You could get $95 to $280 from Equifax’s $100M settlement if your credit score was misreported in 2022: How to claim by Dec. 28

Equifax has agreed to pay $100 million to settle a class action over credit scores and other credit data it misreported in 2022. Eligible people who file a claim by Dec. 28 could receive $95 to $280 each.

That range is an estimate from the plaintiffs’ attorneys, and the final amount could be higher or lower. Judge Leigh Martin May of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia granted preliminary approval Aug. 17.

The case stems from a coding error in one of Equifax’s older servers that sent inaccurate information to lenders and other businesses from March 17 to April 8, 2022. Equifax denies wrongdoing.

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Who qualifies for a payment from Equifax’s $100M credit score settlement?

The settlement covers people in the U.S. whose credit score or credit attribute was reported to a third party with an error caused by the glitch. An attribute is a single data point in a credit file, such as the number of recent inquiries.

Eligibility comes from Equifax’s internal review of the error, not from your own judgment. People on that list were notified by email or U.S. mail. Anyone who didn’t get a notice can call the settlement administrator, Verita Global, at 1-888-808-1542.

How do you claim your Equifax settlement payment by Dec. 28?

The fastest option is to file online at EquifaxFairCreditReportingSettlement.com, using the Claim ID and PIN from your notice. Filing online is also the only way to get paid electronically.

Paper forms must be postmarked by Dec. 28 and mailed to Equifax FCRA Litigation, P.O. Box 301132, Los Angeles, CA 90030-1132. People who file by mail are paid by check, and incomplete forms can be rejected.

There are other options, and their deadline is Nov. 27:

• Opt out: Mail a signed request to be excluded. You give up the payment but keep the right to sue Equifax on your own.
• Object: Tell the court in writing why you oppose the deal. You can still file a claim.
• Do nothing: You get no money and lose the right to sue over the error.

When could Equifax settlement payments of $95 to $280 arrive?

Payments can’t start before Jan. 22, 2027, when Judge May will hold a hearing on final approval. After approval, the money waits out the appeal period, so any appeal would delay checks.

Each valid claimant gets an equal share of what’s left after court-approved costs. Those include up to $33,333,333 in attorneys’ fees and $500,000 in expenses that the lawyers plan to request. The more people file, the smaller each share.