Equifax Will Pay $650M for 2017 Data Breach

The Equifax data breach back in 2017 affected half of all adult Americans who were put at a high risk of identity theft due to Equifax’s terrible handling of their personal information. Now Equifax is finally set to pay.

As Reuters reports, a global settlement has been reached between Equifax and the Federal Trade Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and 50 US states and territories. The total settlement is worth $650 million, with up to $425 million of that set aside for consumers.

Once the claims process begins, if you were affected by the #Equifax breach, you can request:

Free credit monitoring and ID theft protection services. Up to 10 yrs of free credit monitoring OR $125 if you decide not to enroll b/c you already have credit monitoring.

— FTC (@FTC) July 22, 2019

If you were directly impacted by the breach it will be possible to file a claim for compensation, which consists of four parts. Equifax has agreed to offer up to 10 years of free credit monitoring (18 if you were a minor in May 2017), with four years of that including all three credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) as well as $1 million of identity theft insurnace. The remaining six years will be Equifax-only credit monitoring. You can instead claim $125 if you don’t want to enroll for the monitoring. There will also be at least seven years of free identity theft restoration services and, from 2020, all US consumers get an additional six free credit reports from the Equifax website (assuming anyone ever wants to risk using Equifax again).

The biggest part of the compensation takes the form of a cash payment of up to $20,000 which can be claimed per consumer covering expenses related to the breach. The payment breaks down to cover time spent dealing with the breach ($25 per hour), costs incurred for credit monitoring between Sept. 7, 2016 and Sept 7. 2017, and expenses paid as a result of the breach, including losses from unauthorized charges, cost of freezing/unfreezing your credit report, costs of credit monitoring, fees paid to professionals, and “other expenses” (notary fees, document shipping fees and postage, mileage, and phone charges).

For now, no dates have been set as to when the claims process will open and when consumers can expect to receive their benefits. The deal requires court approval in order for the process to start. When approval is obtained, all the details will be available to view on the FTC Equifax Data Breach Settlement page. If you intend to file a claim, now is the time to gather up your evidence so as to get some or all of your $20,000 allowance.

As for the rest of the $650 million payout, $175 million takes the form of a fine paid to the states. The remaining $50 million will be paid to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which exists to make sure financial companies treat US consumers fairly.