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You could be in line for compensation worth thousands if you have been a victim of the Parasol Group data breach.

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Parasol Group Data Breach

Data breaches have been increasing both in terms of number and the amount of people affected. Many big companies have been affected resulting in some very large scale breaches and compensation pay outs.

What happened?

You could claim compensation worth thousands if your data was affected by the Parasol Group data breach that occurred in 2022.

 Think this applies to you? We’ll check for free

Alternatively, give one of our solicitors a call free on 0333 241 2521

Parasol data breach in numbers

Claims on data breach incidents are happening every day.

Number not confirmed

Number of records compromised

Up To

£2,000+

Typical claim value

January 2022

Date the breach occured

How was data breached at Parasol Group?

In January 2022, umbrella company Parasol Group shut down a few of its systems after it found “malicious activity” on its network. The company is used by contractors across the UK to organise and manage their payments. By shutting down its systems in an outage that spanned several days, a lot of contractor salary payments were delayed.

Parasol confirmed that the incident was caused by a cyberattack and there was widespread speculation that it was a ransomware attack. Later on, Parasol admitted that the cybercriminals had accessed personal data, some of which has been shared online. It is believed that the below contractor data was compromised during the breach.

  • Names and addresses
  • Identity documents including passports
  • National insurance numbers
  • Payslips/salary information
  • Employment contracts
  • Bank details
  • Company accounts

Employee data including training and sick records of Parasol employees were also suspected to have been affected.

parasol group data breach compensation
parasol group data breach claim

Can I make a data breach claim against Parasol Group?

If you were one of the contractors or Parasol employees whose data was involved in the attack, you could be eligible to make a claim for Parasol Group data breach compensation. We can put you in contact with expert data breach solicitors who are starting a group claim that will unite the large number of contractors who had private data stolen in this cyberattack.

Parasol’s parent company Optionis Group confirmed in an email to affected contractors that its IT security team had found evidence that “some data” had been copied and ultimately leaked online. It is not clear how many contractors have been impacted by this breach.

Compensation can be paid not only for specific financial losses but also for any emotional distress the victims may have experienced as a result of the incident. This meant that your personal and potentially financial information was vulnerable and could have been seen and shared by anyone to anyone, leaving you at further risk of fraudulent activity and losses.

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Why use us?

Free Consultation

We offer a free data breach consultation to anyone who is looking to make a claim

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If your case or cases have no financial payout to you, you don’t pay a single penny

Data breach experts

We use dedicated data breach solicitors who have handled thousands of data breach claims

Frequently Asked Questions

The affected data belonged to Parasol’s parent company Optionis who also own a range of other businesses including:

  • Clearsky Business
  • Clearsky Contractor Accounting
  • SJD Accountancy
  • First Freelance
  • Optionis Accountancy
  • Nixon Williams

It is likely that the following companies were also involved in the same cyberattack: Optionis, Optionis Group, Parasol, Arkarius Midco, Arkarius Bidco, Optionis Midco, SJD Accountancy, Nixon Williams, First Freelance, First Umbrella, Optionis Bidco, Clearsky Accountancy, and more. Combined, these businesses provide services to tens of thousands of contractors nationally, meaning this attack is a very serious issue that the Group should be held accountable for.

Contractors have the right to expect that the highly sensitive financial and personal information they share with an organisation like Parasol Group, is safely handled and stored. When data protection standards have not been reached and in this case a cyberattack has allowed criminals to ransom and share your data, you could make a claim for compensation.

It was reported that it took Parasol Group five weeks from discovering the breach to notifying affected individuals about it. This left many contractors upset and frustrated as not only could they not access their salaries which meant they were out of pocket, but also they were left in the dark at a time when they could have been taking key steps to protect themselves from further fraud like phishing attacks.

An anonymous umbrella market source said given the number of contractors the group employs, combined with its fairly wide range of business interests, means the company is sitting on top of a potentially massive “treasure trove” of data for cyber criminals. They added that the fact that Optionis brands also specialise in providing accountancy and tax advisory services to limited company contractors means the company is liable to have in its possession tax returns and company accounts. The big question with this is how much of this extensive list of types of data has been exposed in the cyberattack?

With so much potential data at risk, even if contractors haven’t incurred any financial losses, there is likely to have been a great deal of emotional distress. Contractors would have been extremely worried and anxious about what data has been compromised and what action they might need to take to protect themselves from the uncertainty of possible further cybercrime in their name.

If you think you may have a valid Parasol Group data breach claim then get in touch with us and we will put you in touch with data breach experts who will make enquiries for you and confirm whether or not you have a valid claim worth pursuing.

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