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U-Haul Data Breach

Posted on behalf of Arnold Law Firm in
NOTICE: If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH letter from U-Haul, contact the Arnold Law Firm at 916-777-7777 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential Case Evaluation form here.
U-HAUL data breachOn September 9, 2022, U-Haul sent a letter (“Data Breach Letter”) to consumers stating, “We detected a compromise of two unique passwords that were used to access a customer contract search tool that allows access to rental contracts for U-Haul customers.” U-Haul claims “The search tool cannot access payment card information; no credit card information was accessed or acquired.” U-Haul states it “promptly changed the passwords,” and “cybersecurity experts were retained.” U-Haul claims its investigation determined “an unauthorized person accessed the customer control search tool and some customer contracts.” U-Haul did not say when it first “detected a compromise of the two unique passwords.” It did claim that “On August 1, 2022, our investigation determined some rental contracts were accessed between November 5, 2021 and April 5, 2022.” U-Haul completed its investigation on September 7, 2022 and determined the “accessed information” included “your name and driver’s license or state identification number.” U-Haul’s parent company, AMERCO, is publicly traded, and U-Haul generated around $4 billion in revenue in 2021. It is the 3rd largest self-storage operator in North America, and it has 19,500 employees, 128,000 trucks, and 46,000 towing devices. The data of over 2.2 million individuals was compromised by this data breach. If you received a data breach letter from U-Haul, you were impacted by the data breach.

WHAT INFORMATION IS INVOLVED?

According to U-Haul, the following information was exposed:
  • Name
  • Driver’s License Number
  • State Identification Number
This information is called your Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”). It tells others about you and is considered part of your identity. Businesses are required to secure this information or risk facing statutory penalties, among other legal penalties. Stolen PII can be used by identity thieves to engage in fraudulent activity using your identity. U-Haul is offering free credit monitoring and identity theft protection services through Equifax for one year. The best way to protect yourself after a data breach is to sign up for credit and identity protection services as soon as possible. California offers extra protections and legal rights to its residents through the California Consumer Privacy Act (“CCPA”).

NOTICE: If you received a NOTICE OF DATA BREACH letter from U-Haul, contact the Arnold Law Firm at 916-777-7777 to discuss your legal options, or submit a confidential Case Evaluation form here.

Settlement - $3,767,000

Truck Accident

A 20-year-old man who had been married for just 12 days left home on his way to work. He was driving on Pleasant Grove Road in Sutter County in the early morning when he came upon a slow-moving truck. As he pulled out to pass the truck, the truck driver turned left in front of him. The young man attempted to steer back into his lane but his vehicle struck an un-flagged piece of metal extending from the back of the truck. He died in the resulting crash.

Expert witnesses brought in by the Arnold Law Firm proved that the truck, owned and operated by a hauling firm, should never have been on the highway that morning. Specifically, the rear and side turn signals did not work and the rear-view mirror was in a poor state of adjustment at the time of the collision. As a result, the driver, who had failed to properly inspect the vehicle before setting out that morning, couldn’t see the young man’s vehicle as it attempted to pass.

The poor condition of the truck, its lack of maintenance and the manner in which it was operated were found to be substantial factors in causing the collision that killed the young man. The testimony also established that the man had been making a lawful pass at the lawful speed limit and acted reasonably when he attempted to avoid the collision.

The man’s 20-year-old widow was awarded $3,767,000.77, his parents were awarded $185,131 and the family was reimbursed $11,899 in funeral expenses. Though money is a poor substitute for a young man’s life, this verdict demonstrates that drivers who endanger the lives of others will be held accountable for their actions.