What Are My Rights After A Virgin Healthcare Data Breach?

In this guide, we aim to explore the steps you can take if you were to be affected by a Virgin Healthcare data breach. If you’re unsure whether you are eligible to make a personal data breach claim, this guide could help. We will provide you with an understanding of why you may be able to seek compensation following a breach of your personal data.

Virgin healthcare data breach

Virgin healthcare data breach guide

There are two key pieces of legislation that set out the responsibility data processors and data controllers have to protect your personal data. These include the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and an updated version of the Data Protection Act 2018, which has been amended since the UK left the European Union.

In cases where these pieces of legislation have been breached causing you a psychological injury or financial damage as a result of an organisation’s failings, there may be penalties.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is an independent authority that ensures organisations are upholding the duty they have to protect people’s personal data. They take enforcement action against those that fail to follow the rules outlined in each piece of legislation. We have provided examples of the action they have taken against healthcare providers further in this guide.

Although our guide has aimed to cover the information you need, please get in touch with our team on the details below:

  • Telephone: 0800 073 8801
  • Online form: Fill out our online contact form with your query.
  • Live chat: Speak with an advisor for free legal advice using the feature below.

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A Guide To Personal Data Breach Claims Against Virgin Healthcare

The aim of this guide is to help you understand the steps you could take should a Virgin Healthcare data breach affecting your personal data occur. For example, you will find information on the evidence that you could gather to support your case.

There are various ways a breach of your personal data could affect you, such as financially and psychologically. However, you could seek compensation for the impact the breach has had on you. You will find information on how compensation is often calculated further in our guide.

If you are looking for suitable legal representation but are apprehensive due to the costs often associated, we could help. Our solicitors work on a No Win No Fee basis offering to represent claims under a Conditional Fee Agreement (CFA). As such, you wouldn’t need to pay any upfront costs or ongoing costs while your claim proceeds.

This guide will provide further details on an agreement of this type and whether it would be possible for one of our solicitors to begin working on your claim on this basis.

Remember, if you have any additional questions whilst or after reading our guide, please don’t hesitate to contact us using the number at the top of the page.

Data Breach Claim Time Limits

There are time limits you should be aware of if you intend to make a personal data breach claim. In cases where you’re claiming against a public body, you have one year. Alternatively, you have 6 years to launch your claim.

If you require any further information about the time limits, get in touch with our team using the number at the top of the page.

Examples Of Healthcare Data Which Could Be Held About You

Healthcare organisations hold a variety of personal data about you. Examples of this might include:

  • Special category data: This could include data concerning your health, such as your medical records. It could also include data about your racial or ethnic origin or data regarding your sexual orientation.
  • Other data that can identify you: This could include your name, date of birth, email address, financial details, postal address or telephone number.

It’s important that organisations uphold their responsibility to protect all of this data that they might hold. However, if you have evidence that a breach has taken place, you can get in touch with our team to find out if you’re eligible to claim.

What Could A Virgin Healthcare Data Breach Be?

A Virgin Healthcare data breach could happen for a large number of reasons. For instance, a human error made by a member of staff or a cyber security breach could result in your personal data being affected.

However, in order to seek compensation, the following criteria must be met:

  • An organisation failed to protect your personal data due to their own wrongful conduct
  • Your personal data was breached
  • You experienced psychological harm or financial damage as a result

In the following sections, we have provided examples of how a breach of your personal data could happen.

Breaches Of Physical Data

A breach of data protection could include where physical personal data is breached. For instance:

  • Your medical records may have been left in an unlocked filing cabinet resulting in someone, who was not authorised to do so, accessing information regarding your health.
  • Test results may have been dropped on the floor and picked up by another patient.
  • Your doctor may have disclosed information about your medical condition to the wrong patient.

Each of these could have an impact on your mental wellbeing. If you have experienced a similar incident, call our team to find out whether you’re eligible to claim.

Breaches Of Digital Data

In recent years, there has been a heavier reliance on technology to store and process data. As such, organisations must take reasonable steps to protect any personal data they process, such as ensuring they have up-to-date cyber security. Failure to do so could result in the following digital personal data breaches:

  • A device containing your personal data may have been disposed of before the hard drive was wiped.
  • The organisation responsible for processing your data may have failed to keep their cyber security up to date. As a result, a cyber attack may have occurred resulting in them unlawfully accessing your personal data.
  • An employee may have sent an email containing medical information about you to the wrong person.

What Should A Healthcare Provider Do After A Data Breach?

If a Virgin Healthcare data breach occurs, they would need to take certain actions. For example, if the personal data breach affected someone’s rights and freedoms, they would need to report the incident to the ICO within 72 hours. This would start from when the organisation discovered the breach.

Additionally, the organisation must inform the people affected by the data breach without undue delay.

Examples Of Action Taken By The ICO Against Healthcare Providers

In some cases, when a breach is reported to the ICO, they may investigate the incident and take action where necessary. Examples of organisations they have taken action against include:

  • Ticketmaster UK Limited: In 2020, the ICO fined Ticketmaster £1.25 million after they failed to protect the payment details of their customers.
  • Virgin Media Limited: In August 2020, the ICO fined Virgin media £50,000 for sending over 400,000 direct marketing emails.
  • We Buy Any Car Limited: The ICO fined We Buy Any Car for sending marketing emails and text messages without meeting the requirements of giving people the option to opt-in. They were fined £200,000.
  • Marriott International Inc: A fine of £18.4 million was issued to Mariott International after they failed to keep the personal data of millions of customers secure.

What Are My Rights Should A Virgin Healthcare Data Breach Occur?

According to data protection law, you have certain rights with regard to your personal data. For example, in many circumstances:

  • You have the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data
  • You have the right to access your personal data
  • As an individual, you have the right to have your personal data amended
  • You have the right to have your personal data removed

In addition, there are seven principles that organisations must uphold. For example:

  1. Organisations must have a lawful basis for processing personal data. This could include consent but the basis for which they process data must be the most appropriate depending on the way they are planning to use it.
  2. There must be a clear purpose for processing from the beginning.
  3. Organisations must not hold more data than they require.
  4. The data organisations hold about you must be correct.
  5. Organisations must not keep the personal data they hold for longer than they need to.
  6. There must be appropriate security measures put in place to protect the data an organisation holds.

Additionally, organisations must take responsibility for how they process personal data and ensure they comply with all other principles. If their failure to do so results in a breach of your personal data leading you to suffer psychological harm or financial damage, please get in touch with our team.

An advisor can help you understand the steps you may wish to take should a Virgin Healthcare data breach or other medical data breach occur.

What Evidence Could Support Your Data Breach Claim?

As part of the claims process, you should aim to gather evidence to support your case. This could include:

  • Proof of financial losses incurred: For example, you may have needed to take time off due to the stress caused by the breach. As a result, you may have experienced a loss of earnings. However, you could claim back these costs provided you have sufficient evidence, such as payslips.
  • Proof of the breach: For example, the organisation may have informed you of the breach via email. You could use this communication as evidence.
  • Medical evidence: In some cases, you may have experienced severe psychological harm as a result of the breach. As such, you may be required to provide evidence of the data breach distress such as medical records to show the extent of the harm you experienced.

If you’re unsure of the evidence you could gather, you may benefit from seeking legal representation. One of our solicitors who has experience in handling data breach claims could help you take the relevant steps before you seek compensation.

For more information about how you could work with them, please get in touch on the number above. Alternatively, you can discuss the potential steps you could take if a Virgin Healthcare data breach were to occur.

Types Of Damages Awarded Under The UK GDPR For A Personal Data Breach

There are two heads that your settlement may comprise following a successful personal data breach claim. These include material damages and non-material damages. Each seeks to compensate you for the different ways the personal data breach has affected you.

Material damages compensate for the financial losses incurred as a result of the breach. For example, someone might have unlawfully gained access to your credit card details. As a result, they could have built up debt and failed to pay back the money they borrowed causing a negative impact on your credit score.

In such cases, you could claim back the cost of this under material damages. However, you would need to provide documentation that proved any financial losses, such as credit card statements.

Additionally, you could seek compensation for any psychological harm you experienced as a result of the breach. For instance, you may have experienced stress or anxiety as a result of information about your health being unlawfully disclosed to others. In these cases, solicitors or other legal professionals may use guidelines from the Judicial College to help them calculate how much you’re owed.

Also, in more severe cases, you may need to attend a medical appointment that an independent medical professional will complete. The report from this appointment could help legal professionals calculate how much you’re owed for the psychological harm you experienced, alongside the JCG.

Calculate Compensation For A Healthcare Data Breach

In the table below, we have used guideline compensation amounts corresponding to different psychological injuries set out in the Judicial College Guidelines. Please note, these figures should only be used as a guide because the actual settlement you could receive will vary depending on several factors.

Edit
Injury Additional Notes Bracket Compensation Amounts
Psychiatric and Psychological Damage Moderately Severe Psychiatric Damage (b): The person will still experience significant issues but they will have a better prognosis than more severe cases. £19,070 to £54,830
Psychiatric and Psychological Damage Moderate Psychiatric Damage (c): The person may experience problems with their ability to deal with different areas of their life. £5,860 to £19,070
Psychiatric and Psychological Damage Less Severe Psychiatric Damage (d): The award given will depend on how long the person has been affected as well as other factors. £1,540 to £5,860
Psychiatric and Psychological Damage Moderately Severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (b): The person will have a better prognosis than more severe cases as a result of professional help. £23,150 to £59,860
Psychiatric and Psychological Damage Moderate Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (c): The person will have mostly recovered. Any ongoing issues won’t be hugely disabling. £8,180 to £23,150
Psychiatric and Psychological Damage Less Severe Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (d): The person will have made a mostly full recovery within a couple of years. £3,950 to £8,180

If you cannot see your injury listed, you can get in touch with our team. They can provide a free valuation of your claim to give an accurate estimate of how much data breach compensation you could be owed.

No Win No Fee Solicitors For A Virgin Healthcare Data Breach

As mentioned, you could hire one of our No Win No Fee solicitors to represent your claim under a Conditional Fee Agreement. In doing so, you don’t need to pay an upfront fee or any costs while your claim is ongoing.

For successful claims, you will pay a success fee from your compensation. The agreement you sign before your solicitor starts working on your case will outline how the fee works and what it covers.

However, if your claim is unsuccessful, there will be no requirement to pay this success fee to your solicitor.

You can call our team to discuss the potential of having your case passed to one of our solicitors. They can assess the validity of your claim and the chance it has of succeeding. If it meets the relevant criteria, they could assign your case to one of our solicitors.

For more information, please see below for how you can get in touch with us.

Contact An Advisor

We hope this guide has helped. However, if you have any additional questions about the steps you could take should a Virgin Healthcare data breach occur, our team could help.

You can contact us by using the following details:

  • Telephone: 0800 073 8801
  • Online form: Fill out our online contact form with your query.
  • Live chat: Speak with an advisor for free legal advice using the feature below.

FAQs People Ask About Data Breaches

Below, we have answered some commonly asked questions regarding personal data breach claims.

How do you manage a healthcare data breach?

There are several steps you can take following a healthcare data breach, including contacting the organisation. As such, you can use any communication you have with the organisation as evidence.

What is the main cause of healthcare data breaches?

There are various reasons why a healthcare data breach might occur, such as human error or lack of cyber security.

How do you handle a data breach?

If you have been psychologically or financially impacted by a breach of your personal data, you could seek legal advice from our data breach solicitors. They could help you gather relevant evidence to support your case.

Additional Guides Related To Data Breach Claims

In this section, we have provided additional resources that you may find beneficial.

We hope this guide on the steps you could take should a Virgin Healthcare Data Breach occur has helped. However, if you have any additional questions, please get in touch on the number at the top of the page.

Guide by MW

Edited by MMI/RV