Equifax settlement

Understanding the pros and cons of Equifax’s settlement

Consumers affected by the 2017 Equifax data breach are eligible for a number of cash or in-kind payments, but there are limits. Here’s what to know:

1 Credit monotoring All affected consumers can get free credit monitoring. If they’ve already got credit monitoring, they can get up to $125.

The settlement offers four years of free monitoring from Experian for the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. After that, you can opt for up to six years of one-bureau monitoring from Equifax.

If you already have credit monitoring and plan to keep it for at least six months, you can choose the cash option. However, there’s no guarantee you will get the full $125. There would need to be no more than 248,000 approved claims out of the 147 million consumers affected — or less than one-fifth of one percent — for approved applicants to get the full payment.

2 Time spent Affected consumers can also get up to $25 an hour for time spent fixing fallout from the breach. This includes up to 20 hours dealing with fraud that was “fairly traceable” to the breach, but it requires documentation. You can also be reimbursed for up to 10 hours of time spent freezing or unfreezing your credit as well as shopping for identity theft protection services.

There is a $31 million bucket of money to cover claims for time spent. If it’s exhausted, payouts will be reduced proportionally.

3 Out-of-pocket costs The settlement also provides up to $20,000 per person for out of pocket costs, such as credit monitoring, legal expenses, notaries and postage; documentation is required. The settlement administrator will decide if a claim for out-of-pocket losses is valid.

Those claims will be paid from the $380.5 million fund Equifax has set up. If that payment is not enough to pay initial claims, it will pay up to an additional $125 million. 4 Timing Consumers have until Jan. 22 to file for these remedies. They may have to wait for any benefits though. Those choosing credit monitoring will get information on it once the court finalizes the settlement. A final approval hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19. Checks or prepaid cards for alternative reimbursement, time spent or out-of-pocket losses could take “several months or more,” according to the breach settlement website.

If there is any money left to compensate consumers after the initial round of claims, there will be an extended claims period for losses incurred after the first deadline.