British Airways data breach: How to claim up to £6,000 compensation

HUNDREDS of thousands of British Airways customers who had details stolen in a data hack could soon get paid compensation.

The cyber attack took place in 2018 and affected some 429,000 people, including both BA staff and customers.

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Both personal and credit card data were compromised during the breach, as well as names, billing addresses and email addresses.

But affected customers eligible for pay outs may soon get cash, with lawyers for the airline now starting to settle claims outside court, according to a letter seen by The Sun.

Law firm Your Lawyers believes thousands of customers could now receive an average of £6,000 each in compensation.

This would mean BA could face paying out up to £2.4million in total to victims.

Your Lawyers is one of the firms representing claimants for the BA case and is urging victims to sign up for legal representation before March 19, 2021.

Cases are being taken on as part of a no win, no fee agreement, so there is no cost to sign up.

If the case is successful then a percentage of the compensation – usually around 30% – will be taken to cover legal costs.

Aman Johal, director at Your Lawyers, said: “News that British Airways wants to settle compensation claims, with negotiations set to take place in the first quarter of 2021, is acknowledgement of its wrongdoing in failing to protect customer data. 

“I urge all affected by the breach to come forward and join the class action before the GLO closes.”

Another law firm, PGMBM Law, previously estimated that customers could be eligible for £2,000 or more.

The BA hack happened when users of British Airways’ website were diverted to a fraudulent site between August 2018 and September 2018.

BA was subsequently fined £20million in October 2020 by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – far less than the £183.4million it originally faced.

The airline previously claimed that travel or passport details were not accessed during the attack.

British Airways disputes the figures provided by Your Lawyers and it’s average claim amounts.

A spokesperson from BA told The Sun: “We continue to deny liability in respect of the claims brought arising out of the 2018 cyber attack and are vigorously defending the litigation.”

How do I claim compensation?

First of all, you need to have had your personal data compromised by the breach to be in line for compensation.

BA should have emailed you back in 2018 if you were a victim of the attack.

But if you never heard from the airline, and you’re worried your details could’ve been accessed, you can ask BA to investigate.

You can contact the BA customer service department on 0344 493 0787 or via its website.

If your data was accessed, you can ask Your Lawyers to represent your case on a no win, no fee basis at bagroupaction.com.

You’ll need to do this before March 19, 2021, as this is the deadline to join the Group Litigation Order (GLO).

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk