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After the parties in a class action lawsuit reach an agreement and the judge presiding over the matter approves the settlement, the claims process begins. The consumer files their form, then sits back and waits on their settlement payout to show up in their mailbox or PayPal account.
In most cases, Class Members receive their settlement payouts in a timely manner, but some normal court procedures and other factors can delay the cash.
Appeals and Objections
Settlement payouts often can be delayed if Class Members file objections to the settlement, extending the appeals process.
Typically consumers are given the option to opt out of a settlement, in order to retain their legal rights to bring their own litigation against a defendant, or to object to the settlement. A person might choose to object if they don’t like something about the terms of the settlement agreement.
A recent case in which consumers’ settlement payouts have been delayed due to objections is the Facebook Illinois biometric privacy class action lawsuit.
The case involved Facebook’s use of facial recognition and tagging features without users’ consent, which is prohibited under the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA).
Three Facebook users’ objections to the $650 million settlement relate to attorneys’ fees and whether the amount of the settlement is large enough.
Though the settlement was approved in February, opening briefs in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals are set to begin in July, with responses not scheduled until August, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Class Members are expected to receive settlement payouts of between $200 and $400.
Class Counsel told the Chicago Tribune he remains confident the appellate court will uphold the lower court’s decision and checks ultimately will go out.
Multiple Defendants
Class action lawsuits filed over price-fixing claims can move more slowly than most simply because of the sheer number of defendants that are usually involved.
Often these defendants — say, various poultry suppliers or automotive parts producers — will negotiate their settlement terms individually, even though they are all part of the same class action lawsuit or multidistrict litigation.
These individual settlement agreements move at their own pace, but in many cases, Class Members may not receive their payments until all the individual agreements are finalized.
That is exactly what happened with a domestic airlines ticket price-fixing class action lawsuit filed several years ago.
The multidistrict litigation alleged several domestic airlines schemed to keep ticket prices high by limiting seating capacity on domestic flights.
But while defendant airlines began reaching settlements with consumers in late 2017, consumers have yet to see a settlement payout.
Some of the defendant airlines have not yet settled or had their day in court, and future trials or settlement agreements could result in more money for consumers.
In these types of cases — and many others with multiple defendants — the settlement website often will give consumers the ability to register to stay informed on the case’s progress.
Claim Form Issues
And finally, but importantly, incomplete or incorrect information on a Class Member’s claim form can slow the settlement payout process or even result in a payment being denied.
Consumers should double-check that all the information they are submitting on or with their form is complete, correct, and true.
More tips on filing a claim can be found here.
Have you ever filed a claim in a class action settlement only to have the settlement payment delayed? Tell us about your experience in the comment section below.
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8 thoughts onWhy Is Your Class Action Settlement Payout Taking So Long?
I am one of the Plaintiffs in a Class Action Lawsuit against the manufacturers of the Retrievable IVC Filter, Argon Medical Device Manufacturing Company, and Rex Medical. We won a settlement, (June/2022), as the court found these company’s liable. My question? Presently it is now October 2023 and as of this month and year, there have been no emails, no legal forms for signature, nor any type of notifications indicating as to when we should expect our payment. Why is payment taking so long?
The doubledown settlement was finally approved in June 2023. The website said payment within 90 days now the website says no sooner than 120 days after court approval. Why the change?
Lemonade Insurance lost a class action lawsuit and claimants have yet to receive payment. How long does this take?
Yes I’ve been waiting so long!! It’s now end of June and I am still waiting. They made us submit those tax forms so hopefully soon.
Mercedes BluTec Class Action Lawsuit. After my husband passed I received a notification of this lawsuit 1) I almost didn’t look at it because my vehicle was sold as a 2018 not a 2016 which was included in the suite. 2) Contacting the agency I discovered it was included and is a 2016 not 2018. The dealership said that is the way it is – they sold as 2018 because of construction “they can do that” no where were we told this and even on the video it represents a 2018. 3) I proceeded to fill out all the paperwork for the claim. 4) Took the vehicle in and had the recall work done – waiting 15 months to get an appointment “not using the vehicle” due to the repair. 5) Submitted the paperwork with the dealership invoice from the repair for the recall. 6) Received an email saying my claim was rejected for lack of paperwork. 7) Spent a week trying to run down all of the information they wanted – (while I was prepping with numerous medical appointments for surgery on October 10.) 8) While waiting for a phone call from the supervisor of the JND Settlement company (which never came) October 7 I called again. Only to find out that they in fact had all the paperwork to process the claim. (I spent a week) 22 hours on the phone tracking information and running it down. As I had moved 3x since I purchased the vehicle, COVID HAPPENED, My husband passed, His sons ransacked my paperwork looking for money after his death. ALL that time I spent on the phone talking to old insurance companies, agents, the DMV in Oregon and Washington, The finance company, paying for copies of the records dating back to 2018 and my bank and credit union also to obtain records. I then am told they have everything. I would have let it all drop on Friday the 7th of October, as upset as I was… But then today October 11, 2022 I received a call from Tom who identified himself as Tom from Mercedes… was calling regarding the Blue Tec settlement and wanted to let me know that as a result of my claim not getting processed till late in the week last week, it didn’t get in with the batching for payments for October so it won’t go out for payment till in November. Now personally I didn’t care at that point. But I went through this whole spiel and told him that he needed to expedite it and attempt to deal with it getting in the batching as soon as possible. Also as then I asked if he was from Mercedes or JND Settlement (law firm) he said JND and I told him he misrepresented who he was stating he was from Mercedes. Why can’t people just be honest. I am the day after a surgery. I didn’t really want to deal with this. But I saw this as two fold… These agencies may be good… May be good people – I don’t know. The companies even good companies. I love my Mercedes Van. I just hate the gas prices… But what I don’t love… I don’t love the fact that I bought, purchased and was sold a 2018 which is in fact a 2016. How can they get away with that…. The bank thinks it is a 2018… the DMV thinks it is a 2018… I thought it was a 2018 …my late husband thought it was a 2018… and guess what it is a 2016 and without this lawsuit we would have never known. But by the VIN # THE DEALERSHIP AND EVERYONE ELSE WOULD HAVE KNOWN. This kind of stuff should be against the law… At 67, soon to be 68 why can people… dealerships, rv companies get away with doing this? A
Have not received any funds from the Roundup and it will be almost two years in June. No lawyer knows when they might pay me.
Still waiting for my settlement from Arizona Mucho Macho Drink, Breyers Vanilla Ice Cream, DayQuil Non Drowsy Class Action Suits.
My Fiancée recieved her settlement for the Sushanek V Sturm Foods, inc but I have yet to recieve my settlement check… why is this??