Up to 15 million people in the UK could have had their details breached by Equifax, and if you were an Equifax customer between 2015 and 2017, your data could be at risk.
Even if you never used Equifax directly (e.g. for credit monitoring purposes), your data could be compromised if you applied for a loan, mortgage, etc. and the financial provider used Equifax to check your credit score.
The UK’s data protection regulator (the ICO) has already found Equifax to be in breach of its data protection obligations.
Equifax will pay over £400 million to compensate victims in the US. We believe that UK consumers deserve compensation too.
We are dealing with all Equifax data breach claims on a no-win, no-fee basis. So you don’t have to worry about costs.
If you want to make an Equifax data breach compensation claim it is important to act now.
Equifax knows exactly who was impacted by this privacy violation, and if you haven’t received a letter confirming your details were breached, you have the right to ask Equifax if you were involved. This is called making a Subject Access Request (SAR). To keep the process straightforward, we can make a SAR on your behalf.
REGISTER TO FIND OUT IF YOU WERE INVOLVED.
The Equifax data breach happened when hackers gained access to the private details of 146 million people in the US. While Equifax said that its systems in the UK were not affected, it did admit that a file stored in the US may have been accessed. As such, up to 15 million UK individuals could have had their details breached.
The data included names, address, dates of birth, and credit card numbers. Some driving licence numbers and some email addresses were also included in the breach. Also, for some individuals, their Equifax credit services account info may have been exposed. In addition to the above data, this means that their username, password, secret question and answer could be breached. Some credit card payment amounts could also have been compromised.
The Equifax data breach was announced in September 2017. The sensitivity of the personal information held by Equifax makes this breach one of the most severe breaches reported to date.
Equifax wrote to 693,665 UK customers confirming that they had their data breached. Equifax also wrote to a further 167,431 UK consumers whose landline telephone numbers were already published in the public Phone Book and were accessed as part of the cyberattack. If you are one of the people who have received such a letter, you can now make a claim for Equifax data breach compensation.
However, many victims will not have received a letter from Equifax. If you think that you have been involved in the Equifax data breach, but you haven’t received a letter, we can ask Equifax if your data was included in the breach.
While Equifax was the victim of a cyber-attack, it is the one who controlled your personal information. Poor security processes allowed the breach to happen, so Equifax is responsible.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) investigation revealed multiple security failures at the credit reference agency. In response, Equifax was fined £500,000. However, the investigation was carried out under the Data Protection Act 1998 rather than the current General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), and the £500,000 fine is the maximum allowed under the previous legislation. So it could be argued that Equifax got off lightly.
Register with us for further advice about what to do. We will keep your details (securely of course!) and, now Equifax has been fined, start your claim for compensation.
Following the data breach, Equifax sent a letter to those affected, informing them that their data was put at risk. Everyone who has received this letter can claim compensation. However, since the hack was first uncovered, Equifax has admitted that far more people were put at risk than first thought. If you are in any way concerned, contact us and let us know. We will check if you have had your data breached. Once we have established that your data has been violated, we can start the claims procedure on your behalf.
After finding a series of data protection failures at the company, the ICO imposed a penalty of £500,000 on Equifax. However, while it has the potential to issue fines, the regulator does not give any of this money to the victims of the data breach.
Register with Keller Lenkner UK ASAP. This guarantees that you will form part of the compensation claims that will be lodged by us. There are strict time limits in place for making data breach claims, so it’s important to act now.
While each case is different, if successful, it is expected that each person will be able to claim between £1,000 and £2,500. However, this could be even higher for people who have had their financial data stolen or who have suffered significant distress.
We cannot say that you will definitely get compensation, but Equifax has already been found to have breached people’s data and needs to be held responsible by compensating for any losses, distress and inconvenience caused. In the US, Equifax will pay over £400 million to compensate affected consumers in a similar action.
There are strict time limits in place for making data breach claims. So it’s important to act now.
When it comes to legal support, large organisations are smarter and better resourced than ever before. And it can be difficult for some law firms to stand up to such strength when representing clients after a data breach. At Keller Lenkner UK, our data breach team has the legal expertise and resources necessary to take on the corporate giants. We have supported thousands of multi-claimant and group-action data breach clients, and we can do the same for you.
Keller Lenkner UK boasts one of the most experienced multi-claimant legal teams in England and Wales. Furthermore, our data breach team includes some of the most skilled data breach lawyers. Ultimately, our team has the experience, diligence and means to fight your corner and win.
To become part of the Equifax group action, you will need to register via our form. There are no costs to sign-up and no obligation to proceed.
To make the strongest possible claim on your behalf, we always ask for evidence to support your claim. We will ask for this whether or not you have a letter from Equifax. This could include things like:
We would also seek confirmation that, as far as you are aware, your information was not put at risk by another data breach.
Yes, we are dealing with these claims on a No-Win, No-Fee basis. This means that, if your claim is not successful, you won’t have to pay a penny.
If you win, your costs won’t exceed 25% of the compensation awarded to you. These costs are fully explained in the initial paperwork we will send to you when you register.
There are no hidden charges or other administration fees.
We understand that making a compensation claim can be stressful; especially where your sensitive information has already been breached. Our process is fully compliant with ICO guidance, and we never put your details at risk.
To protect your money, you should contact your bank (or credit card provider) immediately if you are worried that your financial data has been exposed. You should also check your account for any unfamiliar transactions and alert your bank or card provider immediately if there is any suspicious activity. It’s also worth keeping an eye on your credit score for any unexpected dips and contacting all the major credit reference agencies to ensure credit isn’t taken out in your name.
Yes. All too often, cyber-criminals get access to your name and email address following a data protection act breach. And they might use this to try and extract additional information from you (such as your banking details). As such, you must be on your guard following the Equifax data breach.
Always question uninvited approaches in case it’s a scam and don’t assume an email or phone call is authentic. Just because someone knows your details (such as your name and address or even your mother’s maiden name), it doesn’t mean they are genuine. Crucially, understand that a legitimate bank or other financial organisation will never contact you ask for your PIN or full password, or ask you to move money to another account for fraud reasons.
If you are concerned that your data might be at risk, there are some steps you can take to stop the threat from escalating. For example, you could register with the Cifas protective registration service. You should also change your passwords and make sure your devices are protected by up-to-date internet security software.
You are entitled to claim for any losses you can link directly to the breach of data. For example, has your card been used without permission or are there any transactions on your bank statement that you haven’t made? Let us know about any losses, and we will include them in your claim. You can do this at any time up to the point of settlement, but you should let us know as soon as you are aware of any such loss.
If the data breach has caused you stress or anxiety, then yes you can.
Just because your case is part of a group action doesn’t mean that everyone will receive the same amount of compensation if successful. All claims are settled based on their merits, and you will receive what you are owed. As with any case, the value of your claim depends on the extent of your suffering.
A group action claim is where a group of people – sometimes even thousands of people – have been affected by the same issue. Group action cases are also known as class actions, multi-claimant or multi-party actions.
A group action allows people with the same type of claim to bring it together on a collective basis to strengthen their overall position and make a big organisation take the matter seriously. This increases their chances of settlement or success in litigation.
In effect, you become a part of a “family” of claims brought together to strengthen your position and your case. Once you join, we manage your case and secure the best result possible for you.
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