People notified that their information was involved in the Heritage South Credit Union data breach may qualify to claim up to $2,000 in documented losses plus up to $80 for lost time from the class action settlement, along with a year of credit monitoring. Claims closed October 5, 2026, and the court granted final approval on October 14, 2026.
Current Status
Claims are closed. The deadline to file a claim online or by mail (postmarked) was October 5, 2026, and the deadline to opt out of or object to the settlement was September 18, 2026. What changed recently: the Circuit Court for Talladega County, Alabama, moved the final approval hearing up to October 14, 2026, held it that day, and entered a Final Approval Order and Judgment granting final approval of the settlement on October 14, 2026. Settlement payments are distributed only after the settlement's effective date, which follows the time for any appeals, and no payment date had been announced as of October 20, 2026.What Is This Settlement About?
Heritage South Credit Union — a member-owned financial institution based in Sylacauga, Alabama — reached a class action settlement, granted final approval on October 14, 2026, to resolve claims arising from a data incident on its computer systems in February 2025. According to the settlement notice, certain files were accessed during the incident, and those files may have contained personal information such as names, addresses, Social Security numbers, or financial account numbers.The lawsuit alleges that HSCU failed to adequately protect this information. HSCU denies the legal claims and denies any liability or wrongdoing, and the court has not found that HSCU did anything wrong or that any law was violated. The two sides agreed to settle to avoid the risk, cost, and time of continued litigation. Class members who received a notice could file a claim for cash reimbursement and lost time and enroll in free credit monitoring through October 5, 2026.
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Who Qualifies?
The settlement class is defined as all living individuals residing in the United States who were identified by HSCU and sent notice that their private information may have been impacted in the February 2025 data incident. If you received a mailed or emailed settlement notice with a unique Login ID and PIN, you have been identified as a class member.Excluded from the class are HSCU and its officers, directors, and related companies; governmental entities; the judge assigned to the case, along with the judge's family and staff; and anyone who validly excludes themselves from the settlement.
How Much Can You Get?
The settlement offers three separate benefits, and you can claim more than one:Documented out-of-pocket losses — up to $2,000. If you incurred actual, documented losses because of the data incident between February 12, 2025 and October 5, 2026, you can be reimbursed up to $2,000. Covered expenses include losses from identity theft or fraud; fees for credit reports, credit monitoring, or freezing and unfreezing your credit; the cost to replace your IDs; and postage to contact banks by mail. You cannot claim expenses that were already reimbursed by a third party.
Lost time — up to $80. Class members who spent time responding to the data incident can claim up to four hours at $20 per hour, for a maximum of $80. Qualifying tasks include things like changing your passwords, investigating suspicious activity in your accounts, and researching the data incident.
Credit monitoring — one year. Every class member is eligible to enroll in one year of CyEx Financial Shield Total, which includes $1 million in financial fraud insurance and monitoring for fraud or identity theft, unauthorized financial transactions, and personal information tied to high-risk transactions. If something suspicious happens, you can work with a fraud resolution agent to help fix the problem.
The estimated figures above are the settlement's stated maximums; actual payments depend on your documentation and the settlement's terms.
What Proof or Notice ID Is Required?
Filing the online claim requires the unique Login ID and PIN printed on your mailed or emailed settlement notice. Because the claim is gated on that administrator-issued identifier, this settlement is treated as proof-required — a person who never received a notice cannot simply file without it.If you claim documented losses, you must also submit supporting proof, such as bank statements or receipts, showing how much you spent or lost and that the expense was because of the data incident. You may include your own notes or papers to explain that proof, but those notes alone are not enough to make a valid claim. The lost-time and credit-monitoring benefits do not require receipts, but you still need your Login ID and PIN to file. If you believe you are a class member but cannot locate your Login ID and PIN, you can request them through the official settlement website rather than filing blind.
What Is the Deadline?
• Data Incident: February 2025
• Exclusion (Opt-Out) & Objection Deadline: September 18, 2026 (passed)
• Claim Deadline (online or postmarked): October 5, 2026 (passed)
• Final Approval Hearing: October 14, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. (moved from October 19, 2026; held)
• Final Approval Order and Judgment: entered October 14, 2026
The documented-loss window ran from February 12, 2025 through October 5, 2026.
How Do You Take Action?
Claims were filed online at HSCUDataSettlement.com, using the Login ID and PIN from the settlement notice, or on a printable claim form returned to the settlement administrator by mail or email. The claim form asked how the class member wanted to be paid — PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, a virtual prepaid card, or a physical check. The deadline to file was October 5, 2026. Class members who did not file a valid claim receive no payment or monitoring, and those who did not opt out are bound by the release of claims against HSCU that the settlement covers.What Happens Next?
By an order dated September 8, 2026, the court set the motion for final approval for a hearing on October 14, 2026 at 2:00 p.m., earlier than the October 19, 2026 date in the settlement notice. The hearing was held on October 14, 2026, and the court entered its Final Approval Order and Judgment the same day, granting the motion and dismissing the case with prejudice. Class counsel had said it would ask the court to approve $175,000 in attorneys' fees and litigation costs, and service awards of $2,000 for each class representative, all of which HSCU agreed to pay separately from class benefits. Final approval can still be appealed, and settlement payments are distributed only after approval is final. No payment date had been announced as of October 20, 2026.Related Data Breach Settlements
Other financial-sector data breach settlements follow a similar pattern. The Bradford-Scott Data (Sharetec) data breach settlement covered a July 2023 incident at a credit union software vendor and offered an estimated $100 with no documentation or up to $5,000 in documented losses. The System Pavers data breach settlement uses the same CyEx Financial Shield monitoring and offers up to $3,000 in documented losses or an alternative cash payment, and the Vector Security data breach settlement has a similar up-to-$2,000 documented-loss and lost-time structure. You can also browse the full data breach settlements tracker to see which claim windows are still open, sorted by deadline.Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Heritage South Credit Union data breach settlement?
It is a class action settlement, granted final approval on October 14, 2026, resolving claims that Heritage South Credit Union (HSCU) failed to protect personal information in a February 2025 data incident on its computer systems. Class members could file for up to $2,000 in documented out-of-pocket losses, up to $80 for lost time, and one year of free CyEx Financial Shield Total credit monitoring with $1 million in fraud insurance. HSCU denies any wrongdoing. The case is In re: Heritage South Credit Union Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 61-CV-2025-900175, in the Circuit Court for Talladega County, Alabama.
Who qualifies for the HSCU settlement?
The settlement class is all living individuals residing in the United States who were identified by HSCU and sent notice that their private information may have been impacted in the February 2025 data incident. People who received a mailed or emailed settlement notice with a Login ID and PIN were identified as class members.
How much does the HSCU settlement pay?
The settlement offered reimbursement of up to $2,000 for actual, documented out-of-pocket losses tied to the data incident that occurred between February 12, 2025 and October 5, 2026, plus up to four hours of lost time at $20 per hour (a maximum of $80). Every class member was also eligible to enroll in one year of CyEx Financial Shield Total credit monitoring, which includes $1 million in financial fraud insurance. Expenses already reimbursed by a third party were not covered.
Did filing an HSCU claim require proof?
Yes. Filing online required the Login ID and PIN printed on the mailed or emailed settlement notice, so the settlement is treated as proof-required. Documented-loss claims also had to include supporting proof such as bank statements or receipts; self-made notes alone were not enough. Credit monitoring and lost time did not require receipts, but the Login ID and PIN were still needed to file.
What was the deadline to file an HSCU claim?
The deadline to submit a claim online or by mail (postmarked) was October 5, 2026, and it has passed. The deadline to opt out of or object to the settlement was September 18, 2026. The court moved the final approval hearing to October 14, 2026, held it that day, and entered its Final Approval Order and Judgment on October 14, 2026.
Sources
• Official Settlement Website — HSCUDataSettlement.com• Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement and Claim Form, In re: Heritage South Credit Union Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 61-CV-2025-900175 (Circuit Court for Talladega County, Alabama, Twenty-Ninth Judicial Circuit)
• Order Setting Final Approval Hearing for October 14, 2026 (September 8, 2026)
• Final Approval Order and Judgment (October 14, 2026)
OpenClassActions.com is a consumer news site and is not the settlement administrator or a law firm.
