Southern Water cyber attack / data leak. KP Legal claim

Polly0088

Does anyone have experience going through KP Legal to claim for distress after a cyber attack / data leak? 

I have signed up to this, but wondering whether it's a bad idea. 

I thought it might be a quick way to make some cash from the data leak, and Southern Water deserve to face recompense as they are awful. But I don't want to do it if it's going to end up costing me money / causing issues. 

Any experience of going through one of these group claims? 

la531983

These things dont pay out for "distress". They pay out for tangible, actual losses. Have you suffered any? If so, what?

MyRealNameToo

la531983 said:

These things dont pay out for "distress". They pay out for tangible, actual losses. Have you suffered any? If so, what?

You are considering special damages, which is for tangible losses. 

You can also claim general damages which generally is for pain, suffering and loss of amenities and covers things like personal injury and psychological damages. 

Slightly different but for example whiplash from motor accidents have now been reduced to a fixed tariff of damages, a whiplash that lasts 6 months gets you £495 but if you have also had minor psychological damages too then its bumped by £25 

Assuming the OP went to their GP, maybe referred to a psychiatrist or was medicated for their issues as a result then it's likely they have a valid claim. 

Polly0088 said:

Does anyone have experience going through KP Legal to claim for distress after a cyber attack / data leak? 

I have signed up to this, but wondering whether it's a bad idea. 

I thought it might be a quick way to make some cash from the data leak, and Southern Water deserve to face recompense as they are awful. But I don't want to do it if it's going to end up costing me money / causing issues. 

Any experience of going through one of these group claims? 

Possibly too late to wonder if it's a bad idea unless you're prepared to pay several hundred to withdraw your claim. No win, no fee is not fee free in all cases other than you winning, to exit outside of their advice you have to pay for their costs to date and the hourly rate even of paralegals in a claim firm is not cheap. 

flaneurs_lobster

la531983 said:

These things dont pay out for "distress". They pay out for tangible, actual losses. Have you suffered any? If so, what?

KP Law's website says you can claim for (among other things)

Distress

GDPR failures, cybercrime and data breaches can have a significant impact on you, both mentally and physically. They can cause or exacerbate anxiety, stress and other psychological conditions.

and they are an experienced firm of ambulance chasers legal professionals so they would know.

Polly0088 said:

Does anyone have experience going through KP Legal to claim for distress after a cyber attack / data leak? 

I have signed up to this, but wondering whether it's a bad idea. 

I thought it might be a quick way to make some cash from the data leak, and Southern Water deserve to face recompense as they are awful. But I don't want to do it if it's going to end up costing me money / causing issues. 

Any experience of going through one of these group claims? 

How much will KP Law take of any award made? I tried to find the number on their website but it's not disclosed until you fill in the signup form.

Whatever else this is, it's not quick - these cases take years to come to resolution.

Interesting that their website has details of the seventeen group compensation claims for personal data breaches they are currently undertaking (and are touting for more) but there is no mention of a single successful case that they litigated that has actually paid any money to anyone.