Local government cyberattacks: compensation advice

Anyone affected by local government cyberattacks could be eligible to pursue a claim for data breach compensation now on a No Win, No Fee basis.

Given that local authorities and the agencies they outsource work to store and process a wealth of personal and sensitive information, any hack that leads to the exposure of data can be significant. They can affect a lot of people and cause a severe impact given the nature of what can be misused or exposed.

We can help. For eligible clients, we can pursue a legal case for compensation, and you could be owed thousands of pounds in damages by pursuing a claim now.

Claiming compensation for local government cyberattacks

Anyone who has been affected by local government cyberattacks can be eligible to claim data breach compensation for any distress caused by the loss of control of their personal information. Given that cyberattacks can lead to people being targeted by fraudsters, the distress can be significant. And, in some cases, people may suffer from actual theft and loss, which may also be recoverable as part of a case.

It is important to know that you do not have to have lost money or fallen victim to actual fraud or theft to be able to claim. Most cases are claims for distress, and it can be terrifying to know that criminals now have access to your personal information. Just your personal details alone can be bad enough and can be enough for fraudsters to target people. But given that councils and local authority agencies also store and process a wealth of medical, domestic and financial data for many people, any exposure could include very personal and sensitive data. In some cases, it may also include special category data that the GDPR specifically protects.

Generally speaking, the more a person suffers in terns of distress, the more a claim for data breach compensation can be worth. The extent of suffering is often linked to the nature of the data exposed or misused, and how this has affected the victim. For council data breach compensation claims, the impact can be severe, which means that privacy compensation pay-outs and awards can also be significant.

Our current average award is still at just over £6,000, with thousands of clients having instructed us for specialist legal help and representation.

How we can help – No Win, No Fee

Local government cyberattacks can qualify for our No Win, No Fee legal representation. This means that we can take on an eligible case and pursue it on the basis that we can write off our legal fees if the case does not succeed, subject to the terms and conditions as agreed.

It can be hard to know right at the start whether a case will definitely win, so there is always a risk that it may lose. It may be that the opponent has a legitimate defence to the case, and we will not normally know this unless we actually pursue it. If we reach a stage where we cannot settle the case and we do not consider that the prospects of continuing are strong enough, that is when the No Win, No Fee may kick in.

Get in touch today

Speak to our specialist team for help and advice today to find out if you can benefit from our No Win, No Fee legal representation.