Equifax breach: How to claim your share of the settlement of $ 700 million

If you are one of the 147 million people whose data was exposed during the major Equifax data breach in 2017, you will soon be able to file your claim. The Federal Trade Commission announced Monday that Equifax had agreed to shell out at least $ 575 million and up to $ 700 million to compensate the victims of hackers who stole data from its customers.

Taking part of the settlement is not totally simple. First of all, he must receive the court's approval. Only then can you file a claim. We provide tools and links below that will help you understand your next steps and what could be covered.

The violation in question resulted in hackers stealing social security numbers, addresses, credit card and driver's license information, birth dates and other personal data stored on the servers. d & # 39; Equifax. As part of its investigation, the FTC alleged that the credit bureau had not taken reasonable steps to secure its network.

The exact amount that Equifax will disburse is indeterminate. The proposed settlement will begin with a $ 300 million fund to compensate affected consumers who have purchased credit monitoring services. Equifax will also pay $ 175 million to states and districts – and $ 100 million to the Office of Consumer Financial Protection in civil penalties.

If the $ 300 million initial infusion does not adequately compensate consumers, according to the FTC, Equifax has agreed to add an additional $ 125 million to the fund, for a potential total settlement of $ 700 million. If you are an applicant, your share of the settlement could include free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services. You may also be eligible for cash payments to cover expenses resulting from the violation – such as legal fees and credit monitoring – of free help to recover from identity theft and reports of theft. free credit for 10 years.

Reading in progress:
Look at this:

Equifax will pay up to $ 700 million for its historic data breach

2:41

Here's how to participate in the rules.

Prepare your complaint

Once the court has approved the settlement, you will be able to submit a claim to recover the money you lost as a result of a large scale hacking. Here's how to prepare to submit a claim.

Find out if you've been hit by the breach

If you want to check if your data has been exposed, once the settlement is approved, the FTC will have a website with a tool that you can use to check if you are part of the violation. You can sign up to receive an email update from the FTC to find out when the website and tool are online.

Reading in progress:
Look at this:

Google and Facebook have again probed and the data of Amazon Alexa …

1:39

What will the settlement payments cover?

The proposed agreement caps payments to $ 20,000 per person to cover the expenses you have spent to remedy the violation. Here are the costs and expenses you may be able to recover.

• Fees for unauthorized charges on your accounts
• Costs of freezing a credit report and monitoring credit
• Fees paid to accountants, lawyers and other professionals
• Postage, mileage, notary and other services
• Cost of monitoring Equifax credit and other services for the year prior to the breach.

In addition, starting in 2020, Equifax will provide all US consumers – whether or not they are part of the settlement – six additional free credit reports per year for seven years, from their website.

This is the information we currently know, with a lot of details to come. We hope the FTC and Equifax will share a lot more when the claim window opens. We will update this story when they do. In the meantime, here's what to do if you do not know if you have been affected by the Equifax breach.