The Bell Ambulance data breach settlement offered a pro rata cash payment or up to $5,000 for documented losses to people notified after the February 2025 cyberattack — but the June 29, 2026 claim deadline has passed and the settlement is now closed.
What Was This Settlement About?
Bell Ambulance, Inc. — a private medical transport and ambulance service based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin — agreed to a $2 million class action settlement to resolve claims that it failed to protect personal and protected health information from a data breach. The company said it identified a targeted cyberattack on its computer systems in February 2025, during which an unauthorized party accessed certain files containing private information. Bell Ambulance notified roughly 114,000 individuals that their data may have been involved.The lawsuit alleged Bell Ambulance was negligent in safeguarding the data. The case is captioned Whitaker et al. v. Bell Ambulance, Inc., Case No. 2025CV002444, in the Circuit Court for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Bell Ambulance denied the allegations and denied any wrongdoing; the court did not decide which side was right. Instead, both sides agreed to settle to avoid the cost and risk of continued litigation while giving affected people a way to recover compensation and protect their identities.
Important: the June 29, 2026 claim filing deadline has passed, so this settlement is now closed and no new claims can be filed.
Who Qualified?
The court defined the settlement class as all living individuals residing in the United States whose Private Information was accessed in the February 2025 Data Incident. In practice, if you received a data breach notice from Bell Ambulance, the company's records indicated you were a class member; reporting put the number of people affected at roughly 114,000. Excluded from the class were Bell Ambulance's directors, officers, and agents (other than current or former employees whose information was accessed), the judge assigned to the case along with the judge's immediate family and court staff, and anyone who timely opted out.According to the litigation, the information potentially exposed in the breach included full names along with sensitive personal and medical details such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, financial information, information regarding medical treatments and diagnoses, medical record numbers, health insurance information, full-face photographic images, and other protected health information. If you are unsure whether you were included, the official settlement website can confirm your eligibility.
How Much Could You Get?
Class members could choose one of two cash options:- Cash Payment B — Alternate Cash. A one-time pro rata cash payment for class members who did not want to gather loss documentation. The amount depended on how many people filed valid claims against the $2 million fund and was estimated at $90, though the final figure could be higher or lower. No proof or explanation was required for this option beyond logging in with notice credentials.
- Cash Payment A — Documented Losses — up to $5,000. Reimbursement for actual, unreimbursed out-of-pocket losses fairly traceable to the breach and incurred between February 13, 2025 and June 29, 2026 — for example, identity-theft and fraud losses, fees for credit reports or credit freezes, the cost of replacing IDs, and postage to contact banks. This option required proof such as receipts or bank statements; a personal certification or affidavit on its own was not accepted, and losses already reimbursed by a third party could not be claimed.
Because the cash payments are paid from the $2 million settlement fund, the final per-person amounts could move depending on how many people filed. The fund also covers court-approved attorneys' fees and costs (Class Counsel could request up to 33.33% of the fund) and service awards of up to $2,500 for each class representative, all subject to court approval.
How Claims Were Filed
Important: the June 29, 2026 claim filing deadline has passed, so filing is now closed — this section is left for reference only. Class members could previously file in two ways before the deadline: online through the official settlement website by logging in with the credentials from their notice, or by mail with a paper claim form postmarked by the deadline. The Documented Losses option required copies of supporting records such as receipts or bank statements. That Notice ID / Claim ID login requirement is now moot, since the claim window has closed and no new submissions are being accepted.Key Dates
- Claim deadline: June 29, 2026 (passed).
- Opt-out / objection deadline: June 15, 2026 (passed).
- Final approval hearing: July 14, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time at the Milwaukee County Courthouse. Payments are issued only after the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved.
Watch Out for Scams
Even though the claim window has closed, be wary of any message claiming you can still file a Bell Ambulance claim or asking you to pay a fee, provide your full Social Security number, or hand over banking passwords to receive a payment. Legitimate settlement administrators never ask for advance payment to release funds. If you want to explore other active cases, see our roundup of open data breach settlements and our writeup of the Watson Clinic data breach settlement, another medical-records breach with a two-tier cash structure plus identity monitoring.Frequently Asked Questions
Who was eligible for the Bell Ambulance data breach settlement?
The Settlement Class was defined as all living individuals residing in the United States whose Private Information was accessed in the February 2025 Bell Ambulance Data Incident. If you received a data breach notice from Bell Ambulance, the company's records indicated you were a class member. Reporting put the number of people affected at roughly 114,000.
How much could I get from the Bell Ambulance settlement?
Class members could choose one of two cash options: Cash Payment B (Alternate Cash), a one-time pro rata payment estimated at $90 but variable depending on how many people filed, or Cash Payment A (Documented Losses), reimbursement of up to $5,000 for documented out-of-pocket losses incurred between February 13, 2025 and June 29, 2026. All class members could also enroll in two years of CyEx Medical Shield Complete medical identity monitoring, which includes $1 million in medical identity theft insurance. The claim deadline has now passed, so no new claims can be filed.
Was proof required to file a Bell Ambulance settlement claim?
Yes. The online claim portal required the login credentials (such as a Notice ID / Claim ID) from the notice that was mailed or emailed to class members, so the notice itself functioned as proof of class membership. The pro rata Alternate Cash payment required no loss documentation beyond that login, but the up to $5,000 Documented Losses option additionally required receipts, bank statements, or similar records. This requirement is now moot, since the claim window has closed and no new claims can be filed.
What was the deadline to file a Bell Ambulance claim?
Claim forms had to be submitted online or postmarked by June 29, 2026. That deadline has passed, and the settlement is now closed to new claims. The court scheduled a final approval hearing for July 14, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. Central Time at the Milwaukee County Courthouse; payments are not issued until the settlement receives final approval and any appeals are resolved.
What information was exposed in the Bell Ambulance data breach?
According to the litigation, the February 2025 cyberattack may have exposed full names along with sensitive personal and medical information such as Social Security numbers, dates of birth, driver's license numbers, financial information, information regarding medical treatments and diagnoses, medical record numbers, health insurance information, full-face photographic images, and other protected health information. Bell Ambulance denies the allegations and any wrongdoing.
Sources
- Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement — Whitaker et al. v. Bell Ambulance, Inc., Case No. 2025CV002444 (Circuit Court for Milwaukee County, Wisconsin)
- Official settlement website — Bell Data Incident Settlement.com
