Experian could face £34bn damages for data misuse - report

Experian could be landed with a £34bn damages bill if a legal claim against the company is successful, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The credit checking company is accused of mis-selling people's data and building potentially inaccurate profiles that can affect their ability to borrow, the paper said.

A claim for £750 lodged at the High Court by a representative claimant accuses Experian of collecting information from online questionnaires and other sources and selling it on for commercial gain. Liz Williams's claim says Experian's use of her personal data was unfair and not transparent and that the company sold the information without her consent.

If she is successful, each of Experian's 46 million UK customers could claim the same amount, the Mail said. Investors appeared unperturbed on Monday as Experian shares rose 1.2% to £23.01 at 08:32 GMT.

The claim follows a decision by the UK's information watchdog in October ordering the company to make fundamental changes to its handling of people's data. Experian is appealing against the decision.

Experian told the Mail: "We do not believe there are any reasonable grounds for bringing this case. A number of claims have been made that are simply not true - our offline marketing business does not use website tracking cookies and its data has no impact on people’s credit scores."