Equifax Customers to Share in $425-million in 2017 Data Breach Settlement

If you think you were one of the millions affected by the Equifax data breach two years ago, you can now file a claim and received between $125 and $20,000 in compensation.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced Equifax has agreed to a global settlement with the FTC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 U.S. states and territories.

The settlement includes up to $425 million to help people affected by the data breach.  In September, 2017, Equifax announced a data breach that exposed the personal information of 147 million people.

Last week, the FTC announced those affected could now go online and file a claim.  Compensation is being awarded in several ways.

First, you can opt to receive up to 10 years of free credit monitoring or $125 if you decide not to enroll because you already have credit monitoring.

The free credit monitoring includes at least four years of free monitoring of your credit report at all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) and a million dollars of identity theft insurance.

Additionally, you can get up to six more years of free monitoring of your Equifax credit report and if you were a minor in May 2017, you are eligible for a total of 18 years of free credit monitoring.

Second, you can file a claim for a cash payment up to $20,000 to cover expenses you paid as a result of the breach, like losses from unauthorized charges to your accounts, the cost of freezing or unfreezing your credit report, the cost of credit monitoring, and other fees like those paid to an accountant or attorney.

You can also be compensated $25 an hour for the time you spent dealing with the breach up to 20 hours.

However, in order to receive a cash payout, you must provide supporting documentation listing the time and amount of money you spent to fix your credit file.

To file a claim, you can go online to Equifax Settlement.

And to see if your credit file was affected by the Equifax data breach you can go online to
Equifax Settlement Eligibility.