How to File an Equifax Breach Settlement Claim for a Minor

On Wednesday, July 24, 2019, people could begin filing Equifax claims for the recent data breach settlement, which included filing an Equifax breach settlement claim for a minor. In 2017, Equifax, one of the three largest credit reporting agencies in the world, announced they suffered a data breach. More than 148 million consumers’ identities had been stolen. A settlement was reached in the class-action lawsuit filed with a federal court. As a result, Equifax launched its claims process to help anyone who may have been a victim, including minors.

If you were a minor affected by the Equifax breach settlement but are now over 18-years-old, you must file your own claim and can do it online. If the minor is still under 18-years old, a parent or legal guardian can make a claim for Credit Monitoring Services on the child’s behalf. However, it must be filed manually and sent out via direct mail.

If you file an Equifax breach settlement claim for a minor, you must provide documentation to prove you are the parent or legal guardian of that minor. Credit Monitoring Services will allow parents to receive alerts when certain personal data appears on suspicious websites, alerts when the Social Security number is associated with new names or addresses or the creation of a consumer report at one or more of the three nationwide Consumer Reporting Agencies.

Finally, the minor will receive Identity Restoration Services if their identity is compromised. The parent or legal guardian can elect to enroll the minor in one-bureau credit monitoring services provided by Equifax that would begin after the Credit Monitoring Services expire for a period of up to 14 years. According to the Equifax breach settlement page, a minor can receive monitoring services as follows: alerts when data elements like Social Security number submitted for monitoring appear on suspicious websites, including underground websites, a file is created, locked, and then monitored and for minors with an Equifax credit file, their credit file is locked and then monitored.

The Experian Credit Monitoring Services and the optional one-bureau credit monitoring provided by Equifax together will cover 18 years. The parent or legal guardian filing an Equifax breach settlement claim for a minor must opt for the minor to receive the one-bureau services when submitting a claim for the Credit Monitoring Services, and the parent or legal guardian will be sent instructions for how to enroll in the one-bureau monitoring before the Credit Monitoring Services expire. The cost of these services will be paid separately by Equifax, not out of the Consumer Restitution Fund. Before finding out what support your minor may be eligible for while filing an Equifax breach settlement claim for a minor, it is important to know whether or not their information was affected. The website for consumers concerned about the Equifax data breach settlement has a button that will provide that information for you.

1. Enter your minor’s last name and the last six digits of their Social Security number, and the site will tell you whether or not their data was compromised.
2. If you discover that your minor’s personal identifiable information (PII) was compromised, your next step is to choose whether or not to participate in the class action suit. Your minor may be eligible for credit monitoring, identity restoration if their information was fraudulently used and a partial refund if they had already been an Equifax credit monitoring customer.  
3. If you decide to file an Equifax breach settlement claim for a minor, you must do so by January 22, 2020. If you wish to state that your minor is not participating, the deadline is November 19, 2019. The Identity Theft Resource Center recommends you consider all of your minor’s personal circumstances and how the breach and any subsequent identity crime issues impacted your minor before submitting a claim.

While the process of recovering after an identity theft incident is costly in time, personal impacts and financial ramifications, filing without thinking through all the possibilities or having all the supporting documentation could short-change your minor’s identity hygiene in the long-run. Potential issues that may arise could include the inability to get financial aid for college, approval for a first apartment or being able to get a loan for a first car. After determining what kind of Equifax breach claim you need to file for your minor, you can either claim free credit monitoring for up to ten years or a cash payment of $125 if you already have credit monitoring that includes the minor’s social security number – such as a family credit monitoring service.

While filing an Equifax breach settlement claim for a minor, it is important to organize your minor’s case with dated notes, receipts and a summary. Depending on the state you live in, credit freezes were not free to all American consumers prior to September 2018. If you decided to pay to freeze your minor’s credit prior to 2018, you could be reimbursed those expenses. NOTE: if you want to submit a credit freeze for a minor now, it must also be done manually. It cannot be done online. Due to the breach occurring in May 2017, your minor could be reimbursed for costs, expenses or losses due to identity theft even though the breach was announced in September 2017. Your minor is eligible for identity theft restoration services for the next seven years, regardless of if you decide you do not want them to take part in the class-action suit.

Whether or not your minor takes part in the suit, it is a good idea to place a freeze on their credit report. Remember, you can only do this manually with a minor. You cannot place a freeze online. All of the documents, dates, claims process and FAQs can be found on the website that has been built to support Equifax claim. If you are not sure if your minor’s information has been affected, visit EquifaxBreachSettlement.Com. If you are a victim of identity theft in need of assistance, you can receive free remediation services from the ITRC. Call one of our expert advisors toll-free at 888.400.5530 or LiveChat with us.

This blog was published on 8/9/2019 and was updated on 6/1/2022