Arnold Clark may face compensation claims over data breach

Arnold Clark may face compensation claims from thousands of customers whose data was breached in late 2022.

One London legal firm claims to be representing 7,500 customers who are seeking redress for the data breach.

Keller Postman UK said it launched an investigation and group action to find out what happened and how this breach affects Arnold Clark customers.

“We believe that failures to adopt standard security measures may have made this attack easier.

“Our data breach group action will help affected customers in England & Wales claim compensation for the security failures. We currently represent in excess of 7,500 customers and are helping them to seek information and redress.”

The Sunday Post reported that Scottish solicitors Thompsons and Jones Whyte had been approached by customers over the data breach.

Data protection is a huge issue for all dealers and rising fast up the priority list for management. Arnold is not an isolated case. Pendragon has also been targeted.

Arnold Clark said it was working hard to deal with the situation with all parties. In a statement released to Motor Trader it said:

“While this crime and theft of data has been inflicted on Arnold Clark, along with many other organisations this year, we recognise the impact this can have on our partners and customers.

“We take their safety and the safety of their data very seriously, and while undergoing investigations, we took several proactive steps to ensure the best possible protection for them.

It said it had acted immediately to offer help to its customers.

“As soon as we knew who had been affected or potentially affected, we notified them and advised them on how to protect themselves against fraudulent activity, including providing 2 years’ free Identity Plus from Experian.

And it was in regular contact with police and the Information Commissioner’s Office

“Since the incident occurred, we have also engaged on a regular basis with the police and ICO.

“We would like to thank our customers and partners for their patience during this process. As a business, we take all forms of security very seriously and this attack on our systems was unprecedented.”

Arnold Clark also said it was willing to work with other companies to share its learnings from the experience.

“In light of our experience in managing this incident, and subsequent attacks on other organisations, we would like to work with other companies to help them understand current cyber threats and the steps we have taken, to help them be as prepared as possible for similar situation.”