PSNI data breach compensation of almost £40m paid to officers and staff in past few days
More than 5,000 police officers and staff have been paid £7,500 in compensation over the past few days after their personal information was released in a major PSNI data breach.
Belfast law firm Edwards Solicitors says that almost £40 million has been paid out in compensation in recent days to police clients.
More than 5,000 individual officers and staff represented by the firm received compensation of £7,500 on Friday, May 15 and Monday, May 18 following their acceptance of the Universal Offer made by the PSNI.
Edwards Solicitors said they were “happy to have been able to pay that compensation to their clients within 24 hours of it being received”.
Several hundred claims remain ongoing for those who chose not to accept the Universal Offer.
Philip Gordon, partner and Head of Litigation said the claims relating to the data breach of August 2023 represented one of the most significant group action settlements achieved by any law firm in Northern Ireland, and possibly the United Kingdom.
Rachel Powderly, solicitor said: “This has been a massive and unprecedented action for Edwards Solicitors.
"We dealt with more than 5,000 clients in this action and reaching a resolution to the satisfaction of our clients was and is our sole priority. The case was groundbreaking and we are not aware of any previous group action of this nature and magnitude in Northern Ireland, or indeed the UK.
"The prospect of dealing with the claims on a case-by-case basis was neither realistic nor practical. This would have prolonged matters for years with no guarantee of outcomes.
"A group approach was decided as the best approach and whilst group actions have been pursued in Northern Ireland before, the group action set up was unprecedented in terms of its scale and complexity.
"After considerable hard work and negotiation, a universal offer was made which offered £7,500 per person. We were always clear that there could be no “one size fits all” approach to settlement, but this compensation figure has been accepted as fair and reasonable for the majority of those affected. It reflects the seriousness of the data breach, when officers and staff had their names, rank and roles released.
"Edwards Solicitors is delighted with this result, and we have received significant positive feedback from many of our police clients, who welcome the settlement and the sense of closure it brings.
"We are very grateful to have been able to assist so many of our police clients and will continue to work hard for those clients whose cases continue.”