The Equifax Class Action Claim Deadline Is Sept. 1, 2026

Verified deadline record

Last verified: Aug. 5, 2026, using the court-authorized settlement portal, notice, and preliminary approval materials. This record is for deadline verification and safe filing only; it is not legal advice.

The live 2026 Equifax claim deadline is tied to the duplicate-account settlement portal at duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com, not to the old breach-refund program. The settlement notice identifies the case as Bradberry v. Equifax Information Services LLC and gives Sept. 1, 2026 as the deadline for submitting a claim, requesting exclusion, or objecting; the final approval hearing is scheduled for Oct. 6, 2026. [1][2]

That distinction matters because “Equifax settlement” now points to more than one public record. The 2017 data-breach settlement was administered through equifaxbreachsettlement.com, and the FTC describes that refund program separately from the Bradberry duplicate-account case. Its initial claim deadline was Jan. 22, 2020, the extended claims period ended Jan. 22, 2024, and final payments were distributed between Nov. 7 and Dec. 20, 2024. [3][4]

Who the Sept. 1 deadline is for

The Bradberry settlement is narrow. It concerns allegations that Equifax reported certain duplicate collection accounts in consumer credit files, and the case was filed under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The notice materials describe a settlement class of roughly 37,000 people. [2]

The practical eligibility gate is not a broad memory of having dealt with Equifax. It is the settlement notice. Online claim filing requires an EQB Notice ID and a PIN, and the official claim form flow is built around those credentials. [1][2]

• If your notice has an EQB Notice ID and PIN, it may belong to the Bradberry duplicate-account settlement.
• If your notice, email, or search result points to the 2017 data-breach settlement, it is not the Sept. 1, 2026 claim program.
• If you do not have an EQB Notice ID and PIN, do not guess at eligibility through a third-party site. Use the court-authorized portal and administrator contact information shown there.

The court preliminarily approved the settlement on May 4, 2026. The preliminary approval order authorized notice and set the Sept. 1, 2026 deadline and Oct. 6, 2026 final approval hearing schedule. [5]

Where and how to file safely

The official online filing channel is duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com. The settlement site identifies Angeion Group as the administrator and provides the online claim form, mailed-claim instructions, deadline information, and case documents. [1]

For the Sept. 1, 2026 deadline, the difference between online and mail filing is mechanical but important: an online claim must be submitted by the deadline through the official portal, while a paper claim must be postmarked by the deadline. The same date also controls exclusion and objection submissions. [1][2]

Do not treat a search result, sponsored listing, text message, or social-media post as a filing channel. The useful test is boring and exact: does the path resolve to duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com, and does it ask for the EQB Notice ID and PIN rather than unrelated financial credentials?

Scam signals around this deadline

A real settlement notice can still create scam traffic around it. The FTC’s Equifax settlement guidance warns consumers not to pay anyone who says they can help with a claim, and FTC consumer guidance directs people to ReportFraud.ftc.gov when they encounter suspected fraud. [6]

The Identity Theft Resource Center has also warned that Equifax-related settlement communications can be used as bait for personal information, including Social Security numbers and financial account details. [7]

• A request for a filing fee is a red flag.
• A request for bank login credentials is a red flag.
• A request for a full Social Security number to “verify” a claim should not be treated as normal settlement filing.
• A promise of a guaranteed $600 payment is not what the settlement materials say.
• A site using the 2017 data-breach settlement identity for a 2026 claim deadline is pointing to the wrong program.

If a message looks suspicious, verify against the settlement portal first. If the contact appears fraudulent, the official federal reporting route is ReportFraud.ftc.gov. [6]

What happens after filing

Filing by Sept. 1 does not mean payment on Sept. 2. The next scheduled procedural event is the final approval hearing on Oct. 6, 2026. The court still has to decide whether to grant final approval before settlement benefits can be distributed. [1][2]

The notice describes cash awards as pro rata, up to $600 per valid claim. “Up to” does real work here: the final amount depends on the number of valid claims and the settlement’s distribution rules, not on the headline cap alone. [2]

The settlement also provides six months of Equifax Complete credit monitoring to class members without requiring a claim form. The administrator’s timing language estimates cash payments about 75 days after final approval and credit monitoring about 90 days after final approval, so any late-2026-to-early-2027 expectation should be treated as an estimate rather than a court-promised payment date. [1][2]

What the settlement economics do — and do not — prove

The settlement fund is $2.2 million. The preliminary approval and notice materials also describe requested attorneys’ fees of $733,333.33, expenses capped at $75,000, and a separate practice-change fee of $425,000. Equifax is also to pay for class-wide monitoring separately from the cash fund. [2][5]

Those numbers are useful for understanding the settlement structure. They do not convert a notice into guaranteed compensation, and they do not expand the class beyond the people covered by the Bradberry notice process.

For a comparable settlement lookup, see the site’s related record for Sweet v. McMahon, which applies the same basic checks: eligibility first, official channel second, payout language last.

Docket-status caution

Public docket aggregators can be useful for orientation, but they are not a substitute for the court docket. PacerMonitor identifies the Bradberry case as No. 1:22-cv-04754-MLB in the Northern District of Georgia, but it also displays a termination flag that should not be treated as conclusive without checking PACER directly, especially where later docket activity is also visible. [8]

For this deadline record, the safer source hierarchy is: court-authorized settlement site, notice and court orders, then docket confirmation. A third-party docket-status label should not override the settlement portal’s live deadline information without direct PACER review.

Verification checklist before Sept. 1, 2026

• Confirm the case name: Bradberry v. Equifax Information Services LLC, No. 1:22-cv-04754-MLB.
• Confirm the program: duplicate-account settlement, not the 2017 Equifax data-breach settlement.
• Confirm the portal: duplicateaccountfcrasettlement.com.
• Confirm the notice credentials: EQB Notice ID and PIN.
• Confirm the deadline: online submission or mail postmark by Sept. 1, 2026.
• Treat requests for fees, bank credentials, or a full Social Security number as suspicious.
• Use ReportFraud.ftc.gov for suspected fraud reports.
• After Sept. 1, 2026, this record should be updated to a deadline-passed state rather than reused as if claims are still open.

References

1. Duplicate Account FCRA Settlement — Court-authorized settlement site.
2. Bradberry v. Equifax Information Services LLC Notice — ClassAction.org PDF mirror.
3. Equifax Data Breach Settlement — Federal Trade Commission.
4. Important Dates — Equifax Data Breach Settlement.
5. Bradberry v. Equifax Information Services LLC Preliminary Approval — ClassAction.org PDF mirror.
6. Did you get an email or letter about the Equifax settlement? — Federal Trade Commission.
7. Equifax Settlement Scams — Identity Theft Resource Center.
8. Bradberry v Equifax Information Services, LLC — PacerMonitor.