If a letter from the Benworth Data Settlement landed in your mailbox this fall, a deadline is attached to it. People who were notified of the May 2025 data breach at Benworth Capital Partners can file for cash until December 21, 2026. The settlement class runs to more than 200,000 people, according to the settlement agreement as summarized by OpenClassActions.
The payment on offer is an estimated $50, with no receipts needed. A second route pays up to $5,000, but only for losses you can document.
What leaked and who is covered
Benworth Capital Partners LLC is a lender. The settlement website says the data incident happened “on or about May 18, 2025.” The exposed information included names, addresses, Social Security numbers, telephone numbers and loan account information.
The case is *Amanda Arreola, et al v. Benworth Capital Partners LLC*, filed in Broward County, Florida. Benworth denies the allegations. The class covers any living person in the United States who was sent notice that their private information may have been affected. The administrator mailed those notices starting September 25, according to the site’s dates page.
Anyone who got a letter is in the class. Anyone who did not is not.
Is $50 worth the trouble? Filing is free, and the flat option asks for no receipts. The online form is the quickest route. For a person whose Social Security number was in the leak, a claim also puts the loss on record, which matters if fraud shows up later. The one cost is time, and the one risk is missing December 21.
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Two ways to be paid, and one you get free
The first option pays “up to $5,000.00 for reasonable documented losses fairly traceable to the Data Incident,” the site says. Think of money spent cleaning up fraud, with records to back it up. The second option is the flat payment, which the site calls “an estimated cash payment of $50.00.” It needs no documents.
That word “estimated” matters. The FAQ does not say whether the amount could change, and no total settlement fund has been published. Choose one cash option, not both.
Credit monitoring is separate. Every class member gets one year free without filing anything. The activation code is printed on the settlement notice, and it can be turned on only after the court gives final approval.
Anyone who files nothing gets no cash. They still receive the monitoring code, and they are bound by the settlement.
Filing, by screen or by stamp
The online claim form is open now. The site says to complete and submit it online by December 21, 2026. A mailed form must be postmarked by that day.
The site’s FAQ gives the mailing address: Benworth Settlement, Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799. It advises mailing at least a week before the deadline. Questions go to info@BenworthDataSettlement.com or (833) 360-6904.
Steps that cost nothing after a breach
A Social Security number in a leak does not expire, and the $50 does not cover that exposure. The Federal Trade Commission, the federal consumer protection agency, says a credit freeze is free and “lasts until you lift it.” While it is in place, nobody can open a new credit account in your name, and that includes you until you lift it.
To place one, contact all three bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. A fraud alert is the lighter option. The FTC says an initial alert lasts one year and can be renewed, and the bureau you contact must tell the other two. An alert does not stop businesses from seeing your credit report, so it blocks less than a freeze.
Neither step is part of the settlement. The settlement’s own protection is the year of credit monitoring, which starts only after the court signs off.
The dates that bracket the claim
More dates sit around the filing deadline. Anyone who wants out of the settlement, to keep the right to sue Benworth alone, must opt out by a postmark of December 4. The same day is the cutoff to object to the deal. A judge holds the final approval hearing January 5, 2027, at 8:45 a.m.
At that hearing the court decides whether to approve the settlement, the lawyers’ fees and costs, the awards to the people who brought the case, and any objections. If the judge says no, the payments the site describes would not go out. That is why the site tells visitors to check back often for the latest information.
Payments follow approval. The settlement site says benefits “will be provided after the Settlement is approved by the Court” and that this “may take time.” No payment date has been announced.
OpenClassActions reports that class lawyers will ask for up to $750,000 in fees and costs, with service awards of up to $2,000 per class representative. It says Benworth pays the class lawyers separately.
Opting out means giving up both cash options. Most people with a letter will not want that.
Will your Benworth claim be in before December 21?
The claim window closes December 21, and a claim that is not filed or not postmarked by then pays nothing. A lot of settlement notices bury the dates, and a missed one costs the whole payment.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System teaches the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, so the claim, opt-out and hearing dates are easy to pick out. It also includes a step-by-step filing walkthrough and a claim log and payment tracker, so you can see which claims are in and which payments are still due.
File the Benworth claim before December 21 with the Settlement & Refund Recovery System →
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This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
