CSX’s $1.5 Million Livingston Derailment Settlement Pays Up to $4,000 per Household — but Only to Those Who Prove Their Address by October 19, 2026, and Not Before a December 9 Hearing

If you lived in, or owned a home within, three miles of the spot where a CSX train left the tracks near Livingston on November 22, 2023, there is money set aside for you — but it is not automatic. The settlement website states the rule in one line: “Provide Your Eligibility by: October 19, 2026.” That means sending a copy of “a utility bill, driver’s license, lease, real property tax assessment invoice, voter registration, or similar official documentation that contains the name and address of the claimant.” The FAQ adds that claims “must be submitted online or postmarked by no later than October 19, 2026.” As of October 11, 2026, that is eight days away by our count.

The amount: “up to $4,000.00 for each residential Household and property owner, subject to an offset for monies previously received from CSXT following the Derailment.” If you already took a check from CSX after the evacuation, expect that amount to be subtracted; the site does not say how the offset is calculated. Nothing is paid until the court gives final approval — the hearing is set for December 9, 2026 — and any appeals are over.

Not sure whether your address is inside the three-mile circle? The official site has an interactive map, and the FAQ says you can call or email the administrator if you are unsure. People in Rockcastle County can also get help in person: the administrator lists an event on October 17, 2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Rockcastle Farmers Market, 180 Richmond St., Mount Vernon.

The class is everyone who “resided or owned residential real property on November 22, 2023, within a three-mile radius centered on the CSXT train derailment site in Rockcastle County, Kentucky.” CSX, its current employees, class counsel and the judge are excluded. The payment is counted per household and per property owner, not per person, so a family living in one home shares one household claim.

All costs come out of the same $1.5 million. The FAQ says notice and administration costs, attorneys’ fees and expenses, and awards to the three named plaintiffs — “no more than $15,000.00 each” — are paid from the settlement amount if the court approves them. The FAQ says Class Counsel’s fee motion “will be available on this website once it has been filed.” Simple arithmetic shows how tight the fund is: $1.5 million divided by $4,000 is 375 full payments, before a single dollar of fees or costs. Whether everyone gets the full $4,000 therefore depends on how many households file.

If money is left after all valid claims are paid, “each valid claim may be increased on a pro rata basis to a maximum of $6,000.00 per Household claim.” Anything still left goes to a charity (a “cy pres” recipient) chosen by the parties and approved by the court.

Timing: Judge Wier holds the final approval hearing at 10:00 a.m. on December 9, 2026, at the federal courthouse at 310 S Main Street, London, Kentucky 40741. The FAQ warns: “You will not receive a cash payment until any appeals are resolved.” One clue in the schedule: the deadline to switch payment method or update your address is February 23, 2027, which the notice describes as 45 days after the settlement’s “Effective Date.” Payments would come after that, not before. The default is a paper check mailed to your last known address; on the website you can switch to PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or a pre-paid E-Mastercard instead. (The mailed postcard and the long notice list fewer options; the website’s list is the current one.)

1. File your proof by October 19, 2026. Online at LivingstonDerailmentSettlement.com (the claim form asks for the Login ID and PIN printed on the postcard notice), or download the paper claim form and mail it, postmarked by October 19, 2026, to CSXT Livingston Derailment Settlement, c/o Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958. Make sure your name and the property address are readable on the document.
2. Lost the postcard? Call the administrator at 1-833-421-7340 or email info@LivingstonDerailmentSettlement.com, or go to the in-person session in Mount Vernon on October 17, 2026.
3. Moved since 2023? You can still claim based on where you lived on November 22, 2023. Update your mailing address or payment method on the site by February 23, 2027.

Two deadlines are closed. Requests to opt out and objections had to be postmarked by October 5, 2026 — 95 days after preliminary approval, according to the notice. If you did nothing, you are in the class. That matters because the release is broad: staying in gives up claims against CSX over the derailment, “including without limitation all claims for medical monitoring whether as a cause of action or as a form or relief, all claims for bodily or personal injury, all claims for property damage or diminution in property value.” Also note that one household member’s opt-out counted for the whole family at that address. If you are in the class and do not file proof, you get nothing but are still bound by the release.

Yes, if it points to these details. The court-approved notice says: “A federal court authorized this Notice. This is not a solicitation from a lawyer.” The administrator mailed notices on July 30, 2026, according to the site’s dates page; each postcard carries a personal Login ID and PIN for the online claim form. The only official website is LivingstonDerailmentSettlement.com, the phone number is 1-833-421-7340, the email is info@LivingstonDerailmentSettlement.com, and the mailing address is P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799-9958. Settlement documents on the site are hosted by the administrator, Simpluris.

Red flags: anyone asking for a fee to file, your Social Security number, or bank login details; links to a different domain; or pressure to sign with a law firm before you can be paid. The court-appointed lawyers for the class are Morgan & Morgan, and the FAQ says “You will not be charged for these lawyers’ services.” The court asks people not to call the clerk about the settlement.

According to the EPA’s response page, “On November 22 at approximately 2:30pm CSX reported a train derailment near Livingston, Rockcastle County, Kentucky,” with thirteen cars believed derailed, including tank cars of molten sulfur. Burning sulfur released sulfur dioxide; local officials issued a voluntary evacuation for downwind residents and widened it when air monitoring found sulfur dioxide above federal guideline levels. The evacuation was lifted on the afternoon of November 23, and EPA left the site on November 27.

Residents sued on November 29, 2023. As summarized by the court, the complaint alleges that two molten-sulfur cars breached and that a CSX investigation found the “derailment was caused by an overheated wheel bearing on one of the railcars”; it also alleges CSX failed to monitor bearings properly. Those are allegations; CSX denies wrongdoing and “is settling this lawsuit to avoid further litigation. The Court has not decided who is right.” On March 28, 2025, Judge Wier dismissed the plaintiffs’ ultrahazardous-materials count but let the other claims go forward. The amended complaint had sought a class of residents and owners within fifteen miles; the settlement covers three. So, what is causing train derailments? For this one, the only cause on the record is the overheated wheel bearing alleged in the complaint; we have not found an official federal finding in the case file.

Many searchers also ask: how much did Norfolk Southern pay East Palestine? That is a different railroad and a different disaster. Norfolk Southern agreed in April 2024 to a $600 million class settlement over the February 2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, covering claims within a 20-mile radius, CBS News reported. This Kentucky settlement does not cover East Palestine; people there must deal with that case in the Northern District of Ohio and its own administrator.