The letter that could cost you £4,000!

The ICO has been writing to UK registered businesses asking them if they need to pay their data protection fee.  If you haven’t paid your fee and have received a letter from the ICO, don’t ignore it or you could face £4,000 fines.

The UK regulator announced in December last year that it was launching a campaign to make sure that all businesses who are legally required to pay a data protection fee are doing so.  Since GDPR came into force in May 2018, over 600,000 businesses have registered for the fee but many more should be registered.  The ICO is writing to business that it believes are liable for the annual fee but aren’t on their public register of fee payers.

Payment of the ICO data protection fee is a legal requirement and all will writers should have paid (there are some exemptions to payment but will writers are unlikely to qualify).  If you have received a letter from the ICO and you haven’t paid your fee before the deadline given in your letter, you could be liable for a £4,000 fine.

Find out more about the ICO data protection fee including who the ICO is, why there is a fee and who is exempt from registering.

Our GDPR partner Astrid

Society of Will Writers has partnered with Astrid, a secure online platform that makes data protection compliance simple.  Developed with small businesses in mind, Astrid provides all the tools and guidance needed to become and remain compliant.

Subscribe now to get your business compliant and safeguard your reputation, your finances and your business.  As a Society of Will Writer member you are entitled to a 10% discount which will be applied at the point of payment if you click on the above link.  With prices starting from just over £200 a year for a sole trader, it’s a small price to pay to protect yourself from potential prosecution and penalty fees.