Kelly Benefits Data Breach Settlement: $5 Million, Claims Due December 28, 2026
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The Kelly Benefits settlement is the one in the news: a proposed $5 million deal in the federal class action over the December 2024 hack of Kelly Benefits, a Maryland employee-benefits administrator. Most people affected never chose Kelly Benefits — their employer or insurer used it. As of October 8, 2026 claims are open. The deadline to file is December 28, 2026, and nothing is paid until the court grants final approval.
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Reviewed by Leonard Goldberg, Editor · Last updated
What the Kelly Benefits Lawsuit Is About
Kelly & Associates Insurance Group, Inc., which does business as Kelly Benefits, is a Sparks, Maryland-based employee benefits administrator. It handles benefits paperwork for employers and insurance carriers, so it held records on their employees and members.
According to the court-approved notice, there was unauthorized access to its network from December 12 to December 17, 2024, and files were copied and taken. The review that matched the records to each client or carrier finished on March 3, 2025. The data involved names, Social Security numbers, tax ID numbers, dates of birth, medical information, health insurance information and financial account information.
The Kelly Benefits class action alleges negligence, negligence per se, breach of third-party beneficiary contract and unjust enrichment. Kelly Benefits denies all allegations and any wrongdoing; it agreed to settle without admitting fault.
Case Details
The case is In re: Kelly Benefits Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 1:25-cv-01304-SAG, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland. The docket number was first assigned to Gale v. Kelly & Associates Insurance Group, filed April 22, 2025; more than a dozen class actions had been filed by July 2025 and now proceed as this one case. Kroll Settlement Administration LLC is the court-appointed settlement administrator. Official site: KellyBenefitsSettlement.com, phone (833) 453-3640.
Status: Settlement Open for Claims, Final Approval Pending
— November 27, 2026: postmark deadline to opt out or object.
— December 28, 2026: deadline to file a claim, online or by mail postmarked that day.
— January 12, 2027: Final Fairness Hearing in Baltimore, where the court decides whether to approve the deal.
Payments go out only after final approval and after any appeals are resolved, so no payment date exists yet. Our news report has the cash math in detail: why the $50 estimate is paid last.
Don't miss the claim deadline
Claims are due by December 28, 2026. We'll email you 7 days and 1 day before the deadline.
Who Is in the Settlement Class
The class is all individuals residing in the United States whose private information was compromised in the Kelly Benefits breach between December 12 and December 17, 2024. Kelly Benefits reported 553,660 affected people to the Maine Attorney General, according to HIPAA Journal, and 45 of its clients were affected.
The practical test is your mail. Notice letters about the breach went out starting May 2, 2025, and many named the employer, health plan or insurance carrier that used Kelly Benefits. A separate settlement notice carries a Class Member ID, which the online claim form asks for. If you got either letter, you are very likely in the class.
Excluded: Kelly Benefits, its officers and directors, and the judges on the case.
What the Kelly Benefits Settlement Pays
You can claim:
— Documented losses: up to $5,000 for fraud, identity theft, bank fees, postage, mileage or credit monitoring you paid for. Receipts or statements are required; a signed statement alone is not enough.
— Pro rata cash: estimated $50, no documents needed.
— Credit monitoring: three years, single bureau, with identity theft insurance up to $1,000,000.
— California payment: estimated $100 if you had a California address on December 12, 2024.
The honest caveat: the fund pays in a fixed order — credit monitoring, then documented losses, then California payments, and the flat cash last. If the first three use up the fund, the notice says no pro rata cash is paid at all. The $50 and $100 figures are estimates, not promises.
How cases like this one end
Our copy of the federal courts’ own case database covers 15,171 other personal property damage casesclosed in U.S. federal district courts between 2015 and 2025, 10.4% of them filed as class actions:
- 33.2% ended in a settlement recorded by the court. Another 19.2% were dismissed voluntarily, which often follows a private settlement — so the real settlement share sits between 33.2% and 52.3%.
- 5.9% were decided on a motion before any trial.
- 1 in 90 reached a trial (1.1%), after a median of 27.4 months.
- Median time from filing to the end of the case: 8.5 months.
- Only 236 of them (1.6%) record a money award at all; the median of those is $496,000.
These are base rates for this type of case (federal other personal property damage cases) — not a prediction about this lawsuit, and not legal advice. Source: Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (civil), analysed by Settlement Insight. Cases heard in state courts are not included.
Kelly Benefits Data Breach Timeline
- 1
December 12–17, 2024 — The Breach
An unauthorized party is inside the Kelly Benefits network for about five days and copies files, according to the settlement notice.
- 2
April 2025 — First Reports and First Lawsuit
Kelly Benefits first reports the breach on April 9, 2025 as affecting 32,234 people, then 263,893 on April 21. The case that becomes 1:25-cv-01304 is filed in Maryland federal court on April 22, 2025.
- 3
May 2, 2025 — Notice Letters Mailed
Letters go out offering 12 months of free credit monitoring. By May 7, 2025 the reported count had risen to 413,032 people.
- 4
July 2025 — 553,660 People
The figure reported to the Maine Attorney General reaches 553,660 across 45 clients. More than a dozen class actions have been filed by then.
- 5
Fall 2026 — $5 Million Settlement, Claims Open
Notice of the proposed $5 million settlement goes out, with Kroll as administrator. Opt-outs and objections are due November 27, 2026; claims are due December 28, 2026.
- 6
January 12, 2027 — Final Fairness Hearing
The court is scheduled to decide whether to approve the settlement and the fee request. Payments follow only after approval and any appeals.
Three Things to Watch For
A real settlement with a real deadline attracts imitators. Three traps specific to this case:
Look-alike Kelly Benefits claim sites
The only official site is KellyBenefitsSettlement.com, run by Kroll, and the only phone number is (833) 453-3640. A site with a similar name asking for your full Social Security number or bank login before you file is not the administrator.
Emails posing as your HR or benefits portal
Because Kelly Benefits worked for employers and insurers, a fake email can name your employer or health plan and sound convincing. Do not log in through a link; go to the official site directly and use the Class Member ID printed on your mailed notice.
“Pay a fee to release your $100”
Filing a claim is free. The administrator does not charge a processing fee, and nothing is paid before final approval — so anyone promising early payment of the $50 or California $100 for a fee is running a scam.
Kelly Benefits Settlement — Questions People Actually Ask
Is the Kelly Benefits data breach settlement real?
Yes. It is a proposed $5 million settlement in In re: Kelly Benefits Data Breach Litigation, Case No. 1:25-cv-01304-SAG, in federal court in Maryland. The administrator is Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 5324, New York, NY 10150-5324.
Why did Kelly Benefits have my information if I never used them?
Kelly Benefits is an employee benefits administrator. Your employer, health plan or insurance carrier used it to handle benefits records, so your data sat in its systems without any direct relationship with you.
What is the deadline to file a claim?
December 28, 2026, online or by mail postmarked by that date. The deadline to opt out or object was set as November 27, 2026.
How much will I get?
Up to $5,000 for documented losses, an estimated $50 cash payment, three years of credit monitoring and, for people with a California address on December 12, 2024, an estimated $100. The cash amounts depend on how many valid claims are filed, and the $50 payment is paid last and could be reduced to zero.
When will Kelly Benefits settlement payments be made?
Not before the Final Fairness Hearing on January 12, 2027, and only if the court grants final approval and any appeals are resolved. No payment date has been set.
I already got free credit monitoring in 2025. Can I still claim?
Yes. The 12 months offered in the 2025 breach letter are separate. You can still claim the settlement benefits, but you cannot be reimbursed twice for the same expense.
What happens if I do nothing?
You get no benefits, and you give up the right to sue Kelly Benefits over the claims the settlement resolves. Opting out keeps that right but means you receive nothing from this settlement.
What is worth doing right now?
File a claim before December 28, 2026, with receipts for any losses. Freeze your credit at all three bureaus — free and reversible — and check your health plan's explanation-of-benefits statements for care you never received.
Separate from this case: were you injured in the last 2 years?
Class-action payouts are fixed amounts through an administrator. A personal injury claim is a different case — and often worth far more. Free estimate, no obligation.
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Kroll Settlement Administration
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