Capita is facing a class action lawsuit following a data breach earlier this year, with Barings Law confirming that it has signed up 250 people who suspect their personal data may have been compromised by the breach.

The provider previously confirmed in April 2023 that it had experienced a cyber incident and that there was evidence of “limited data exfiltration from the small proportion of affected service estate which might include some customer, supplier or colleague data”.

The Pensions Regulator later revealed that it had written to pension schemes that use Capita as their administrator, asking trustees to speak to Capita as to whether there was a risk to scheme data, with the Financial Conduct Authority also engaging with the provider.

Following on from this, Barings Law revealed that their own investigations identified potential breaches of passport, email and home address information, with affected individuals reporting unauthorised activity on their bank accounts.

The law firm also warned that the breach could have impacted “millions of people”, revealing that they are currently receiving 30 to 40 enquiries a day from concerned members of the public, including numerous enquiries from patients registered at GP practices.

Barings Law noted that the cyber-attack in March also "targeted people’s pensions" administered by Capita, with a number of pension schemes and providers, including the M&S Pension Scheme and Universities Superannuation Scheme writing to members to confirm they were impacted by the breach.

Commenting on the claim, Barings Law head of data breach, Adnan Malik, said this could be "one of the biggest data breaches this country has ever experienced", explaining that the "staggering number of enquiries" led the firm to take formal legal action.

"One would think Capita may have put robust measures in place following the first instance, but now innocent people, through no fault of their own, find themselves in really worrying circumstances," he stated.

"While we acknowledge that Capita were themselves victims of a cyberattack here, their financial resources are such that the £20m they’re forecasting this will cost them, is not that significant in the grand scheme of things.

"Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for our clients, who’ve worked extremely hard all their lives to be told they might now lose everything."

Capita previously revealed in May that it expected to spend between £15m and £20m in relation to the cyber incident, including specialist professional fees, recovery and remediation costs and investment to reinforce its cyber security.

A spokesperson for Capita said: "Capita continues to work closely with specialist advisers and forensic experts to investigate the incident and we have taken extensive steps to recover and secure the data.

"In line with our previous announcement, we are now informing those we have identified to be affected.

"We are working to provide our clients and their customers with information, reassurance and support while delivering for them as a business. In instances where we need to provide further support to those affected, we will do so.’

Share Story: