Steel Warehouse Data Breach Settlement: $40 With No Proof or Up to $5,060 With Receipts — No Fund to Split, Final Hearing October 21, Claim Deadline December 1, 2026

If you got a letter about the steel warehouse data breach settlement, you are on the company’s Class List and you can claim money until December 1, 2026. The settlement covers “All individuals whose personal identifying information may have been compromised as a result of the Data Incident, as identified on the Class List” — the targeted cyberattack on Steel Warehouse Company, LLC’s computer systems that the settlement agreement dates to “on or around January 23, 2025.” According to the official site, the accessed files “may have contained” names, Social Security numbers, addresses, driver’s license numbers, government ID numbers such as passports, dates of birth and credit or debit card numbers. Steel Warehouse “denies that it did anything wrong, and the Court has not decided who is right.”

You choose one of two cash routes. Route A: reimbursement of documented out-of-pocket losses up to $5,000, plus lost time of up to three hours at $20 an hour, a maximum of $60 — together $5,060 at the top, by our arithmetic. Route B: a one-time $40 payment, “Instead of any other payment,” with no proof or explanation. Everyone can add one year of CyEx Financial Shield Complete credit monitoring with $1 million of fraud insurance, on either route. As of October 12, 2026 the case is still at the proposed-settlement stage: no money has been paid and none will be before the court gives final approval.

The $40 is fixed. Unlike most data breach settlements, this one has no pot of money that shrinks as more people file: the agreement says Steel Warehouse “will pay all valid claims for an Alternative Cash Payment in the Alternative Cash Payment Amount,” and pays documented losses “only up to the per claimant limit” of $5,000. We found no overall cap and no pro-rata clause in the agreement. Class counsel will ask the court to approve lawyers’ fees of $182,500 and service awards of $2,250 for each of the two class representatives; if approved, and for the costs of notice and administration, Steel Warehouse pays separately, not out of class members’ payments.

Documented losses mean real money spent between January 23, 2025 and December 1, 2026 because of the incident: identity theft or fraud losses, fees for credit reports, monitoring or credit freezes, replacing IDs, even postage to write to your bank. The site says “You need to send proof, like bank statements or receipts”; self-written notes can explain proof but “alone are not enough,” and costs someone else already reimbursed do not count. Lost time needs only a short description of what you did, such as changing passwords or checking accounts.

Timing depends on the judge. The final approval hearing is October 21, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern, in Courthouse 1 at 101 S. Main Street, South Bend, or by video or phone; the site warns the date “may change without further notice.” Payments go out only “if the Court grants final approval, and after any appeals are resolved.” The agreement’s timetable then runs from the claim deadline: claims processed within 21 days, Steel Warehouse funds the payments within 7 days of learning the total, and valid claims are paid within 21 days after that. Counting from December 1, 2026, the agreement’s deadlines run out about January 19, 2027 — our arithmetic, and only if the court approves, there is no appeal and no claim needs fixing; an appeal or a deficiency letter pushes payment later. A deficiency letter gives you 21 days to fix your claim, and payments expire 120 days after they are issued, so cash a check or accept a digital payment promptly.

File online with the codes from your letter. The claim page says: “To start your online claim form, you must login with your LoginID and PIN. You can find your LoginID and PIN on the top of the Notice that was sent to you.” Lost the letter? Email info@SteelWarehouseDataSettlement.com with your full name and mailing address and ask for your LoginID and PIN. Online claims are due by December 1, 2026.

Or file on paper. Download the claim form from the official site, or ask for one by phone at (833) 421-7360, and mail it to Steel Warehouse Data Incident Settlement, c/o Settlement Administrator, P.O. Box 25226, Santa Ana, CA 92799. It must be postmarked no later than December 1, 2026; a scan of the completed form can also be emailed. File only one claim per person, and never send it to the court or the lawyers.

Pick how you want to be paid. The form offers PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, a virtual prepaid card or a physical check. If you check the credit-monitoring box, note that the agreement requires you to activate the service within 45 days after the activation code is issued.

Opting out is no longer possible. The deadline to exclude yourself or object was October 2, 2026. If you did nothing by then, you are in the class: if you also do not file a claim, you get nothing and still give up the right to sue Steel Warehouse over the incident.

Are data breach settlements legit? Many are, including this one, but you should check the details yourself. This settlement is real: the court-approved site is SteelWarehouseDataSettlement.com, run by the settlement administrator Simpluris, which the agreement names. The notice went out by U.S. mail to everyone on the Class List, and the site lists the notice mailing as 8/3/2026. The case number on any real letter is 71D04-2508-CE-000011.

How to tell a real message from a fake one: the real claim process takes your name, address, email, phone and the LoginID and PIN printed on the notice. The paper form we read has no field for a Social Security number or bank login, and filing is free. Steel Warehouse pays the administrator, so nobody may charge you to file. The only contact points are the ones above: (833) 421-7360, info@SteelWarehouseDataSettlement.com and the Santa Ana P.O. box. If a text or email sends you anywhere else, or asks for a fee, go to the official site directly instead of clicking.

How much is a data breach claim worth? In this case it is exactly $40 without paperwork, or whatever you can document up to $5,060. Because there is no fund to divide, the amount does not depend on how many people file. That is different from pro-rata settlements, where the estimate on the notice can fall once all the claims are in. For most people without receipts, $40 plus a free year of monitoring is the realistic outcome. Anyone who paid for a credit freeze, replaced a passport or lost money to fraud after January 2025 should gather the paperwork and use Route A instead.

The case moved quickly for a data breach suit. Two class representatives filed separate complaints on May 12 and May 13, 2025, and the court consolidated them on July 22, 2025. A full-day mediation on March 23, 2026, before a retired Indiana Commercial Court judge, ended without a deal. The parties reached an agreement in principle on April 6, 2026, and ClassAction.org reports preliminary approval on July 2, 2026. Class counsel are Lynn A. Toops and Amina A. Thomas of CohenMalad, LLP. The settlement documents do not say how many people are on the Class List, and Steel Warehouse has not published a total. We will update this page after the October 21 hearing.