A data breach by BUPA could leave you feeling vulnerable, stressed and anxious. A BUPA data breach could happen when hackers gain access to medical records or your financial information. Additionally, a breach might occur when a physical document with sensitive medical information is not locked away.
In short, a data breach can be a cyber-attack or a staff error. When your medical records are accessed accidentally, intentionally, or criminally and it was the fault of the organisation in possession of them, you have the right to seek compensation if you suffer damage to your mental health or finances. This guide explains when, how and why you can sue BUPA for a data breach.
My Data Privacy Was Breached By BUPA, Could I Claim Compensation?
BUPA data breach compensation claims guide
We also explain how the General Data Protection Regulation together with the Data Protection Act 2018 gives you this right. Healthcare providers hold, process, and store extremely sensitive personal information. Consequently, a healthcare provider must set in place robust cyber-security to reduce the risk of being hacked.
Throughout our guide, you will find advice and information regarding data breach claims and more specifically for a data breach by BUPA. We provide an idea of how much your claim might be worth and the sort of damage you could seek data breach compensation for.
Furthermore, you will find information on how our No Win No Fee solicitors could represent you. If you want to pursue a claim, we provide free legal advice on the process involved.
- To benefit from a free, no-obligation consultation, please contact a member of our team on our freephone number 0333 000 0729.
- You can also write to us about your case via our contact page and we’ll call you back at a time that suits you.
- Or you can chat with us now using our live chat service, bottom right corner.
For more advice and information on making a data breach by BUPA claim, please click on the following sections:
Select A Section
- A Guide On Claims For A Data Breach By BUPA
- What Is A Data Breach Claim Against BUPA?
- Data Sharing And GDPR Compliance
- Enforcement Action Taken By The ICO Against BUPA
- Calculating Compensation Amounts For A Data Breach By BUPA
- What Is Compensation Awarded For Following A Data Breach?
- Reporting A Medical Data Breach To The Information Commissioner
- No Win No Fee Claims For A Data Breach By BUPA
- How To Get Help From A Healthcare Data Breach Solicitor
- How To Make A Data Breach Claim Against Bupa
- Speak To A Solicitor
- Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Data Breaches
- Where To Learn More
A Guide On Claims For A Data Breach By BUPA
Medical data breaches can have serious consequences whether an incident occurred accidentally, intentionally, or because of a hack. Over recent years there has been a steady rise in the number of cyber-attacks on healthcare providers. That said, according to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) the most common cause of a medical data breach is due to human error.
You could be entitled to compensation if you are affected financially or mentally by a data breach by BUPA and can prove the breach occurred because of the failings of the organisation. Once the incident is reported, the ICO will typically launch an investigation. Moreover, the ICO has the power to issue a healthcare provider with a fine.
The Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation sets out stringent rules. All data controllers must follow these rules. If an organisation is found to be non-compliant and your medical information is compromised, leading to you suffering damage, you could sue. The same is true if your medical records are shared without your consent.
Accordingly, BUPA must set in place the necessary security measures to protect the data they hold. One such measure is to carry out regular cyber-security testing. These tests ought to be carried out by professional cyber security companies. By doing this, vulnerabilities in cyber-security can be identified and fixed.
If you are affected by a data breach by BUPA, you can report the incident to the ICO. However, if you want compensation, you must start private legal proceedings because the ICO does not award compensation.
Data Breach by BUPA Time Limits
You have 6 years to make a data breach by BUPA claim. This time limit runs from the date you obtained knowledge of the breach. If your human rights are affected in a breach, the time limit is only 1 year from the date of knowledge.
To find out what the deadline is for you to claim compensation for a BUPA data breach, please contact a member of our team today. We provide a free, no-obligation consultation that allows us to review your case. As such, we can let you know if and how long you have to make a data breach claim against BUPA.
What Is A Data Breach Claim Against BUPA?
As one of the biggest healthcare providers, BUPA collects, processes, and holds a vast amount of sensitive data. This includes personal information, medical records, and patient medical information, all of which can be used to identify people.
BUPA must by law protect all the personal data they hold for patients, members of staff, and anyone else connected to them. When a security breach occurs whether accidental, intentional, or illegal, the ICO will launch an investigation. If the healthcare provider is found liable for a breach, the ICO can issue a fine or enforce compliance with the law by issuing recommendations and notices.
So what is a BUPA data breach? The ICO defines a breach in data security as:
- Personal data that directly or indirectly identifies an individual (data subject) is accessed without consent. A data breach may be deliberate, accidental, or a breach in cyber-security
The consequences of a medical data breach by BUPA could include:
- Data is lost, disclosed, altered, destroyed, or stolen
You may often hear of cyber-attacks on organisations which are all too frequent. However, a medical data breach does not have to involve cybercriminals. It can happen when a file containing sensitive personal information is not locked away. This could allow others to read data that should have been locked safely away.
One of our advisers will let you know if you have grounds to claim compensation for a data breach by BUPA. You can reach a member of our team on the freephone number at the top of the page.
Data Sharing And GDPR Compliance
BUPA must have a good reason for sharing your medical information with others without your consent. The reason must be lawful and you must be asked by the healthcare provider before they do so.
However, there are instances when an organisation can share your data without your consent. An example may involve sharing data with organisations within the NHS that provide care to you.
Healthcare providers share medical information with other providers so that patients are given the best level of care. That said, if you have evidence that your medical data was shared without your consent, you could sue BUPA if you suffer damage to your mental health or finances as a result.
To find out whether you have grounds to seek data breach compensation, please call a member of our team today.
Enforcement Action Taken By The ICO Against BUPA
There have been a number of data breach incidents involving private medical providers in recent times. The ICO issued a heavy fine to BUPA for systemic data protection failures in 2018. Over a 3 month period, a BUPA employee extracted the personal data of just over half a million customers and offered it for sale on the dark web.
Although this happened due to the actions of a rogue employee (who was subsequently arrested), the ICO found “material inadequacies in the way BUPA safeguarded personal data” and hadn’t updated its systems in a long time. No adequate explanation was given to the ICO for this oversight.
If you believe your medical records were accessed following a data breach at BUPA, please get in touch with a member of our team. We provide a free consultation to review your case and you would not be obliged to pursue a claim if you chose not to.
Calculating Compensation Amounts For A Data Breach By BUPA
The Court of Appeal in the case of Vidal-Hall and others v Google Inc [2015] made a landmark ruling in relation to compensation in data breach claims. It held that:
- Claimants in data breach cases can claim damages for mental harm even when they do not suffer financial loss
- This decision saw a departure from the previous position which required claimants to have suffered financial damage in order to be compensated for the mental implications.
It was further recommended in the case of Gulati & Others v MGN Limited [2015] that compensation for mental harm in data breach claims could be valued with reference to personal injury claims.
Accordingly, the amounts shown in our compensation table below are based on the Judicial College Guidelines. Courts, insurers, and solicitors use the Guidelines to help value injuries in personal injury cases.
| Mental Harm/Injury | Severity | General Damages (Judicial College Guidelines) Awarded | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychiatric damage/harm | Severe | £51,460 to £108,620 | Poor prognosis - victim unable to work or hold down a job. Claimant has problems with relationships and any sort of treatment is unlikely to aid recovery |
| Psychiatric damage/harm | Moderate/Severe | £17,900 to £51,460 | Claimants suffers similar symptoms to those above. However the prognosis is more positive. Claimant may suffer work-related stress |
| Psychiatric damage/harm | Less Severe | Up to £5,500 | The symptoms a victim suffers can include anxiety and depression but the. prognosis is positive. Symptoms of psychiatric damage seen to improve over a few weeks to month |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD | Severe | £56,180 to £94,470 | Symptoms are very severe and permanent which negatively impacts claimant's life and their ability to work due to the severity of PTSD symptoms |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD | Moderate/Severe | £21,730 to £56,180 | Similar symptoms to those above. However, the prognosis is better |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD | Moderate | £7,680 to £21,730 | Claimant suffers moderate symptoms of PTSD. However, the prognosis is positive |
The value of a data breach claim would depend on several things, with the severity of the harm suffered a key factor. As part of a claim, an independent medical professional must provide a report on the mental harm you suffered. The detailed report would then be used to value the amount of compensation you could be awarded.
This is where Legal Helpline can be of assistance, so please get in touch with us on the telephone number at the top of the page.
What Is Compensation Awarded For Following A Data Breach?
The formal names for the types of damage you can seek compensation for in data breach claims are material damages and non-material damages.
Material damages cover financial losses you incurred in a breach.
Non-material damages are paid to compensate for mental harm. The mental harm you may have suffered by a breach could include:
- Stress
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
To find out if you have a valid data breach claim, please contact a member of our team today. We will review your case and let you know if you can seek compensation.
Reporting A Medical Data Breach To The Information Commissioner
To report a data breach to the ICO, you should:
- Firstly, report the incident to BUPA. This may be directed to their data protection officer. You should receive a response from the healthcare provider in good time. You can take the matter further if you are not satisfied with the response, or you don’t get a meaningful reply.
- Secondly, you might want to report the breach to the ICO. The reason being that if the ICO finds the healthcare provider liable, it would strengthen your case. That said, you do not have to make a complaint to the ICO if you want to seek compensation.
The ICO recommends getting in touch with them within 3 months of your last meaningful correspondence with the responsible organisation. If you wait too long to contact the ICO about a data breach, they may not investigate the incident. However, if they do and find the healthcare provider responsible, they can issue a fine or enforcement notice.
If you are thinking about getting compensation for a data breach by BUPA, you should get legal advice beforehand. To speak to an adviser and to benefit from free legal advice, please get in touch today.
No Win No Fee Claims For A Data Breach By BUPA
When you want to claim compensation for a data breach it does not mean you have to fork out money up front to pay for legal representation. You could be represented by a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel.
Firstly, we would assess whether you have grounds to sue for compensation. When we have completed our review, a No Win No Fee solicitor from our panel will contact you and offer to represent you on a No Win No Fee basis.
The formal title for a No Win No Fee arrangement is a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). Under this, you don’t have to pay any upfront or ongoing fees. Nor do you have to pay any fees if your claim isn’t successful.
Paying a fee to your solicitor is purely conditional upon them achieving a successful outcome. In that instance, they would deduct a small and legally capped percentage of your compensation award to help cover their costs.
To find out if you can make a No Win No Fee data breach claim against BUPA, please get in touch with a member of our team today.
How To Get Help From A Healthcare Data Breach Solicitor
Claiming compensation for a medical data breach can be challenging without legal assistance. You have peace of mind when you have the experience of a specialist data breach lawyer on your side. The legal input provided from the outset is invaluable, and it means your case will be rigorously pursued.
We offer a no-obligation consultation which is free of charge to everyone who contacts us. An expert adviser will review your claim before offering advice on how best to go forward. A solicitor from our panel will then contact you. They will offer to act on your behalf on a No Win No Fee basis. The solicitor would:
- Spend time finding out everything about the data breach by BUPA
- Assess how the breach has affected you
- Collect evidence in support of your case
- Make an appointment for you with a local independent medical professional
- Make sure the amount you are awarded is the highest achievable
To find out how Legal Helpline can help and to benefit from free legal advice, please get in touch today.
How To Make A Data Breach Claim Against Bupa
In the first instance, you must contact the healthcare provider and make a formal complaint. They should launch an internal investigation into the data breach and report the incident to the ICO.
If you do not agree with the results of the healthcare provider’s investigation, take the matter as far as you can. If you still feel the response is unacceptable, you can file a complaint with the ICO within 3 months and ask them to investigate
It is worth noting that the ICO does not award compensation to victims of a data breach. If you are seeking compensation, you must start private legal proceedings. You should also seek legal advice from a specialist data breach lawyer. This is where Legal Helpline can help you.
We provide an initial consultation that is free of charge. We can review the data breach by BUPA and establish if you have grounds to sue. You would be under no obligation to go forward with your case if you choose not to.
To find out how we can help you claim compensation for a data breach by BUPA, please get in touch on the freephone number below.
Speak To A Solicitor
If you have any questions about making a claim following a data breach by BUPA, a member of our team is here to provide assistance. That said, if you are ready to make a claim, you can get in touch with an expert adviser by:
- Calling our freephone number – 0333 000 0729
- Write to us about your case through our contact page.
- Using our Live Chat
- Emailing us at [email protected]
We provide free legal advice in a no-obligation consultation so please get in touch today so an adviser can review your claim.
Frequently Asked Questions About Medical Data Breaches
We have provided some answers to frequently asked questions about medical data breaches.
How many data breaches have there been in the healthcare industry?
Hackers target healthcare providers and the number of reported incidents have increased over recent times. That said, data breaches caused by staff errors account for most medical data breaches
Does GDPR apply to patient medical records?
The GDPR and the DPA 2018 have replaced the Data Protection Act 1998 and the law requires that healthcare providers only share patient medical records when permission is given or for valid reasons, such as if another healthcare provider is treating a patient.
Where To Learn More
Below, we’ve included some other guides you may find useful relating to data breach claims.
How to make a complaint to the ICO:
Data Protection Act 2018 – filing a complaint:
Data Protection Act – Make a Complaint
A guide to the No Win No Fee Claims process:
Guide to GDPR data breach claims:
A guide to No Win No Fee success fees:
The percentage payable on successful personal injury claims
To learn more about what to do if you fall victim to a data breach by BUPA, please get in touch.
Guide by HW
Edited by REB
