Stolen Personal Data

RHP485

I was recently told by a company called DivideBuy that my personal details were stolen from their computer system.

I have made a compensation claim to the company for the stress this has caused me because this happened to me before when my details were stolen from TalkTalk's system.

Apart from other problems the new situation has caused me since this has happened I have had to change my mobile phone number to avoid the large number of mobile phone calls I have had from scammer in India using UK style mobile phone numbers. 

Has anyone else being affected by this company or have any advice they can give if they have been through this situation themselves?
Thanks! 

IvanOpinion

Firstly I wouldn't panic or stress about it too much since the bulk of the information is in the public domain e.g. Name, address, phone, email, DOB, aliases. They say that no bank/credit card information was taken but some credit report info was contained.

I have also seen a significant rise in the number of scam calls I have been receiving but am not aware that this has anything to do with any data breach ... probably down to a bunch of parasites with nothing better to do with their time during COVID.  My solution is to ban all numbers on my phone except those in my contacts list .... if someone is truly trying to get hold of me they will leave a message.

Like other things we have to learn to live with data breaches - they are as much part of 21st century life as the mobile phone.  All companies will do their best to prevent them but for every door closed these parasites will find an open window.

MattMattMattUK

You are not entitled to any compensation unless you incur a material loss and the link is provable. Compensation because you feel a bit stressed is never going to happen.

davidmcn

RHP485 said:

Apart from other problems the new situation has caused me since this has happened I have had to change my mobile phone number to avoid the large number of mobile phone calls I have had from scammer in India using UK style mobile phone numbers. 

Are you sure that's connected to the data breach? Such calls are pretty much unavoidable since many of them are made to random numbers.

mattyprice4004

As above, you can't just claim a random number you pull out of the air - you need to provide a list of provable losses and these will be paid (perhaps with a small sum for your time). 

Stenwold

MattMattMattUK said:

You are not entitled to any compensation unless you incur a material loss and the link is provable. Compensation because you feel a bit stressed is never going to happen.

Not necessarily - distress and inconvenience has to be considered when dealing with situations like this; even FOS have D&I guidelines irrespective of whether there's been a material loss.

Bradden

Stenwold said:

MattMattMattUK said:

You are not entitled to any compensation unless you incur a material loss and the link is provable. Compensation because you feel a bit stressed is never going to happen.

Not necessarily - distress and inconvenience has to be considered when dealing with situations like this; even FOS have D&I guidelines irrespective of whether there's been a material loss.

That's interesting ... I had no idea. Can you post a link to the guidelines please.

born_again

RHP485 said:

I was recently told by a company called DivideBuy that my personal details were stolen from their computer system.

I have made a compensation claim to the company for the stress this has caused me because this happened to me before when my details were stolen from TalkTalk's system.

Apart from other problems the new situation has caused me since this has happened I have had to change my mobile phone number to avoid the large number of mobile phone calls I have had from scammer in India using UK style mobile phone numbers. 

Has anyone else being affected by this company or have any advice they can give if they have been through this situation themselves?
Thanks! 

Just searching the company name on google brings up a co that may be happy to take on board your claim for compensation. Of course they will take a cut of any payout.
End of the day. 
If people keep doing this. Everything we buy will just include a charge for any possible legal action..

Stenwold

Bradden said:

Stenwold said:

MattMattMattUK said:

You are not entitled to any compensation unless you incur a material loss and the link is provable. Compensation because you feel a bit stressed is never going to happen.

Not necessarily - distress and inconvenience has to be considered when dealing with situations like this; even FOS have D&I guidelines irrespective of whether there's been a material loss.

That's interesting ... I had no idea. Can you post a link to the guidelines please.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/compensation-non-financial-loss 

There's no set rule for D&I so it's a case by case basis, a lot of firms will actually call FOS during a case for their opinion on what could be a fair outcome 

jon81uk

Stenwold said:

Bradden said:

Stenwold said:

MattMattMattUK said:

You are not entitled to any compensation unless you incur a material loss and the link is provable. Compensation because you feel a bit stressed is never going to happen.

Not necessarily - distress and inconvenience has to be considered when dealing with situations like this; even FOS have D&I guidelines irrespective of whether there's been a material loss.

That's interesting ... I had no idea. Can you post a link to the guidelines please.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/compensation-non-financial-loss 

There's no set rule for D&I so it's a case by case basis, a lot of firms will actually call FOS during a case for their opinion on what could be a fair outcome 

None of the examples outlined on that page are a "situation like this". All the examples have actual things that happened, just "my details got stolen" doesn't directly mean you had to take any action and then any direct cause of stress. My details were stolen, my email hacked and i had to set up a new email address, then swap it over on multiple websites feels like it might get you something. Its still not a direct quantifiable loss, but the stress/effort should lead to something.

Stenwold

jon81uk said:

Stenwold said:

Bradden said:

Stenwold said:

MattMattMattUK said:

You are not entitled to any compensation unless you incur a material loss and the link is provable. Compensation because you feel a bit stressed is never going to happen.

Not necessarily - distress and inconvenience has to be considered when dealing with situations like this; even FOS have D&I guidelines irrespective of whether there's been a material loss.

That's interesting ... I had no idea. Can you post a link to the guidelines please.

https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/consumers/expect/compensation-non-financial-loss 

There's no set rule for D&I so it's a case by case basis, a lot of firms will actually call FOS during a case for their opinion on what could be a fair outcome 

None of the examples outlined on that page are a "situation like this". All the examples have actual things that happened, just "my details got stolen" doesn't directly mean you had to take any action and then any direct cause of stress. My details were stolen, my email hacked and i had to set up a new email address, then swap it over on multiple websites feels like it might get you something. Its still not a direct quantifiable loss, but the stress/effort should lead to something.

I didn't say the list was exhaustive, it's just a guideline. My initial point was, rightly or wrongly, the OP doesn't need to have suffered a material loss in order to be eligible for compensation.