Published
September 9, 2026
People who were notified that their personal information was involved in the April 2024 cyberattack on Autobell Car Wash may qualify to claim a flat $45 cash payment, or instead up to $5,000 in documented losses, plus two years of credit monitoring, from the Autobell data breach class action settlement. Claims close November 12, 2026, but the deadline to opt out or object falls nearly a month earlier, on October 13, 2026.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to submit a Claim Form is November 12, 2026, online or by mail with a November 12, 2026 postmark. The notice gives a date with no cutoff time or timezone, so only the date is published here. The final approval hearing is set for November 9, 2026 in the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in Charlotte. No final approval order has been entered and no payment date has been announced.The schedule runs in an order that catches people out. The hearing lands on November 9, three days before the claim window shuts, and the deadline to opt out or object is October 13 — nearly a month before the hearing. Waiting to see how the hearing goes before deciding whether to stay in the class is therefore not an option: both of those doors close first. Opting out is the only way to keep the right to sue Autobell separately over this incident.
Status
Claims Open
Claim Deadline
November 12, 2026
Online or mailed postmark · opt out or object nearly a month earlier, by October 13, 2026 · final approval hearing November 9, 2026
Estimated Payout
$45 flat, or up to $5,000
The two cash options are alternatives, not a stack · two years of credit monitoring is available either way · lost time at $25 an hour for up to four hours counts toward the same $5,000 ceiling
Proof Required
Yes — ID to file online
A Unique ID and PIN from the notice are required to open the online form · a paper form can be mailed without one · third-party receipts needed for the loss tier, but not for the $45
What Changed Recently?
The claim window opened this fall, more than two years after the attack it concerns. The notice dates the incident precisely: a targeted cyberattack on Autobell's computer systems between April 1, 2024 and April 7, 2024. Certain files containing private information were accessed during that week.The categories of information named are short and serious: names and Social Security numbers. There is no credit card data, no medical record and no login credential in that description — and that is what makes it durable. A Social Security number cannot be reissued the way a card number can, so exposure of one does not lapse when the news cycle does.
Autobell denies that it did anything wrong, and the notice states plainly that the court has not decided who is right. The parties agreed to settle to avoid the costs, risks, disruptions and uncertainties of continuing the litigation. The case is captioned Pauken v. Autobell Car Wash, LLC, File No. 26CV006404-590, in the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
One line in the notice is worth reading twice by anyone who thinks they already dealt with this: it tells recipients they may have received an earlier notice directly from Autobell about the incident itself. A 2024 breach letter is not this. The 2024 letter was the disclosure; this is the settlement, and it carries its own credentials and its own deadlines.
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Who Qualifies?
The court defined the class in one sentence: all natural persons residing in the United States who were provided notice that their personal information was involved in the Data Incident.That definition is unusually clean, and the reason matters. It does not ask whether anyone's data was actually misused, or even confirmed as accessed rather than merely exposed. Receiving the notice is the qualification. Autobell's records decide who that is, and the notice tells its recipients directly that those records indicate they are class members entitled to benefits.
Two limits sit inside the wording. The class covers natural persons, so a business entity that dealt with Autobell is not in it. And it covers people residing in the United States, which is a residency test rather than a citizenship one. Anyone unsure whether they are covered can ask the administrator through the settlement website's contact page.
Excluded from the class are Autobell and its officers and directors; every class member who timely and validly submits a request for exclusion; the judge assigned to evaluate the fairness of the settlement; and any person found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be criminally guilty of initiating, causing, aiding or abetting the incident, or who pleads nolo contendere to such a charge.
How Much Can You Get?
There are three benefits on the claim form, and the mistake to avoid is treating all three as additive. One is available to everyone; the other two are alternatives to each other.Available to every class member — two years of credit monitoring. A single checkbox, no documentation, and it does not cost you the cash choice below. The notice describes it as real-time monitoring of your credit file at three bureaus, dark web scanning with immediate notification of potential misuse, comprehensive public record monitoring, medical identity monitoring, identity theft insurance with no deductible, and access to fraud resolution agents to help investigate and resolve instances of theft.
Cash option one — a flat $45. A one-time Alternative Cash Payment of $45.00, with nothing to document and nothing to explain.
Cash option two — documented losses up to $5,000, with lost time inside that ceiling. Reimbursement of actual, documented, unreimbursed out-of-pocket losses caused by the incident, capped at $5,000.00. The notice lists the kinds of expenses it covers:
- bank, credit card and debit card fees;
- overdraft, declined payment and returned check fees;
- the cost of replacing a driver's license, Social Security number or other identification;
- long distance phone charges, cell phone charges if charged by the minute, or data charges if charged by the amount of data used;
- fees for credit reports or credit monitoring; and
- losses due to identity theft or fraud.
On top of a documented-loss claim, a class member may also claim time spent dealing with the incident — up to four hours at $25.00 per hour, so up to $100. That $100 is not an addition to the $5,000. The notice says any reimbursement for time spent is included in calculating the $5,000 maximum, which means the ceiling on this branch is $5,000 in total, not $5,100. It is the one number on this settlement that is easy to read the wrong way round.
The two cash options rule each other out. The notice says it twice, in both directions: a class member who claims documented losses and/or time spent may not also claim the Alternative Cash Payment, and a class member who claims the $45 may not claim documented losses and time spent. There is no partial overlap.
Which one is worth more is a question only the class member can answer, and the settlement documents do not recommend either. What the documents establish is the shape of the trade: the $45 is immediate and needs no paperwork, while the other branch reimburses real money already spent but requires proof of every dollar of it. Anyone who has actually incurred an expense because of this incident gives up the ability to recover it by taking the $45.
No settlement fund is disclosed. Neither the notice nor the claim form names a common fund, a cap on total payouts, or any pro rata reduction. The notice states that class counsel will ask the court to approve attorneys' fees and costs of up to $350,000, and service awards of $2,500 for each of the two class representatives. Because the documents describe no fund, they show no mechanism by which those amounts reduce class benefits — which is different from a common-fund settlement, where every such line item comes out before class members are paid.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
The identifier and the documentation are separate questions here, and the answer to each depends on which benefit you are claiming and which route you take.The identifier. The claim portal is explicit: to file online you enter the Unique ID and the PIN provided on the notice you received, and both are unique to each eligible class member. That gate sits in front of the fastest way to file, which under OCA's standard makes this a proof-required settlement — someone who never received the notice, or who threw it away, cannot simply open the form and claim.
There are two documented ways around it. The printed Claim Form asks for a "Unique ID (if known)," so a paper form can be completed and mailed or emailed to the administrator without one. And a class member whose login needs resetting can ask the administrator to help through the settlement website's contact page. Both are real, and neither turns this into a no-proof settlement: one is an envelope rather than a website, and the other still depends on being findable in the administrator's records.
The documentation. The $45 needs none. Credit monitoring needs none either; it is a checkbox.
The documented-loss tier is the opposite, and its requirement is stricter than most. It requires third-party documentation, such as receipts, verifying the costs incurred. The notice states that self-prepared documents may be submitted to clarify or support other submitted documentation, but that self-prepared documents by themselves are not sufficient to file a valid claim. A spreadsheet of what you believe you lost is not a claim; a bank statement showing the fee is.
The time-spent claim has its own, different requirement: a sworn statement, attested by signature under penalty of perjury, stating how the time was spent and demonstrating that it was related to the incident. The claim form asks the filer to circle the number of hours, from one to four, and to describe the time in writing.
Every claim is subject to verification, and the attestation on the form notes that the administrator may ask for supplemental information before treating a claim as complete and valid.
What Is the Deadline?
Three deadlines on two dates, and the later one is not the urgent one.Claims: November 12, 2026. Online submissions must be completed by that date. A mailed Claim Form, with any supporting documentation, must carry a postmark no later than that date. An electronic image of the completed form may also be emailed to the administrator.
Exclusions: October 13, 2026. A request for exclusion must be in writing and must give the name of the litigation, Pauken v. Autobell Car Wash, LLC, File No. 26CV006404-590, pending in the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina; your full name, mailing address, telephone number and email address if any; your personal signature; and the words "Request for Exclusion" or a clear and similar statement that you want to be excluded. You may exclude only yourself, not anyone else, and the request must be submitted, postmarked or emailed by October 13, 2026.
Objections: October 13, 2026. A complete objection must be filed with the Clerk of Court by that date, with copies sent to class counsel and counsel for the defendant. The notice sets out nine requirements and says the objection must meet each one to be valid: the case name and number; your full name, mailing address, telephone number and email address if any; a clear description of every reason you object, with any legal support; the number of times you have objected to a class action settlement in the last five years, the caption of each case, and copies of any orders or rulings on those objections; your own lawyer's name and contact information if you have hired one, and whether they will appear at the hearing; the same five-year objection history for that lawyer; a full list of the witnesses you plan to call and the documents you plan to submit at the hearing; a statement of whether you intend to appear or testify personally; and your own signature — the notice specifies that a lawyer's signature alone is not sufficient.
Objecting and excluding are opposites, not a pair. You can object only if you stay in, and a class member who opts out has no standing to object because the settlement no longer affects them. The notice is explicit on one point that is not always true elsewhere: a class member who objects may still file a claim for settlement benefits.
How Do You Take Action?
File online at the official settlement website, Autobell Data Settlement.com, using the Unique ID and PIN from your notice. The Claim Form can also be downloaded from the site, printed and returned to the administrator by mail or as an emailed electronic image; the administrator can send a paper copy on request. The settlement website also publishes a Spanish-language version of its home page.The form is six sections. Section I is your name and contact information, and it carries an instruction worth following: notify the administrator if that information changes after you file. Section II is the credit monitoring checkbox. Section III is documented losses, with a table for describing each supporting document and its amount. Section IV is time spent. Section V is the $45 Alternative Cash Payment — the form states directly under it that you may not select it if you checked Section III or Section IV. Section VI is the sworn attestation and signature.
Check Section II even if you are taking the $45. Credit monitoring is the one benefit that does not compete with anything else on the form, and it is the benefit most directly matched to what was exposed here. A claim that takes the cash and leaves that box empty leaves two years of three-bureau monitoring on the table for no reason.
If you are claiming losses and have more expenses than the table has rows, the form allows additional sheets, with your printed name and signature at the bottom of each one.
Staying in the class means giving up the right to sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against Autobell about the legal claims this settlement resolves. Those released claims are described in Section 6 of the Settlement Agreement, which is posted on the settlement website. Doing nothing is the worst available outcome: a class member who ignores the notice is bound by that release, gives up the right to sue, and receives no benefit in exchange.
What Happens Next?
The next milestone is the final approval hearing on November 9, 2026, at the Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, in Charlotte. The court will decide whether to approve the settlement, and will also consider class counsel's request for attorneys' fees and costs of up to $350,000 and the $2,500 service award sought for each of the two class representatives, along with any objections.Attending is optional. Class counsel will answer the court's questions, and the notice states that a timely filed objection is considered whether or not the objector appears. A class member may attend, or pay their own lawyer to attend, at their own cost; anyone who wants to speak must have asked the court for permission in a timely objection. The notice cautions that the date and time may change without further notice, and directs class members to check the settlement website for updates.
After that, the notice is candid about the wait rather than optimistic. If the court approves the settlement there may be appeals; it says outright that nobody knows whether appeals will be filed or how long resolving them would take. Benefits are distributed if the court grants final approval, and after any appeals are resolved. No payment date has been announced.
Sources and Verification
This page is based on the official settlement website, the court-authorized Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, and the Data Incident Settlement Claim Form in Pauken v. Autobell Car Wash, LLC, File No. 26CV006404-590, Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.- Official settlement website — Autobell Data Settlement (claim portal, deadlines, court documents)
- Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement (embedded below)
- Data Incident Settlement Claim Form (embedded below)
- Settlement website home page and claim-portal login screen (embedded below)
Breaches at ordinary consumer businesses keep producing this same benefit shape — a small flat cash option, a documented tier most people cannot use, and monitoring for everyone. For close comparisons, see the Furniture Mart USA data breach settlement and the California Casualty data breach settlement, both retail and consumer-facing companies whose customer files were exposed. For context on how these cases work, read our explainer on the data breach class action, or browse the current roundup of open data breach settlements and the wider list of open class action settlements.
Questions
Who is eligible for the Autobell Car Wash data breach settlement?
The court defined the settlement class as all natural persons residing in the United States who were provided notice that their personal information was involved in the Data Incident. Receiving the notice is what puts someone in the class, so Autobell's records decide eligibility. Excluded are Autobell and its officers and directors, anyone who timely and validly opts out, the judge evaluating the fairness of the settlement, and any person found criminally guilty of initiating, causing, aiding or abetting the incident, or who pleads nolo contendere to such a charge.
How much does the Autobell settlement pay?
Every class member can claim two years of credit monitoring. On top of that there is a cash choice, and the two cash options are alternatives rather than a stack. One is a flat $45 Alternative Cash Payment. The other is reimbursement of documented unreimbursed out-of-pocket losses caused by the incident, up to $5,000, and a claim for time spent dealing with the incident of up to four hours at $25 an hour. The notice states that any reimbursement for time spent counts toward that same $5,000 maximum, so $100 of lost time is part of the $5,000 rather than an addition to it.
Do I need a Unique ID and PIN to file an Autobell claim?
To file online, yes. The claim portal asks for the Unique ID and PIN printed on the notice, and both are unique to each eligible class member. The printed claim form is different: it asks for the Unique ID only if known, so a paper form can be completed and mailed without one. Under OCA's standard this is still a proof-required settlement, because someone who never received the notice cannot open the online form and file.
Should I take the $45 or claim documented losses in the Autobell settlement?
The settlement documents do not recommend either, and the choice turns on facts only the class member knows. The $45 is a single checkbox with no documentation. The loss branch is worth more on paper, up to $5,000, but it requires third-party documentation such as receipts or statements, and the notice states that self-prepared documents alone are not enough to make a valid claim. Anyone who has actually spent money because of this incident gives up the ability to recover it by taking the $45 instead.
Why is the Autobell final approval hearing before the claim deadline?
That is how the court set the schedule. The final approval hearing is November 9, 2026 and the claim deadline is November 12, 2026, three days later, while the deadline to opt out or object is October 13, 2026, nearly a month before the hearing. The practical consequence is that waiting to see how the hearing goes before deciding whether to stay in the class is not possible. The notice also warns that the hearing date and time may change without further notice.
Is there a settlement fund in the Autobell data breach settlement?
The notice and claim form do not disclose a common settlement fund, an aggregate cap on payouts, or any pro rata reduction. They state that class counsel will ask the court to approve attorneys' fees and costs of up to $350,000, and service awards of $2,500 for each of the two class representatives. Because no fund is described, there is nothing in the settlement documents showing class benefits being reduced by those amounts, which is different from a common-fund settlement where every such line item is subtracted before class members are paid.
Official Settlement Notice
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Settlement Amount
No fund disclosed
No common fund, aggregate cap or pro rata reduction stated in the notice or claim form · fees and costs of up to $350,000 and $2,500 service awards sought separately
Case Title
Pauken v. Autobell Car Wash, LLC
Case Number
File No. 26CV006404-590
Court
Superior Court of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina
Final Approval Hearing
November 9, 2026
Charlotte, NC · date and time may change without further notice
Class Counsel
Milberg PLLC · Federman & Sherwood
Administrator
RG/2 Claims Administration LLC
Official Website
Autobell Data Settlement.com
