What to do if your advice business suffers a breach?

September 20, 2022 by Alan

Advice & Tips

Nowadays, a lot of the business of a mortgage advisor is conducted online. That can be efficient, but it also opens up the risk of a data breach that can damage your business. These are the steps to take to minimise that damage if it happens to you.

Figure out if you need to let clients know

You may think that you have to tell your clients if you suffer a data breach, but that is not necessarily the case. Data privacy body the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) states that clients only need to be told should the data that has been hacked compromise their identities, e.g. their names or bank information.

The first thing you should do is investigate the breach and find out if that is the case or not. Do not risk the damage of going public with the news until you are sure it is necessary.

Own up to it

CeMAP mortgage advisor training prepares you for most parts of the job, but not for telling clients about a data breach. If you are left with no choice but to announce the data breach, the best option is to be as frank and honest as possible. They will need to take the necessary steps – such as informing their banking providers – to secure themselves and they cannot do that without full information.

It will be painful, but better for your business in the long run.

Offer compensation

The best way to protect your company’s reputation is through honesty and by compensating clients financially, with special offers, discounts or free services.