Has a letter containing your personal data been sent to the wrong address? Did you suffer emotional or financial harm as a result, or both? If so, you may have questions like, ‘How to claim if a letter is sent to the wrong address? Our helpful data breach claims guide aims to answer this question and many others by outlining the steps involved in pursuing data breach compensation.
In this guide, we will provide you with the information you will need to make a letter data breach claim. Firstly, we discuss the eligibility criteria for starting a claim and what compensation can potentially cover. We also discuss the common causes of letter data breaches and why they might lead to valid claims.
Moreover, we look at the different types of evidence you could use to support your claim. Lastly, we explore how one of the No Win No Fee solicitors making up our expert panel could help you claim compensation.
Our team of advisors are available around the clock to answer any questions you might have about claiming compensation for a data breach. As part of the free services that they offer, they can also provide you with a free case check to see if you can make a claim.
If you’re ready to get started or simply want guidance from one of our trained advisors, please contact us using the details below:
- Call us on 0800 408 7825
- Contact us through our online form
- Please use our free live chat function
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I Claim If A Letter Sent To The Wrong Address Contained Personal Data?
- How Much Wrong Postage Address Compensation Could I Get?
- The Common Causes Of Letter Data Breaches
- What Should I Do After A Letter Is Sent To The Wrong Address?
- What Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me With?
- More Information
Can I Claim If A Letter Sent To The Wrong Address Contained Personal Data?
Yes, you may be able to claim if a letter was sent to the wrong address containing personal data, provided that you fulfil certain eligibility requirements. Specifically, you need to demonstrate the following:
- An organisation didn’t fulfil the obligations they have under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018. These are the main pieces of legislation governing how the personal data of UK citizens is processed
- This failure led to your personal data being breached
- You suffered financial or mental harm, or both, as a result
Keep reading as we next discuss what a personal data breach is.
What Is A Personal Data Breach?
A personal data breach occurs when information that might be used to identify someone is altered, destroyed, lost, accessed, or otherwise disclosed without there being authorisation to do so. This definition is outlined by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the UK regulator for data protection.
Every organisation that handles the personal data of UK citizens needs to comply with the UK GDPR and the DPA mentioned above. To meet these obligations, organisations can take steps like providing staff with appropriate training or ensuring personal data is kept up-to-date.
We’ll explain how an organisation might fail to comply with data protection laws later on in this guide. Next, we quickly explain what personal data could be compromised.
What Kind of Personal Data Could Be Contained In A Letter Sent To Wrong Address?
Letters sent to the wrong address may include personal data like addresses, phone numbers, national insurance numbers, and emails. Additionally, there is special category data. Per the UK GDPR, this type of personal data needs extra protection as the content is considered more sensitive. Special category data can include information related to your:
- Health
- Sexual orientation
- Racial or ethnic origin
- Religious beliefs
To find out more about your eligibility and how you might be able to claim if a letter is sent to the wrong address, please contact us today.
How Much Wrong Postage Address Compensation Could I Get?
The amount of wrong postage address compensation will depend on a variety of factors. Personal data breach claims can be made up of material and non-material damage:
- Non-material damage: The psychological harm you suffered, such as PTSD, depression, and anxiety
- Material damage: The financial loss you endured
The Judicial College Guidelines (JCG) are commonly used by solicitors to help assign a potential value to the psychological harm suffered by a claimant. It’s a document that publishes suggested compensation brackets for the harm, as well as notes detailing what factors may influence payouts for them.
Below, you can see a selection of these brackets, aside from the first entry. Please note that they are merely guidelines, and they do not guarantee how much compensation you could receive.
| Harm | Guideline Compensation |
|---|---|
| Severe Psychological Damage and Material Damage, Such As Lost Earnings | Up to £250,000+ |
| Severe Psychiatric Damage | £66,920 to £141,240 |
| Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage | £23,270 to £66,920 |
| Moderate Psychiatric Damage | £7,150 to £23,270 |
| Less Severe Psychiatric Damage | £1,880 to £7,150 |
| Severe PTSD | £73,050 to £122,850 |
| Moderately Severe PTSD | £28,250 to £73,050 |
| Moderate PTSD | £9,980 to £28,250 |
| Less Severe PTSD | £4,820 to £9,980 |
Can I Claim For Material Damage?
Yes, you can claim for material damage so long as you have supporting evidence. If that is the case, you may be able to claim for the following financial losses:
- Loss of earnings if you took time off from work
- The cost of relocating to a new house or investing in additional home security
- Therapy if you suffered psychological harm
As touched on, it’s important that you support these financial losses with evidence in order to include them in your claim. This proof can include bank statements, payslips, and invoices.
To find out more about personal data compensation, please contact our friendly advisory team at a time that’s convenient for you.
The Common Causes Of Letter Data Breaches
There are many common causes of letter data breaches. Below, you can see some example scenarios and how they might lead to a letter data breach claim:
- A letter is sent to the incorrect address when a human error results in an employee putting it in the wrong envelope. The data breach leads you to develop anxiety amidst concerns about who might have access to your information.
- A GP practice fails to update your address details despite you notifying them. Consequently, a doctor sends a letter containing identifiable medical information to your old address, leading you to suffer serious emotional distress.
- A local council sends multiple letters in a single envelope to the wrong address. As a result of this failure, your personal data is sent to the wrong person. This causes you to suffer from anxiety and means you have to invest in costly extra home security.
These scenarios may all lead to valid data breach claims, but they are by no means an exhaustive list.
If you’re wondering whether you can make a claim if a letter is sent to the wrong address, you can discuss your own experiences by getting in touch with our team of advisors. All advice given is free and confidential, so why not give them a call?
What Should I Do After A Letter Is Sent To The Wrong Address?
After you’ve discovered that a letter has been sent to the wrong address, you will need to ensure there is sufficient evidence showing how an organisation failed to adhere to data protection laws. You will also need proof of any financial loss or psychological harm you suffered as a result.
Please see the following examples of evidence you could use for a data breach claim:
- Medical records, such as a diagnosis confirming a condition like anxiety or depression
- Financial documents verifying related losses
- A notification letter or email from the organisation confirming the breach
- The findings of an ICO investigation into the data breach
After a letter data breach, you have the option of reporting the incident to the ICO. While the ICO cannot award compensation, it does have the power to issue fines for data breaches. In order to make a complaint, you need to file the report within 3 months of the last meaningful contact you had with the organisation responsible for the data breach.
You generally have up to 6 years to make your letter data breach claim. To find out more, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our team of advisors. They’re here to help and may be able to connect you with one of the specialist data breach solicitors making up our panel.
What Can Public Interest Lawyers Help Me With?
Here at Public Interest Lawyers, we work with a panel of solicitors whose expertise in data breach claims has been built on years of combined experience and the highest training. They take a client-first approach to every claim, so you can rest assured that you’ll be supported throughout the process of pursuing compensation.
If you decide to work with one of the solicitors from our panel, you’ll benefit from services like the following:
- Helping gather supporting evidence for your claim
- Explaining the data breach claims process and any terms you’re unfamiliar with
- Handling all aspects of the claim so that you can focus on your recovery while they work to secure compensation on your behalf
- Negotiating a settlement that is a fair reflection of the harm you’ve suffered
They offer all their services on a No Win No Fee basis through a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). This agreement ensures you won’t have to pay any upfront or ongoing solicitor fees, and none at all if you don’t win compensation.
If you do receive compensation, then you only pay your solicitor a success fee for their work. The percentage will be deducted from your compensation and is capped, meaning you keep the bulk of it.
Contact Us
Our experienced team of advisors are available 24 hours, 7 days a week, to answer any questions you might have about making a claim. Following a free case check, you could be connected with one of the No Win No Fee solicitors from our panel.
Are you ready to find out more about making a claim? Get in touch today using the details below:
- Call us on 0800 408 7825
- Contact us through our online form
- Use our free live chat function
More Information
To learn more about making a personal data breach claim, please see some of our other guides:
- See how to make a gym data breach claim
- Learn how to claim for employer data breach compensation
- Get help with a data breach by a gas company
Additional external information:
- See the following government advice about staying secure online
- Learn about feelings and symptoms of stress from the NHS
- Get help with making a complaint to the ICO
Thank you for reading our helpful guide on how to claim if a letter is sent to the wrong address.