After years of waiting – consumers who selected the payment option for the 2017 Equifax Data Breach settlement may be very disappointed as checks have begun going out. The settlement, which was reached after hackers took roughly 150 Million American’s personal information from Equifax credit monitoring, gave consumers the option to select a cash payment up to $125.00 or 10 years of free credit monitoring. The deadline to file a claim passed in January of 2020 and unfortunately those who chose the payment option have started receiving checks for only about $5.00.
Not Enough Settlement Money Set Aside for Those Impacted
The settlement of $700 million dollars only set side $31 million dollars for the $125 payments with it being reduced on a pro-rate basis if the number of claimants exceeded that budget. This meant only 248,000 people could request the payment before it would be reduced. With a pro-rate payment of only $5.21, this suggests roughly 6 million Americans requested the payment. Had every impacted American filed a claim, consumers would have only received 21 cents from the settlement.
Attorney Cronin recently received his payment of $5.21, which seems like an incredibly small amount based on the substantial lifetime risk and costs associated with having personal information hacked. The breach, which included personal information such as names, social security numbers, birthdays and credit card numbers, may have a lasting effect on consumers.
Make Sure to Monitor Your Credit
While Equifax has maintained as of December 19, 2022, no further harm has come to consumers, it is always a good idea to make sure you are monitoring your credit reports to ensure you have not been compromised. Annually you are entitled to a free report from each major credit bureau and can do so at www.annualcreditreport.com. Should you find inaccurate information, suspicious activity, or flat-out false information on your report, it is important that it be disputed with each of the major bureaus. Should that disputed account remain on your report for more than 30 days, you may have remedies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and be entitled to $1,000 dollars in statutory damages, along with actual damages and attorney fees.
If you feel you may have a credit reporting problem that has negatively impacted your credit score, or have been a victim of fraud, contact Cronin Law, P.C. today at 617 213-6883 for a no-cost consultation.