Patients caught in the 2024 data breach at Brockton Neighborhood Health Center have until Dec. 8 to claim from an $825,000 settlement. Documented losses can be reimbursed up to $2,500, and people without records can take an alternative payment of up to $50. The fund is capped, so the amounts can shrink if claims exceed what is available.
The case is Howard v. Brockton Neighborhood Health Center, Inc., No. 2483-CV-01076, in Plymouth County Superior Court in Massachusetts. The settlement website names Kroll Settlement Administration as the company handling claims. The class is anyone in the United States whose private information was affected in the cyberattack, including everyone who received notice of it.
About 97,488 people are in the group, per the center’s report to federal regulators. A person who got a letter has to decide whether the documented-loss tier is worth the paperwork or whether the smaller payment is enough. Either choice requires a claim by Dec. 8.
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What the cyberattack took
The center detected the attack Nov. 3, 2024. HIPAA Journal reported that it learned on Nov. 18 that an intruder had access to its network from Nov. 1 through Nov. 3, and that a file review confirmed data exposure on Nov. 29. The Interlock ransomware group claimed responsibility, listed the center on its leak site and published the stolen data.
The exposed information includes names, addresses, dates of birth, diagnoses and conditions, lab results, medications, other treatment information, medical record numbers and health insurance information, HIPAA Journal reported. The data relates to patients treated between 2017 and 2022.
Current and former patients are both in the class. The data relates to care from 2017 through 2022, so a person who has not been to the center in years may still have received a letter. Brockton itself, the assigned judge and the judge’s staff and family are excluded, along with anyone found guilty of or pleading no contest to causing or aiding the criminal activity.
What each claim option pays
The documented-loss option pays up to $2,500 per person. That total includes compensation for up to three hours of lost time at $30 an hour, a $90 maximum, with a sworn statement. The rest is reimbursement for documented out-of-pocket costs.
The alternative cash payment is up to $50, with no documentation. It is paid last, and the ClaimDepot listing says it may be reduced pro rata if valid claims exceed the fund. Every valid claimant also gets three years of credit monitoring with $1 million in identity theft insurance.
The $825,000 is a ceiling, and it also pays for notice, administration, any court-approved attorneys’ fees and costs, and service awards. That leaves less than $825,000 for claimants. With about 97,488 people notified, the shares depend on how many file.
Payment order matters for the smaller tier. The alternative cash payment is paid last, which makes it the tier most exposed to a pro rata cut. A person who expects to have records for even part of the loss is better placed to look at the larger option.
The claim form also carries a lost-time piece that many claimants skip. Up to three hours at $30 an hour comes to $90, and it needs only a sworn statement, not receipts. That is separate from the receipts needed for fraud costs or credit freeze fees.
Dates from Nov. 9 to Jan. 12
Objections and notices of intent to appear at the hearing are due Monday, Nov. 9. The notice describes no opt-out deadline, and it lists the option to do nothing as having no deadline. A person who does nothing gives up the right to sue Brockton over the resolved claims.
Anyone who wants to object to the deal can submit an objection or a notice of intent to appear at the hearing, and each must be submitted or postmarked by Nov. 9. An objection is a way to tell the court the terms are unfair, not a substitute for a claim. A person who objects and still wants money has to file a claim by Dec. 8.
The claim deadline is Tuesday, Dec. 8. A claim can be submitted online through the settlement website or mailed on a paper form postmarked by that date. Mail goes to Settlement Administrator – 83452, c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391.
The final approval hearing is Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2027, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern at Plymouth Superior Court, and the court still has to decide whether to approve the deal. Payments follow approval. Claim questions go to Kroll at (833) 930-0149.
Documenting a loss for the Dec. 8 claim
For the $2,500 tier, the proof is what separates a claim from a request. Bank fraud, credit freeze charges and other out-of-pocket costs tied to the breach need records, and lost time needs a sworn statement. A person with nothing written down has the $50 option.
Claims for minors or for people who have died require supporting documents, according to ClaimDepot. Those papers go in with the form, so a family filing for a patient who has died has to gather them before Dec. 8. For everyone else, the question is whether the documented total beats $50.
Is a Brockton Neighborhood Health Center claim worth more than $50?
The settlement pays more to people who document what the breach cost them, and the fund can shrink every payment if claims run high. A patient who files without records, or after Dec. 8, settles for the smaller payment or nothing.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, a step-by-step filing walkthrough and a claim log and payment tracker. Its Part 5 covers claiming when the receipts are gone, which helps when a lost-time or fraud expense was never written down.
Build the Dec. 8 claim with the filing walkthrough and claim tracker →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
