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Update: De Beers Diamond Settlement Checks In the Mail for Dealers
By Kimberly Mirando
UPDATE 6/7/13: De Beers Diamond Consumer Settlement Checks Go Out!
Good news for those waiting to get a check from the De Beers diamond class action lawsuit settlement: on August 10, 2012, a New Jersey federal court gave the green light to allow the first checks to be mailed to the Indirect Purchaser Reseller Subclass, which includes most jewelers and diamond dealers.
According to the De Beers settlement administrator, Rust Consulting, 7,862 claim forms were received and processed from the Indirect Purchaser Reseller Subclass. Of those, 1,672 were not eligible to participate in the class action settlement, leaving a total of 6,190 eligible claimants.
The Indirect Purchaser Reseller Subclass will be allocated over $110.8 million, including interest. This amount may be reduced pending any future administrative and escrow fees.
The court ruled that claimants whose total payment would be $25 or less will not receive a payment, Rust said. Around 135 claims fell into this category.
So how will you receive your money from the De Beers diamond class action lawsuit settlement? Payments will be divided into two distributions: claimants will receive approximately 85 percent of their payout during the initial distribution and 15 percent during the second distribution – unless the second amount falls below $25. In that case, claimants will receive their payments in full during the first distribution.
Some diamond dealers who bought directly from De Beers or its competitors are also included in the Direct Purchaser Class. No official word has been given on when payments in this Class will be distributed. However, we’ve heard rumors that consumer checks may be mailed by the end of the year. Once a date is confirmed, we’ll pass it on.
Keep checking Top Class Actions for the latest updates on the De Beers diamond class action lawsuit settlement.
Updated June 7th, 2013
All class action and lawsuit news updates are listed in the Lawsuit News section of Top Class Actions
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71 thoughts onUpdate: De Beers Diamond Settlement Checks In the Mail for Dealers
I got my check this week. According to the calculation when I first filed, I was eligible for close to $900. I thought, well maybe I’ll see $300ish. Silly me!!! Got a whopping $59! Yet another suit were the lawyers win and the claimants get screwed. Guess none of us should be surprised.
Call me stumped, got a check in the mail for $59, knew nothing about the suit and still have no clue why we got a check.
Got my check today too the way I had it figured I should have gotten a couple hundred dollars. Got $32.01
Well,I finally received my check today it was a far cry from what they said we would get..I got $112.35,but I guess it’s better then nothing.
Judge Approves Distribution of De Beers Consumer Class Action Settlement Checks
By Mike Holter
We finally have some good news for members of the De Beers Indirect Purchaser Consumer Subclass – U.S. District Judge Stanley R. Chesler has officially signed an order authorizing the distribution of settlement checks to consumers.
In an order signed May 13, 2013, but filed with the court yesterday, Judge Chesler approved distribution of the De Beers class action settlement fund to consumers who submitted a valid Claim Form by the original deadline of May 19, 2008 and for those who submitted late claims on or before March 1, 2013. That means consumers should be expecting settlement checks in the mail soon.
Last month we mistakenly reported that Judge Chesler had signed off on the distribution on April 9, but the document filed was actually a proposed order that he officially signed on Friday.
In addition to approving distribution of the $107.9 million De Beers class action settlement, the order approves the administrative recommendations of the Claims Administrator, Rust Consulting, concerning the rejection of deficient and ineligible claims.
Judge Chesler said Rust offered claimants “reasonable notice of claim deficiencies and an opportunity to cure them.” These deficiencies included, but were not limited to, claims filed without supporting documentation, claims that were missing a signature, and claims that fell below $10.
Rust received and processed 606,044 claims, of which 547,741 claimants were mailed letters advising them their claims were deficient and told they had between 15 and 30 days to respond and cure the deficiencies. In the end, only 551,909 claimants were eligible to receive a distribution from the class action settlement fund, according to court documents.
Even if your claim is rejected, you may be able to talk the administrator into approving your claim if you have good cause. In his order, Chesler also approved Rust’s recommendation to reserve from the De Beers Consumer Settlement Fund the sum of $18,075 for “future unanticipated contingencies, including for payment claimants who come forward and provide good cause as to why their previously rejected claim should be paid.”
The De Beers Diamond Class Action Lawsuit Settlement case is Shawn Sullivan, et al. v. DB Investments Inc., Case No. 04-cv-2819 (SRC), U.S. District Court, New Jersey.
It is not fair. If you owed the money they would be charging you interst on it. It’s about time to settle. Plus they really don’t give you any answers. They just say it will be coming. But so is Christmas, and a few of them have passed since this was suppose to be settled.
Does any one out there have an update on when the consumer class checks will go out…this thing just goes on and on with no information for us.
Did you hear about Rust Consulting and the Independent Foreclosure Review? They are the ones sending out the checks to people who were put into foreclosure fraudulently by some of the really big banks. Anyway in the first round of checks, some of them were not honored at deposit. Kinda makes you wonder about Rust.
think of all the money that might be left over from people that have moved and or died or moved over seas gone to jail or what ever
After all this time, why haven’t we heard anything or received a check. According to the claim we filed, we are to receive a settlement but haven’t heard anything as of today. This is so frustrating.