Why you probably won't get $ 125 from the Equifax settlement
If you're like me, you took off like a shot the moment you heard Equifax would pay you $ 125 just to fill out a simple form. Maybe you even considered it a fair compensation for the data breach in 2017 that exposed personal data to 147 million Americans.
But the likelihood that you actually will get a check for $ 125 is ever slimmer – because the more people sign up, the less money each person gets. In fact, there is only room for 248,000 people to get that amount.
If 1 million people ask for the money, they will qualify for only $ 31 each.
If every one of the 1[ads1]47 million affected people sign up, they will look at 21 cents.
Look, while Equifax has agreed to a $ 700 million settlement – compared to $ 880 million last quarter revenue alone – There is technically only a $ 425 million settlement for affected consumers, with the rest of the money to pay the fine.
And of the $ 425 million, it turns out that only $ 31 million is set aside for the individual $ 125 cash payments – the rest is all for free credit monitoring, refunds, or if you somehow could prove miraculously that you actually suffered identity theft as a result of the breach.
As developer Rufo Sanchez notes on Twitter it shows in lower case that after $ 31 million people are worth signing up for the $ 125 checks … they won't actually be $ 125 anymore.
FWIW, that is up to $ 125. There is a $ 31 million pool distributed to anyone who claims a maximum of $ 125. If all 147 million people signed up, everyone would get 21 cents. pic.twitter.com/MPmtDZ59rA
– Rufo Sanchez (@rufo) July 26, 2019
(You can read the original legalese on page 36 of this PDF if you are curious. )
Proportionally reduced payments are not uncommon for large class action settlements. I got checks in the mail where it was not worth taking a trip to the bank to actually get it in.
Remember, there's also a ridiculously slim chance that you could get more than $ 125, since it also works the other way – if it's extra funds because, for example, less than 248,000 people makes a claim, the rules say that each person will get so much more money as well.
Everyone: go check out Equifax!
$ 125 is a nice part of the change.
Get the money and pay a bill, sock it away, take a day off, treat whatever you want – but cash it check!
It takes one minute. Do it here: https://t.co/sy7eZCuLi6 https://t.co/OdgYrlJZbhebrit19459005??— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) July 26, 2019
But I doubt it, with considering how far and fast the few $ 125-fast news has spread. AOC's tweet over already has 39,000 likes in just three hours. Her tweet alone could mean that a seventh of the $ 125 checks are already counted.
If you want to try something, you can't blame! – find our instructions here. We do not know how much you really get until January next year.
