Social services support many vulnerable people and families across the UK. We put trust in them to offer much-needed care. A breach of that trust can be devastating, particularly if something as serious as sexual abuse or a personal data breach causes lasting damage. This guide explains how to sue social services if negligence occurs and leads to you suffering some form of harm.
We discuss criminal injury and data breach claims, focusing on how compensation claims work in each case. You can also get answers to important questions including whether your claim would be confidential and how compensation could address different forms of damage.
Additionally, this guide reviews the No Win No Fee basis under which a solicitor from our panel can give expert support to a claim against social services.
You can ask about your potential case by having a free case assessment with an advisor from our team. This service is available 24/7, and our contact details can be found below:
- Phone: Call 0800 408 7827.
- Online: Contact us through our website.
- Live chat: Just click on the tab at the bottom of your screen.
Browse Our Guide
- What Are Social Services?
- Can I Claim Against Social Services For Abuse?
- How To Sue Social Services For A Data Breach?
- Will My Compensation Claim Remain Confidential?
- News Stories About Social Services Neglect
- How Much Compensation Can I Claim From Social Services?
- How To Sue Social Services On A No Win No Fee Basis
- Read About How To Make A Claim
What Are Social Services?
Social services are run or commissioned by a local authority. Their role is to provide support to people who need it. For example, they:
- Offer support and protection to children and young people who have suffered abuse or neglect.
- Give access to supported living arrangements to help people live independently.
- Help a child or young person find a suitable foster carer.
- To help with the transition of elderly people moving into residential care.
Social workers are trained professionals who play a frontline role in supporting people on a daily basis.
The role of social services is ultimately to protect people and help them live safely. If social services fail in their duty to protect those most in need, those who suffer due to this neglect may have grounds to claim compensation.
Continue reading for guidance on how to sue social services for abuse or a data breach, and call the number above if you have any other questions on how to sue with the help of a specialist solicitor.
Can I Claim Against Social Services For Abuse?
Criminal injury solicitors can help people claim compensation for the effects of sexual/physical abuse. If social services acted negligently and this lead to sexual assault or abuse affecting an adult or a child under the organisation’s care, there may be grounds to make a claim.
It is possible to sue social services as a vicariously liable third party. The claim would be made on the basis that social services failed to act or take appropriate steps that would have prevented someone from being abused. For example:
- Social services placed a child into foster care with a person who had multiple previous convictions for child abuse because they did not do a background check.
- Even though the elderly person was showing clear signs of physical abuse while at home, social services failed to intervene on many occasions.
What Is The CICA?
Criminal injury claims against social services might not always be possible. In some cases, it isn’t possible to seek compensation from a perpetrator or a vicariously liable third party. For that reason, a government agency called the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) provides a last-resort opportunity to seek damages for the effects of a violent crime.
The perpetrator does not have to have been convicted for a claim to be possible. The CICA will review the claim and all evidence provided, and could award fixed compensation amounts for the harm suffered as a result of criminal injuries.
For more information on claiming for a criminal injury, just call the number at the top of this page.
How To Sue Social Services For A Data Breach?
Social services will be required to handle a lot of personal data. This is information that can be used either alone or in combination with other information to identify a person. Given that they are often working with vulnerable people, protecting personal data is vital.
Social services must follow two key pieces of data protection law: the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). Failure to do so could lead to a personal data breach. This is defined by the Information Commissioner’s Office, a regulator which protects citizens’ data rights, as a security incident that affects the confidentiality, availability or integrity of personal data.
To be able to make a data breach claim against social services, your case must satisfy the following criteria:
- Social services failed to adhere to data protection law.
- Due to this failure, a data breach occurred that involved your personal data.
- As a result of this compromise of your personal data, you suffered financial or mental health harm.
The below examples highlight how a social services data breach may occur:
- A child’s personal information, including their full name and address, are sent to their birth family instead of their adoptive family.
- Documents stored on an online portal were not secured by sufficient cyber security. This allowed individuals to access and steal personal data.
How Much Could I Claim For A Social Services Data Breach?
If you make a successful data breach claim against social services, you could be awarded compensation for material and non-material damage. Material damage are the financial losses that result from the data breach, such as having to relocate, change your identity and counselling fees due to the compromise of your personal data.
Non-material damage is the psychological harm you suffer due to the data breach. Below is a table that consists of guideline compensation brackets taken from the Judicial College Guidelines, a document that is often used to value claims. The first entry is not part of the JCG.
| MENTAL INJURY | SEVERITY | GUIDELINE COMPENSATION | NOTES |
|---|---|---|---|
| Very Severe Psychological Injuries Plus Associated Costs Or Losses | Very Serious | Up to £500,000+ | A payout accounting for serious mental harm, as well as financial damage including lost earnings, medical bills or home adjustment fees. |
| Psychological Harm In General | Severe | £66,920 to £141,240 | A very poor prognosis. Factors such as the ability to cope with life, education and work caused marked problems. |
| Moderately Severe | £23,270 to £66,920 | There are problems associated with the same factors as in severe cases. However, the prognosis is more optimistic. | |
| Moderate | £7,150 to £23,270 | The award level depends on the length of the disability period and the extent of its effects. | |
| Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Severe | £73,050 to £122,850 | Cases lead to permanent effects. The person involved is badly affected in all aspects of life. |
| Moderately Severe | £28,250 to £73,050 | There is a better prognosis than in severe cases with professional help. However, significant disability will persist for the foreseeable future. | |
| Moderate | £9,980 to £28,250 | Recovery is largely completed and ongoing effects are not grossly disabling. |
You could claim compensation if a breach of GDPR led to a personal data breach that caused you to suffer emotional or financial harm. Learn more about how to sue social services in a data breach claim by calling us for free today.
Will My Compensation Claim Remain Confidential?
People making social services claims, especially those who have been abused, deserve to feel secure when making such a claim.
Our panel’s solicitors always take steps to protect claimants’ personal information in accordance with data protection laws. Furthermore, any conversations you have with a solicitor will be strictly confidential.
You can ask our dedicated team any questions about making a claim if you call the number above.
News Stories About Social Services Neglect
The UK media has covered numerous social services neglect cases involving a breached duty of care.
For example, the BBC reported in March 2024 that an unnamed Gloucestershire couple were able to adopt and abuse four children in the 1990s. A report by Gloucestershire Safeguarding Partnership was published into the background of the failings.
Publications including the Daily Record reported on Edinburgh City Council failing to act on multiple complaints about a social worker who was later charged for sexual abuse, despite his behaviour being described as an “open secret.”
If you have been the victim of physical, sexual or emotional abuse, you could be entitled to compensation. Our panel’s solicitors can help you make a criminal abuse claim if social services failed to uphold their duty of care. Please call today to learn more about how a solicitor could help you.
BBC report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-gloucestershire-68629466
Daily Record report: https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/scots-council-slammed-failing-act-25285902
How Much Compensation Can I Claim From Social Services?
Compensation awarded in abuse claims against social services can seek to address two things:
- Physical pain and emotional suffering that were caused directly by injuries.
- Financial costs or losses that occurred because of the crime. As we discussed earlier, you should keep a record of financial loss, which could include a loss of earnings, transport to healthcare appointments or mobility aid costs.
If you make a compensation claim through the CICA, payouts for injuries are fixed amounts based on a tariff found in the Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme 2012. This is not the case if you sue social services as a vicariously liable third party.
Instead, those responsible for calculating compensation could look at the Judicial College Guidelines (JCG.) This document features guideline brackets of compensation for various injuries. We have used JCG guideline figures to create the table you see below. Please note that the figure in the top row is not from the JCG. As all claims are different, the table is only intended to be used as a guide.
| Injury | Severity | Compensation Guideline |
|---|---|---|
| Multiple injuries plus related expenses | Very Serious | Up to £1,000,000+ |
| Paralysis | Tetraplegia | £396,140 to £493,000 |
| Sexual and/or physical abuse | Severe | £109,830 to £183,050 |
| Sexual and/or physical abuse | Moderately Severe | £54,920 to £109,830 |
| Sexual and/or physical abuse | Moderate | £25,100 to £54,920 |
| Sexual and/or physical abuse | Less Severe | £11,870 to £25,100 |
| Brain injury | Moderate (iii) | £52,550 to £110,720 |
| Injuries to the pelvis and hips | Severe (ii) | £75,550 to £95,680 |
| Arm injuries | Injuries Resulting in Permanent and Substantial Disablement | £47,810 to £73,050 |
| Foot | Serious | £30,500 to £47,840 |
How To Sue Social Services On A No Win No Fee Basis
Although you may now have a good idea of how to sue social services, you may not want to do it alone. You may be able to claim with the support of a specialist solicitor. If so, they can ensure the claims process runs as smoothly as possible while you handle your daily affairs.
Our panel’s solicitors offer a Conditional Fee Agreement, which means:
- No advance payment or running solicitor fees.
- You don’t pay for the service provided at all if the claim fails.
- A success fee, which the solicitor collects in a successful case, is legally capped because of The Conditional Fee Agreements Order 2013.
Contact Us 24/7 To See How To Sue Social Services
You can learn more about how our panel’s expert solicitors help with data breach or abuse claims against social services by contacting us. Our advisors can also provide a claim assessment so you can learn if you have a valid case right away. If you do, your case could be picked up by one of the solicitors from our panel.
We’re easy to reach and contacting our team is totally free through any of these routes:
- Calling 0800 408 7827.
- Going to our website to contact us and share your details.
- Open the live chat tab to start a conversation.
Read About How To Make A Claim
Here are some more of our guides:
- We explain how to sue a post office for a data breach.
- How a specialist abuse solicitor can help you sue for domestic violence by a spouse, parent or other family member.
- A guide on how to sue your local council with specific guidance on making a personal injury claim.
These resources could also be relevant:
- Information from Childline about social services and what to do if you’re not happy with their work.
- The National Cyber Security Centre offers guidance on data breaches and how to deal with their effects.
- Government advice on claiming Statutory Sick Pay from your employer.
Thank you for reading our guide on how to sue social services. Just call today if you’d like to learn more.