19 September 2018
Since news broke regarding the British Airways data breach, the airline - which is already facing massive fines of up to £500 million from the Information Commissioner’s Office – is now set to face legal action from customers who have suffered financial losses.
The legal action was instigated by SPG Law, who are seeking compensation for their clients, not only for their financial losses, but also claiming costs for the “inconvenience, distress, and misuse” of their personal data.
SPG Law confirmed that they have sent the airline a “Letter before action” document, in order to commence discussion regarding settlement. Within the letter, it states that If BA refuse to cooperate this will result in group litigation, which would allow the courts to manage numerous cases against them at once.
Tom Goodhead, a Partner at SPG Law discussed the airlines failings, stating:
“Unfortunately, this is the latest in a number of catastrophic failures in BA’s IT systems.
“Unlike previous failures, however, this data breach has caused serious inconvenience and distress to nearly 400,000 people. BA is liable to compensate for non-material damage under the Data Protection Act 2018 and SPG Law will hold it to account.”
When addressing the data breach, British Airways vowed they were “100% committed” to compensating customers for their losses, as well as offering to pay for a yearly credit-rating monitoring service for all customers affected by the data breach.
The data breach affected 380,000 customers in total across two days; 21 August and 5 September. The data breach resulted in the obtainment of some customers bank details, which led to further financial losses.
Here at Three Graces Legal we can assist you with data breach claims.
Please contact us for assistance at 0151 659 1070.
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