If an email about Equifax showed up this fall and you deleted it, the claim it offered is still open until December 28.
Your Daily Dad Joke
My wife asked if our kids were spoiled.
I said “No, I think most kids just smell that way.”
The Equifax email you may have deleted
You apply for a car loan, or a credit card, or a better rate on your insurance. The answer comes back no. Or yes, but at a number that stings. Most people take that quietly. They figure that’s just their score, and that it’s their fault.
For some people in the spring of 2022, it wasn’t.
That’s why I wanted to pass this along.
You may have seen a write-up this week saying the $100 million Equifax settlement is now taking claims. Back in August I told you about this case, and I told you there was nothing to claim yet and to wait for the notice. The notice has gone out.
Here’s what it’s about. The lawsuit claims that a coding error in one of Equifax’s computer systems sent wrong credit information to lenders, insurers and others between March 17 and April 8, 2022. That’s from the settlement papers filed with the court. Equifax says in those papers that it didn’t break the law, and the settlement doesn’t decide who was right.
And no, this isn’t the 2017 data breach. That was a different case. According to the court papers, this one is about scores and credit details that came out wrong for about three weeks in 2022.
So the question is the one you’d ask me. How do I know if I’m in it?
You don’t decide that, and neither do I. According to the court papers, Equifax’s own analysis from 2022 decides who is in the group. The people on that list were supposed to get a notice by email, or by mail when no email address could be found. The notice has a claim number and a PIN on it, and the claim form on the settlement website asks for them. The court papers say a reminder goes out later to people who haven’t filed.
How much is it? Nobody knows yet. After lawyers’ fees and costs, the rest gets split evenly among the people who file a valid claim, so the more people file, the smaller each share. And nothing gets paid until the judge gives final approval. That hearing is set for January 22, 2027.
I know. A three-week glitch from 2022 feels like a long time ago. But a no from a lender sticks with people longer than they let on.
Here’s the one thing I’d do. Search your email, including the spam folder, for “Equifax” from the past few weeks, and look through the mail you set aside. If you find it, go to the settlement website by typing the address in yourself, and file your claim before December 28. If nothing came and you think you should have gotten one, the site has a contact page for that. And nobody legitimate will charge you a fee to file.
Anyway, I’m the one who told you to wait, so I wanted you to hear from me that the wait is over.
Have you ever been turned down for something and found out later it wasn’t your fault? Share it in the comments so we can all learn from it. I read every comment.
A credit score is a calculation somebody else ran about you, and calculations go wrong. If one went wrong on you, the no you heard was never a verdict on who you are. Have a good week, and I’ll see you tomorrow.
— Steve
Also on the site since Friday: 10 things to do after you file bankruptcy and why the 3.6% COLA isn’t 3.6% for every military retiree.
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This is what I’m telling friends like you over coffee. But remember, you do you.