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Any unreimbursed costs, expenses, losses or charges incurred as a result of identity theft and miscellaneous expenses associated with the breach, such as notary, fax, postage, mileage and telephone charges can also be claimed.

In addition, all affected consumers are eligible to receive at least 10 years of free credit-monitoring and at least seven years of free identity-restoration services.

Starting Dec. 31, and extending seven years, all U.S. consumers may request up to six free copies of their Equifax credit report during any 12-month period as well. The free copies will be provided to requesting consumers in addition to any free reports to which they are entitled under federal law.

Consumers who decide not to enroll in the free credit monitoring available through the settlement may seek up to $125 as a reimbursement for the cost of a credit-monitoring product of their choice.

How to file a claim

A settlement administrator will manage the claims process.

Consumers must submit a claim to receive the free credit monitoring or cash reimbursements online or by mail after the court approves the settlement.

Deadlines for filing the claims will also be included on the website.

Additional information about the settlement and how to find out whether you are eligible for relief can be found here.

How to know if you're affected

After the breach was announced, Equifax mailed notices to people whose credit card numbers or dispute documents with personal identifying information were impacted.

At the time, consumers were also able to enter their personal information into a database to determine whether they were affected, but that function appears to have since been disabled.

The agency also recommended that people closely monitor their financial accounts and credit scores for unauthorized activity.

Equifax taking steps to fix the issues

Equifax has added tools to better monitor its network traffic as well as restricted traffic between internal servers and tightened controls on who can access certain systems and networks, according to AP.

Since the breach, the chief information officer and top security executive have retired, and the agency hired a new chief technology officer, according to AP.

In a statement, Equifax CEO Mark Begor described the settlement as a \"positive step\" for both U.S. consumers and the company as it moves forward from the breach. Equifax plans to \"focus\" on its investments in technology and security, Begor said.

\"The consumer fund of up to $425 million that we are announcing today reinforces our commitment to putting consumers first and safeguarding their data -- and reflects the seriousness with which we take this matter,\" Begor said. \"We have been committed to resolving this issue for consumers and have the financial capacity to manage the settlement while continuing our $1.25 billion EFX2020 technology and security investment program. We are focused on the future of Equifax and returning to market leadership and growth.\"

Equifax has denied any wrongdoing, and no judgement or finding of wrongdoing has been made, according to a statement on the settlement website.

ABC News' Will Gretsky and Adam Kelsey contributed to this report.

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