Equifax Giving $125 or More to 147 Million Americans After Class Action Lawsuit
Equifax, Inc. announced a settlement agreement on Monday of up to $425 million paid out to consumers who were impacted by a 2017 massive data breach at the credit agency.
The Wall Street Journal reported, “If you’re one of the 147 million Americans whose data was compromised in the Equifax breach, you can seek compensation for the time and money lost, Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said.”
One form of compensation is free credit monitoring services, but if you’re not looking to have Equifax do that for you, you can opt for a $125 cash payment.
Business Insider reported Equifax has allocated $31 million for payments related to purchasing a credit monitoring services.
“Which is to say that, if over 248,000 people file for the settlement, the $125 will decrease proportionally with each additional claim.”
Equifax will also compensate you for time spent addressing the data breach.
The credit agency will pay $25 per hour for up to 20 hours of work spent addressing an identity theft incident or taking steps to protect your data following the breach.
Additionally, claimants can apply for reimbursement for money spent on purchasing credit monitoring or identity-theft protection and other funds used recovering the data breach.
These cash payments are capped at $20,000.
Equifax has set up a website where people can go to find out if their private information was breached.
There is a button to click on at the bottom of the page labeled, “Find Out If Your Information Was Impacted.”
That takes would-be claimants to a page where you are asked for your last name and the last six digits of your Social Security number.
If your data has been impacted, a screen will pop up with the option to file a claim.
Those affected are encouraged to check their credit report for unauthorized activity.
Equifax has set up a website where consumers can get a free copy of their credit report and sign up for credit monitoring services.
The deadline for filing a claim is January 22, 2020.
CNBC reported that benefits will not start being sent until they are authorized by a court, which will be no sooner than Jan. 23, 2020.
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