If Kroll has told you your AT&T data breach settlement claim was denied, you have exactly one way to fight it: a signed paper Denial Response Form, mailed and postmarked by October 17, 2026. Email does not count. Neither does the Contact Us form on the settlement website. Miss the postmark date and, according to the notice, the claim is rejected and pays nothing.
Status: Claims closed, final approval pending | Denial response postmark deadline October 17, 2026 | Mail only | $177 million fund
Who Is Getting These Letters
Kroll Settlement Administration runs the claims process for In re: AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, MDL No. 3:24-md-03114-E, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. It has started notifying some claimants that their claim forms were denied.
This is not a routine check sent to everyone who filed. The notice goes only to people whose claims the administrator has already rejected, and it gives them a single chance to contest the decision. If you did not receive one, nothing in this step applies to you.
A copy of the notice reviewed by OpenClassActions.com opens on Kroll’s forms site at att-prod-forms.ksacms.com — the same system that hosted the original AT&T claim form — under the heading “Denial Response Form.” It says the claim form was received but denied and asks the claimant to complete, sign and mail the attached response. The notice does not give a general reason for denials. The reason for a particular denial should be shown on that claimant’s own form, so read it before filling anything in.
Four Rules on the Response Form
The instructions leave little room for error. A response that does not follow them will not be considered.
| Mail only | Send the signed form to the settlement administrator at the address printed on your notice. Email and the website’s Contact Us form will not be accepted or answered. |
| Postmark by October 17, 2026 | A later postmark is too late. The claim is then rejected with no compensation. |
| One claimant per response | Each response must be submitted individually. Bulk submissions are not accepted. |
| Payment method may change | Even a claim that is fixed may no longer qualify for an electronic payment. |
Because the cutoff is a postmark date rather than a receipt date, the safest approach is to mail well before October 17 and keep proof of mailing, such as a certificate of mailing from the post office. That record protects you if the date on the envelope is ever questioned.
The warning about electronic payment is worth reading twice. A claimant who picked a digital payment option when filing may find that a corrected claim is paid some other way. OpenClassActions.com reads this as suggesting a cured claim could be paid by check; the notice itself does not name the alternative.
Deficiency Notice vs. Denial Notice
Earlier in 2026 the settlement website described a different letter, the Notice of Deficient Claim Form. That one asked certain claimants to supply missing or incomplete information by September 8, 2026 — online through a portal if the notice arrived by email, or by mail if it came on paper.
The denial notice appears to be the next stage in the same review. It goes to claims the administrator has decided to deny, and unlike the deficiency notice it can only be answered by mail. The two letters have separate deadlines. Someone who already answered a deficiency notice and then got a denial notice still has to mail a Denial Response Form by October 17, 2026; the earlier response does not carry over.
The Settlement Behind the Notices
The settlement sets up a $177 million fund covering two AT&T data incidents from 2024, split into two pools:
| $149 million | Exposure of customer personal information. |
| $28 million | Theft of call and text records. |
The claim deadline was December 18, 2025, and about 4.38 million claims were filed. No new claims are being taken; only people who received a denial notice can respond to one.
The court held its final approval hearing on January 15, 2026. As of September 23, 2026, no final approval order had been entered and no payment date had been announced. Reviewing claims and resolving denials is part of what the administrator does before any distribution, so the arrival of denial notices is not a sign that payments are about to start.
Checking That the Notice Is Real
The notices reviewed by OpenClassActions.com come from the Kroll forms domain used for the original claim form and direct readers to the official settlement website. To stay safe, open the form only through a message you were expecting, or check your claim status through the official AT&T data incident settlement website. No one should ask you to pay to fix a settlement claim. Our sister site tracks approval and payment timing on its main AT&T data breach settlement page and covers this step in its AT&T denial notice report.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I respond to an AT&T data breach settlement denial notice?
Complete and sign the Denial Response Form attached to the notice and mail it to the settlement administrator at the address printed on the notice. It must be postmarked by October 17, 2026.
Can I email the form or use the website’s Contact Us page?
No. The notice says responses sent by email or through the Contact Us form on the settlement website will not be accepted or answered. Mail is the only accepted method, and each claimant must send an individual response.
What happens if I do nothing?
According to the notice, a claimant who does not mail a Denial Response Form postmarked by October 17, 2026 will have the claim rejected and will receive no compensation for it.
I already answered a deficiency notice. Do I still need to respond?
Yes, if you then received a denial notice. The Notice of Deficient Claim Form had a September 8, 2026 deadline; the denial notice is a separate letter with its own October 17, 2026 mailing deadline.
Will I still be paid electronically?
Not necessarily. The notice warns that a claim may no longer be eligible for an electronic payment even if the problem is fixed.
Does the denial notice mean AT&T payments are coming soon?
No. The final approval hearing was held January 15, 2026, but no final approval order had been entered and no payment date had been announced as of September 23, 2026.
Sources
- Kroll Settlement Administration denial notice and Denial Response Form, In re: AT&T Inc. Customer Data Security Breach Litigation, No. 3:24-md-03114-E (N.D. Tex.), as reviewed by OpenClassActions.com on September 23, 2026.
- Official settlement website and its FAQ on deficiency notices — TelecomDataSettlement.com.
- OpenClassActions.com — AT&T Data Breach Settlement Denial Notices: Claimants Must Mail a Response by Oct. 17.
Source and credit: this report builds on our sister site’s coverage — OpenClassActions.com: AT&T Data Breach Settlement Denial Notices — Mail a Response by Oct. 17 — which follows the case and is updated as new filings, orders and payment news come in.
Legal Disclaimer
This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. OpenClassActions.org is a consumer news site, not a law firm and not the settlement administrator, and is not affiliated with any party to the case described. The allegations are allegations; unless a court has ruled, the defendants deny wrongdoing and no court has decided the merits. Deadlines, benefit amounts and payment timing can change as the court and the administrator act, so confirm current status on the official settlement website. You never need to pay anyone to file a claim or to receive a settlement payment.