranged via phone or video conference software. What this means is you can find the best solicitor for you without geographical restrictions.
To find out how our specialist data breach solicitors could help you make a claim, whether you’re local to us or not, get in touch with our advisors for a free eligibility assessment today.
When Can Data Breach Solicitors Help Me Claim?
Your personal data may be handled by data controllers and data processors. A controller decides the reasoning behind process your data plus it will be processed. They may also process your personal information themselves, or they may give this job to a data processor. A data processor handles the task of processing personal data on behalf of a data controller.
When handling personal data, both data controllers and processors must comply with the rules set out by legislation, the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018.
If your personal information has been compromised in a breach, you could have valid grounds to claim if you can prove the following:
- The data controller or processor failed to uphold their legal duties under relevant data protection laws.
- This failure was the cause of a data breach in which your personal information was affected.
- Because of this personal data breach, you experienced financial losses, psychological distress or both.
Get in touch with our advisors for free today for more information and to check your eligibility to claim and how our data breach solicitors could help.
How Data Breach Solicitors Can Help You Gather Evidence
Evidence is a vital component in any data breach claim. You will need to prove liability for the breach of your personal data and the damage you suffered as a result. In the list below, we look at a few examples of evidence that you could obtain to help support a claim for data breach compensation:
- A letter of notification. If your personal information is compromised in a breach, the organisation must inform you within a certain amount of time if this breach risks your rights and freedoms. They will do this using a ‘letter of notification’.
- Correspondence between yourself and the organisation. If you suspect your personal information has been breached, you can make a complaint to the organisation. This can be done via email or letter, copies of which could support your claim.
- Correspondence from the ICO. Should the response from the organisation be unsatisfactory, you can report the suspected breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent body set up to protect information rights in the UK. They could investigate your complaint, and any findings in support of your claim could provide evidence to strengthen your case.
- Medical evidence. If you are claiming for psychological damage, you can submit a copy of your medical records.
- Evidence of financial losses. If you suffered financial harm and would like to recover your losses, copies of your credit report or bank statements can help prove this.
A lawyer specialising in data breach compensation claims can help you gather sufficient evidence. Get in touch with an advisor to find out how a lawyer can help and for more information about evidence.
How Much Compensation For A Data Breach Could I Receive?
If you’ve experienced a data breach that compromised your personal data, you could be entitled to compensation. In essence, your settlement could compensate you for:
- Non-material damage. This ultimately relates to any psychological harm you experienced due to a data breach, and the impact it had on your mental health. For instance, you could suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and anxiety as a result of a data breach.
- Material damage. This refers to any financial losses you suffered due to the data breach. For instance, you could claim for any loss of earnings, home relocation costs, travel expenses and counselling costs. Any financial losses must be evidenced with receipts, invoices, payslips or bank statements.
Please be advised that you can still claim for non-material damage even if you didn’t suffer from any financial losses.
Furthermore, the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are often referred to by data breach solicitors when assigning values to different types of harm. For example, this publication may be used when providing compensation guidelines for different types of psychological harm.
All figures in the table below, aside from the first row, have been taken from the JCG. It must be emphasised that the figures are merely guidelines and do not guarantee how much compensation you could receive.
| Mental Harm Type | Severity | Guideline Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Very Severe Psychological Damage and Financial Losses | Serious | Up to £250,000+ |
| Psychiatric Damage | Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 | |
| Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 | |
| Less Severe | £1,880 to £7,150 | |
| Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) | Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 | |
| Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 | |
| Less Severe | £4,820 to £9,980 |
To learn more about how data breach solicitors could help you claim damages, please contact one of our friendly advisors today.
How Do I Know I’ve Instructed The Best Data Breach Solicitors For My Case?
If you suffer due to a breach of your personal information, you can only make one compensation claim. It’s therefore important to instruct the best data breach solicitors possible because if you don’t get properly compensated, you can’t claim again.
To help you understand if you’re working with the right GDPR solicitors, there are some checks you can make:
- Reviews – one of the best ways to check if you’re working with reliable data protection breach solicitors is to look at their reviews. Law firms, such as ourselves, take pride in the reviews left by clients and providing a service that goes beyond their expectations. You can look at honest review platforms like Trustpilot and Google Reviews to get an idea of the experiences of previous clients.
- Registration Status – All law firms should be authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. It’s a simple check, but search the name of your data breach lawyers on the SRA register here.
- No Win No Fee – a quality law firm will offer to represent you in your data breach compensation claim on a No Win No Fee basis. We explain more on this below.
- Early Exchanges – If you’re trying to assess whether the solicitors you’ve instructed are the best fit for you, it’s important to check how you feel after the early exchanges with them, either by phone, live chat or email. The best data breach lawyers will explain the process in detail, answer your questions with patience, and make you feel confident you’ve made the right choice
Do Data Breach Solicitors Work On A No Win No Fee Basis?
Stating a data breach claim can feel overwhelming and intimidating, especially if you are unfamiliar with the law. However, you have a legal right to claim compensation for the suffering your data breach has caused. Therefore, at Legal Expert, we have an excellent team of data breach solicitors with many years of experience who help people like yourself claim compensation.
Our solicitors can use their expertise to help you by:
- Walking you through each stage of the claims process
- Explaining legal documentation and terminology
- Helping you obtain evidence and building your claim
- Explaining how compensation is calculated
- Setting you up with appointments such as with a psychologist
- Negotiating settlements on your behalf
Understandably, you may also be worried about the cost of legal representation. However, our expert solicitors operate on a No Win No Fee basis, under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). As a result, you won’t be required to pay any upfront costs.
If your claim is successful, you will pay a small success fee for your solicitor’s work on your claim. However, if you sign a CFA, the success fee percentage is legally capped and will be deducted from your compensation. On the other hand, if your claim is unsuccessful after signing a CFA, you will not be asked to pay your solicitor for their work. However, our solicitors will work hard to avoid this outcome.
We acknowledge that you may have many questions regarding the cost of starting a claim or how our GDPR solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis. Therefore, you can contact our advisors anytime to have them answered.
Start Your Claim
You could also take advantage of our initial consultation to get free legal advice on claiming for data breaches. Reach out to our advisors to see if we could start working on your case.
- Call on 0800 073 8804
- Contact us by filling out our online form
- Use the live chat feature
More Helpful Links On Data Breach Compensation Claims
- Find out if you can sue a company for a data breach with our helpful guide.
- If your witness details were exposed in a police data breach, you may be able to claim. Learn more with this guide.
- Find out how much compensation you could claim for a medical data breach and learn more about the claims process.
Remember, if you need any advice from our data breach solicitors, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.