MA · AG Filing: Apr 1, 2025
No cost. No obligation. If your data was exposed by Cottingham & Butler, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
Start Free Review →You may have been affected by the Cottingham & Butler data breach if:
Cottingham & Butler was responsible for safeguarding the personal data of its customers and employees. According to a MA state filing, Cottingham & Butler experienced a data security incident affecting an undisclosed number of individuals, exposing financial account information and payment data. Legal proceedings relating to this breach are ongoing.
Large-scale data breaches rarely affect uniform categories of data for all victims. Some individuals in the Cottingham & Butler breach may have had minimal data exposed, while others may have had comprehensive records compromised. Because the full scope of exposure often takes months to assess, a free legal review is the most reliable way to understand your specific situation.
Cottingham & Butler appears to be an insurance brokerage and risk management firm that handles sensitive commercial and personal policies. In the regular course of business, such companies typically collect and store sensitive personal and financial data, including names, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, policy numbers, and financial account information. This data security incident was officially reported to the Massachusetts Attorney General in 2025. Individuals whose information was potentially compromised were sent a formal data breach notification letter detailing the incident. If you received one of these letters, it means your personal information was involved, and you should review the guidance provided to protect yourself against potential misuse.
Based on the data types reported in this filing:
Your SSN is the master key to your identity. Once exposed, criminals can open new lines of credit, take out loans, or file taxes in your name.
Combined with a name and other leaked data, date of birth helps criminals pass identity verification questions at banks and government agencies.
Home address exposure can enable mail theft, package fraud, and targeted phishing attacks that reference your known location.
Common categories of compensation in data breach class actions
The hours spent responding to a data breach — canceling accounts, contacting credit bureaus, updating passwords, and investigating fraud — represent compensable economic harm in data breach litigation.
Once your SSN is exposed, protection becomes an ongoing expense. Plaintiffs in data breach settlements have recovered costs for credit freezes, identity protection subscriptions, and time spent dealing with fraudulent accounts — sometimes covering multiple years of exposure.
Fees charged to close and reopen accounts, issue replacement cards, or dispute fraudulent transactions are recoverable in data breach litigation. So are the costs of overdrafts, late payments, and credit damage caused by unauthorized activity.
Data breach victims regularly report anxiety, loss of sleep, and ongoing fear of identity theft. These non-economic harms are cognizable injuries in data breach litigation, particularly in cases involving SSN or medical record exposure.
Applicable State Law
This breach was reported under the Massachusetts Data Security Law (201 CMR 17.00), which mandates notification and establishes your right to seek damages.
No. Under Massachusetts Data Security Law (201 CMR 17.00) and federal law, the unauthorized exposure of your personal data — regardless of whether it has been actively misused — can be sufficient grounds for a claim. The breach itself is the injury.
Nothing. The Law Office of David S. Harris handles data breach cases on contingency — you pay zero upfront and owe nothing unless compensation is recovered.
Immediately place a free credit freeze at all three bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion). A freeze blocks new accounts from being opened in your name. Then file a complaint with the FTC at IdentityTheft.gov and contact our office — SSN exposure is one of the most serious breach types.
Banks may reverse fraudulent charges, but they are not obligated to compensate you for time lost, stress, or indirect damages. A class action claim against the breached company can recover those additional categories of harm.
Statutes of limitations for data breach claims vary by state but typically run 2–4 years. Depending on when you learned of the breach, you may still have time. Contact our office for a free eligibility review — there is no cost to find out.
Accepting free credit monitoring from Cottingham & Butler does not waive your right to pursue legal action unless you signed a specific release waiving claims. In most cases, victims who accepted monitoring can still file.
Not necessarily. Many data breach victims are never notified directly. If your personal information was held by Cottingham & Butler during the relevant period, you may still qualify even without receiving a letter. A free eligibility review can confirm your status.
Received a notification letter from Cottingham & Butler?
Read our dedicated guide — what the letter means and what to do.
Learn how to participate in the class action and what compensation you may be entitled to.
Join the Class Action →Use our verification tool to confirm your letter matches this official AG filing.
Verify My Notice LetterThis page references a public filing made with the state filing in MA. This website is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by any state government agency.
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