How much is being paid to the Claimants?

A total of £15 million will be paid in stages, which covers all 19,159 claims for damages but also includes legal costs, expenses and the costs of insurance cover.

How much will each Claimant receive?

PFEW does not know how much each Claimant will receive from the settlement sum, which is a matter for agreement between the Claimants and their solicitors, KP Law. However, in cases such as these where lawyers act on a no-win-no-fee basis, and where the claimants take out insurance cover to protect against the risk of having to pay the opponent's costs, a substantial proportion of the settlement sum is typically payable to the solicitors, barristers and insurers involved, with the remainder being paid to the claimants.

What was the PFEW's total exposure from this litigation 

The precise exposure would have depended on the court's determination of the issues and any damages payable. However, with almost 20,000 claims, it is clear that PFEW's potential exposure to damages alone was very significantly greater than £15m. In addition to this, the PFEW was exposed to many millions of legal costs – both the Claimants' costs and its own costs. This financial uncertainty represented a very real threat to PFEW and its ability to move forward.

Why has the PFEW settled this litigation now?

We have settled now in order to enable the PFEW to move forward with change, free from the financial uncertainty of the litigation. The settlement of the Employment Tribunal litigation paved the way for settlement of the data protection litigation and the opportunity to resolve both pieces of litigation to enable the PFEW to move forward with its transformation plan.

Will the PFEW be offering compensation to any other individuals who may have been affected by the cyber-attacks?

The PFEW has not admitted liability for the incidents and will dispute any further claims that have not been included in the settlement. Given these took place over 6 years ago, any further claims would now be out of time under limitation rules. In reaching the settlement, PFEW has sought to draw a line under the cyber-attacks, to enable the organisation to move forward and focus on serving its membership.

What is the position regarding further group actions against the PFEW?

We are not aware of any further group actions being threatened against the PFEW. The two recently settled group actions have had an enormous impact on the finances and assets of the PFEW and the organisation could not withstand a further claim of this nature. In settling the two group actions, we have sought to draw a line under historical issues, and it is clear that these actions have hindered the PFEW's ability to serve its membership.

What impact will reaching this settlement have on the financial future of the Federation?

The potential liabilities from the two historic group action claims were in excess of £110 million, representing an existential threat to our future. After a considerable amount of work, we have managed to negotiate settlements in both cases at a cost to PFEW of under £40 million. This is a tremendous achievement which effectively secures the future of the organisation and allows us to move forward and become a true member-centric organisation for generations to come.