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AMERICANS have only two weeks to claim free money from a massive data breach settlement.
U-Haul agreed to settle in a $5 million class action lawsuit after consumers’ personal data was compromised.
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The settlement benefits California residents whose information was compromised in a data breach that occurred in September 2022 or December 2023.
The moving company failed to protect consumer information from the two data breaches in 2022 and 2023.
These cyberattacks allegedly compromised consumer names and driver’s license numbers.
The lawsuit claimed that an unauthorized third party accessed U-Haul files that included sensitive personal information.
The rental company denied wrongdoing but agreed to a $5,085,000 settlement.
PAYMENT PLUS
Eligible U-Haul customers can score a payment of around $100.
However, this may increase or decrease depending on the amount remaining in the settlement fund after handing out money for class representative service awards, attorneys’ fees, and administration expenses.
To qualify for the direct payment, Americans must have resided in California between November 5, 2021, and April 5, 2022, or around December 5, 2023 – when the data breaches occurred.
Eligible participants must have also received a Notice of Recent Security Incident letter informing them of the alleged data breaches.
Eligible members of the settlement only have a few months to claim their free money.
Affected individuals have until October 15 to submit their claim.
A final approval hearing for the payout has been scheduled for October 23.
Those who wish to exclude themselves from the settlement or object to any part of it have until September 16 to do so.
It is unclear when the payments will hit claimants’ bank accounts.
What’s a class-action settlement?
Class action lawsuits offer groups of people, or ‘classes,’ a way to band together in court.
These suits are often brought by one or a few people who allege a company or other entity has wronged a large group of people.
When a suit becomes a class action, it extends to all “class members,” or people who may have similar complaints to those who filed the suit.
Companies often settle class actions – offering payment to class members who typically waive their right to pursue further legal action by accepting money.
These payout agreements frequently include statements by the defendant denying wrongdoing. Companies tend to settle class actions to avoid the costs of further litigation.
Pollution, discrimination, or false advertising are a few examples of what can land a class action on a company’s doorstep.
Officials have advised all individuals who are a part of the settlement to “be patient.”
According to the Harvard Business Review, data breaches spiked last year as many companies started using cloud configuration.
More than 60% of the world’s corporate data is estimated to be stored in the cloud.
In 2023, over 80% of data breaches involved data stored in the cloud.
Companies unintentionally misuse the cloud, allowing “excessively permissive cloud access, having unrestricted ports, and use unsecured backups.”
Meanwhile, a nutrition and energy bar company is dishing out payments from a $12 million settlement.
And Americans are running out of time to claim hundreds of dollars from a class action settlement involving a moving company.
