Builders Mutual Insurance Company Facing Class Action Over Cyberattack Affecting 64K [UPDATE]
Last Updated on August 14, 2024
Kocher et al. v. Builders Mutual Insurance Company et al.
Filed: January 11, 2024 ◆§ 5:23-cv-00579
A class action claims negligent cybersecurity on the part of Builders Mutual resulted in a “foreseeable” data breach announced in September 2023.
North Carolina
August 14, 2024 – $1.4M Builders Mutual Settlement Resolves Data Breach Lawsuit
The proposed Builders Mutual data breach class action detailed on this page has been settled for more than $1.4 million, according to court documents.
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The proposed deal, if preliminarily approved by the court, will cover anyone in the United States whose private information was compromised in the Builders Mutual data breach that occurred in December 2022—a class of approximately 106,918 people, the settlement agreement says.
The plaintiffs filed a motion and memo detailing the terms of the proposed Builders Mutual settlement on August 1, 2024. If the deal is approved by United States District Judge Richard E. Myers, the insurance companies will pay $1,475,000 to be distributed among class members who submit timely, valid claims.
According to the settlement agreement, eligible class members may file a claim for up to $10,000 per person for unreimbursed out-of-pocket costs that are supported by documentation and “fairly traceable” to the Builders Mutual data breach.
In addition, class members may also submit a claim for up to six hours of lost time spent dealing with issues related to the incident, at a rate of $25 per hour, the agreement states.
Per the document, claims for lost time can be combined with claims for out-of-pocket losses, but these settlement benefits are subject to the $10,000 cap.
Further, the proposed deal will provide class members with the opportunity to enroll in three years of credit monitoring services—a settlement benefit open to consumers regardless of whether they file a claim for reimbursement of out-of-pocket losses or lost time, the agreement shares.
Alternatively, a class member may submit a claim for a $100 cash payment in lieu of the aforementioned benefits, with payment amounts to be increased or decreased on a pro rata basis depending on the number of filed claims, the document relays.
As part of the deal, Builders Mutual has also implemented additional information security measures, the agreement says.
ClassAction.org will update this page if and when the deal receives preliminary approval from the court, and when an official Builders Mutual settlement website is launched.
Are you owed unclaimed settlement money? Check out our class action rebates page full of open class action settlements.
A proposed class action claims negligent cybersecurity on the part of Builders Mutual Insurance Company resulted in a “foreseeable” data breach announced in September 2023.
Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.
According to the 50-page lawsuit, the Raleigh, North Carolina-based commercial insurance company detected suspicious activity on some of its computer systems on December 14, 2022. A subsequent investigation revealed that an unauthorized third party had accessed the network and certain files stored therein between December 14 and 15 of that year, the suit shares.
The case relays that the data breach impacted more than 64,000 current and former Builders Mutual employees and claimants of client businesses, whose private information, the complaint contends, is now “in the hands of data thieves and other unauthorized third parties.”
Per the filing, the sensitive data compromised in the Builders Mutual cyberattack included at least individuals’ names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers and workers’ compensation information.
The lawsuit charges that the incident stemmed from the defendant’s failure to utilize reasonable cybersecurity protocols and adequately monitor its computer network.
“Had Builders Mutual properly monitored its network systems and implemented such practices, it could have prevented the Data Breach or at least discovered it sooner,” the suit says.
In addition, although the company purports to have learned of the incident in December 2022, it waited until late September 2023—more than nine months later—to begin sending notice letters to victims, the case points out.
“As a result of this delayed response, [the plaintiffs] and Class Members had no idea for almost an entire year that their Private Information had been compromised, and that they were, and continue to be, at significant risk of identity theft and various other forms of personal, social, and financial harm,” the complaint states. “The risk will remain for their respective lifetimes.”
To make matters worse, Builders Mutual, aside from providing impacted individuals with one year of credit monitoring—a gesture which the suit claims is inadequate in its own right—has offered “no substantive steps to help victims … protect themselves,” the filing argues.
The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States whose private information was accessed or acquired as a result of the Builders Mutual data breach, including those who were sent a notice of the incident.
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