Globe Life and American Income Life Data Breach Settlement: $3.4 Million, File by October 19, 2026

The defendants are two insurance companies, Globe Life Inc. and American Income Life Insurance Company. According to the official settlement website, a data breach on or about October 2, 2024 potentially exposed current and former customers' names, physical addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, health-related information, and health insurance policy information.

Three class representatives, Patsy Decow, Thomas Harris, and Kathleen McAllister, sued in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas. They claim the companies failed to properly protect customers' personal information. Globe Life and American Income Life deny all wrongdoing, and the court has not decided who is right. The parties settled to avoid the cost and risk of trial.

The combination of Social Security numbers and health information is what makes this breach more serious than an email-only leak. That data can be used for identity theft and medical identity fraud for years. For a general playbook, see what to do after a data breach notice, and for how these cases work more broadly, our data breach lawsuit guide.

Eligibility is simple and tied to the notice letter. The settlement class is all 532,578 individuals who were sent a notice letter from American Income Life and/or Globe Life saying their personal information may have been involved in the October 2, 2024 data incident.

• If you received that breach letter, you are a class member.
• If you are a Globe Life or American Income Life customer but never received a breach letter, you are most likely not in the class.
• Excluded: the companies' directors, officers, and agents; government entities; the judge, the judge's immediate family, and court staff; and anyone who opts out.

If someone in your household also got a letter, each person who received one is a separate class member and should file a separate claim. Parents or guardians handling a letter addressed to a family member should call the administrator about how to file on that person's behalf.

You do not need to show that your identity was actually stolen to be a class member. You do need documentation if you want to be reimbursed for specific losses. If you are not sure whether a letter you got was about this incident, call the administrator, Kroll, at (833) 930-0155.

Benefit	Maximum	Proof
A: Documented losses	$5,000	Third-party documents
B: Lost time	$72 (4 hours at $18)	Self-certification
Credit monitoring	2 years, Cyex Financial Shield Complete	None, automatic

You can claim both A and B on one form. Documented losses can include bank, overdraft, late, or declined-payment fees caused by fraud; credit monitoring or identity protection you bought because of the breach; professional fees to fix identity fraud; replacement ID costs; postage, notary, and long-distance charges; and unreimbursed fraudulent charges traceable to the breach. You cannot be paid twice for an expense already reimbursed elsewhere.

Lost time must have been spent between October 1, 2024 and the date of notice, and the settlement counts time spent dealing with anxiety, stress, and loss of sleep.

The key limit: the defendants will pay up to $3,400,000 in total cash payments, and if valid claims exceed that cap, every payment is reduced pro rata. A rough check using the numbers above: if about 47,000 people each claimed the full $72, they alone would use up the $3.4 million, which is under 9% of the 532,578-person class. So a lost-time payment could come in below $72 if claim rates are high. On the plus side, attorneys' fees (class counsel will ask for up to $1,260,000), $5,000 service awards, and administration costs are paid separately by the defendants and do not reduce the cash fund. For typical outcomes, see how much a data breach settlement is worth.

1. Go to the official settlement website linked above and choose Submit Claim, or download the paper claim form from the Documents page.
2. Enter the details from your notice letter.
3. Select Cash Payment B (lost time) and certify the hours you spent, up to 4.
4. If you had out-of-pocket losses, select Cash Payment A and upload "reasonable documentation" generated by a third party, such as receipts, bank statements, phone records, or correspondence.
5. Submit online by October 19, 2026, or mail the paper form postmarked by that date to In re American Income Life Ins. Co. and Globe Life Inc. Data Breach Litig., c/o Kroll Settlement Administration LLC, P.O. Box 225391, New York, NY 10150-5391.

A personal statement, declaration, or affidavit by itself does not count as proof for documented losses; the settlement requires records generated by a third party. A statement can add context to other documents. If the administrator finds your claim deficient and you do not fix it within the time given, it will be rejected, so answer any follow-up letters.

You do not need to file anything to get the credit monitoring. Class members were given a unique activation code, and enrollment opens only after final approval. We do not file claims for anyone.

Event	Date
Data incident	On or about October 2, 2024
Claim deadline	October 19, 2026
Opt-out and objection deadline	November 16, 2026
Final approval hearing	December 14, 2026, 2:00 p.m. CT
Payments and monitoring activation	After final approval and any appeals

As of September 2026, the settlement has preliminary approval and the claim period is open. The final approval hearing is set for December 14, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. Central in the Waco Division of the Western District of Texas. If the court approves the deal and no one appeals, payments usually follow within a few months. Our guide on checking a settlement's status explains how to follow along.

If you miss October 19, 2026, you get no cash. You still remain in the class, still get the credit monitoring, and still give up the right to sue over this breach. Doing nothing means no cash payment but still binds you to the release once the settlement is final.

To opt out, mail a request to the administrator postmarked by November 16, 2026. Opting out makes sense mainly if you suffered serious, documented identity theft with losses well above $5,000 and want to pursue your own claim. For most people, filing the claim is the better option. Objections must be filed with the court and mailed to class counsel, defense counsel, and the administrator by the same date. See our guide on opting out or objecting.

If you already filed, keep an eye on your email and mail for any deficiency notice from Kroll, and respond by the date it gives. Claims that stay deficient are rejected.

Watch for fake settlement emails and texts after a breach like this. The only official website is the one run by Kroll, and it will never ask for payment. Read our settlement scam warning signs.

Health and insurance breaches have produced several settlements with similar tiers. Lost-time payments in data breach settlements are often capped at a few hours at a fixed hourly rate, as here with 4 hours at $18. Compare the Labcorp data breach settlement and the Highlands Oncology data breach settlement.

For this settlement, file on the official settlement website linked above. If your information from this breach was actually used to open accounts or commit fraud and your losses are larger than this settlement covers, a free case review can connect you with independent attorneys who handle data breach cases.