Pending Settlements: Open Claims, Deadlines, and Payouts

Pending settlements are proposed class action deals that a court has been asked to approve but has not yet signed off on. During this window, class members have been notified, claim forms are usually available, and the deadlines to file, opt out, or object are already running — but no money moves until a judge grants final approval. If you got a notice in the mail or an email about a familiar company, you are almost certainly in this phase, and what you do before the deadline on the notice decides whether you get paid.

What “Pending” Means in a Class Action

A class action settlement has to clear two judicial checkpoints before anyone gets a check. At the preliminary approval stage, the judge reviews the proposed terms, the notice plan, and the method for allocating funds. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(e)(2), the court must decide the deal is likely to be found “fair, reasonable, and adequate” before notice goes out to the class.¹

Once preliminary approval is granted, the clock starts. Class members get formal notice and a window to respond. In the Northern District of California, that window must be at least 35 days, and most federal courts set opt-out and objection deadlines 45 to 60 days from the notice date.²³ After that window closes, the judge holds a final approval hearing, considers claims filed, exclusions, and objections, and either approves the deal or rejects it. The court cannot rewrite the terms. If approval is denied, nothing pays out and the case continues.

One statutory delay affects every federal class settlement. The Class Action Fairness Act requires defendants to notify the attorney general of every state where a class member lives, plus the relevant federal official, within 10 days of filing the proposed deal. A court cannot grant final approval until at least 90 days after that notice.⁴ From preliminary approval to a check in the mail, four months is a fast case; a year or more is normal.¹

Open Claims and Deadlines in 2026

If you want to know whether you are owed money right now, deadlines are what matter. Missing one forfeits the payout even if you are clearly eligible. Here are settlements with claim periods currently open:

Bank of America / 7-Eleven ATM fees — former account holders charged out-of-network ATM fees can file at bofa7elevenatmsettlement.com by June 29, 2026.⁵
Tyson and Cargill beef price-fixing ($87.5 million) — consumers alleging inflated beef prices can file through June 30, 2026.⁶
Ashley / Nectar / DreamCloud fiberglass mattresses — customers who bought covered mattresses between October 2017 and June 2024 can file by July 17, 2026.⁵
Amazon Prime FTC subscription settlement — a second phase of claims is open until July 27, 2026, for customers identified as potentially misled about enrollment.⁵
Shimano Hollowtech II cranksets — owners of bicycles with cranksets made before 2019 can file for warranty extensions or reimbursement by August 4, 2026.⁷
Tinder Plus and Gold age discrimination ($60.5 million) — claims are open until August 18, 2026.⁸
Google Assistant privacy ($93 million) — users whose devices captured audio from unintended activations between May 2016 and March 2026 can file by August 27, 2026.⁵
Comcast Xfinity 2023 data breach — residents notified of exposure in the October 2023 breach can file by September 14, 2026.⁵
Hyundai and Kia defective airbags ($62.1 million) — owners or lessees of qualifying vehicles as of April 14, 2025, have until March 29, 2027.⁷

The Consumer Action class action database lets you sort open cases by status and deadline and links to each official settlement site.⁷

Larger Pending Settlements to Watch

A few high-dollar cases are moving through approval right now and are worth checking against your own records.

Didi Global agreed to a $740 million securities settlement, the largest pending securities deal of 2026. A federal judge in the Southern District of New York granted preliminary approval on January 12, 2026, and the final hearing is scheduled for June 16, 2026. The claim filing deadline passed on April 6, 2026.⁹

Apple reached a $250 million settlement over allegations it falsely marketed AI features for Siri on certain iPhones. The deal covers roughly 37 million devices bought between June 10, 2024, and March 29, 2025, including all iPhone 16 models and the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max. Eligible owners could receive between $25 and $95 per device depending on how many claims are filed. The settlement has preliminary approval in the Northern District of California but still awaits a final approval hearing.¹⁰

In Taylor et al v. Google LLC, Google agreed to pay $135 million to resolve claims that Android transferred user data over cellular connections without permission. The settlement, filed in the Northern District of California (case no. 5:20-cv-07956), received preliminary approval, with objection and exclusion deadlines that passed on May 29, 2026. The final approval hearing is set for June 23, 2026, and anyone who used an Android phone to access the internet via cellular data between November 2017 and June 2026 may be eligible.¹¹¹²

Capital One reached a $425 million settlement over claims it steered customers into lower-interest “360 Savings” accounts without disclosing that its “360 Performance Savings” accounts paid better rates. The class covers customers who held a 360 Savings account between September 2019 and June 2025, and no claim form is required — payments are set to begin automatically.¹²

How to File a Claim

Filing is simpler than most people expect. In a standard class action you are automatically included if you fit the class definition; there is no sign-up for the lawsuit itself. Once a settlement is reached and notice goes out, you submit a claim form through the official settlement website or by mail.¹³

Documentation varies. Many settlements let you file with just your name and contact information. Providing proof of purchase or other supporting records may qualify you for a higher payout tier, and the claim form will spell out exactly what is needed. Filing costs nothing. Attorneys’ fees come out of the settlement fund, not individual claimants’ pockets.¹³ A neutral, court-approved settlement administrator runs each case’s website and call center, processes claims, and mails checks or sends electronic payments after final approval.¹⁴

Opting Out or Objecting

Most class actions are “opt-out,” meaning you are in the class unless you take affirmative steps to leave. If you opt out, you cannot receive any money from the settlement, but you preserve the right to sue the defendant individually. You also lose standing to object to the terms.³ Opting out can make sense for someone with large individual damages; research has shown that solo plaintiffs in securities and antitrust cases sometimes recover multiples of what the class provides per person. The trade-off is bearing the full cost and risk of your own litigation.¹⁵

If you stay in the class but think the settlement is inadequate, you can object. Objections must be in writing, state specific grounds, and be filed by the deadline in the settlement notice, which typically runs 30 to 90 days after notice is issued.¹⁶ The court can only approve or reject the deal as a whole; it cannot order different terms. If enough objections reveal real problems, the judge may deny approval and send the parties back to negotiate.² In practice, fewer than 1% of class members file objections. Filing an objection does not remove you from the class. If you want a payment should the deal be approved, you still have to submit the claim form by the deadline.¹⁷

Why Payment Takes So Long After a Deal Is Announced

The gap between a headline-grabbing settlement announcement and money actually arriving is often a year or more. Three things explain it.

The approval process itself runs on a statutory clock. The 90-day CAFA waiting period, the notice distribution, the objection window, and the final approval hearing combine so that even a straightforward deal rarely reaches payout within six months of the announcement.⁴ After final approval, the settlement administrator still has to validate every submitted claim, resolve disputes, and arrange payments, which can add several more months. And if an objector appeals, distribution can be frozen while the appeal plays out, potentially adding one to three years.¹⁸

What Happens to Unclaimed Money

Whether filing matters to your bottom line depends partly on how the settlement is structured. In a common fund settlement, typical in securities, antitrust, and mass-tort cases, the pool is divided proportionally among everyone who files a valid claim; fewer claimants means a bigger slice for each one, and the entire fund eventually reaches class members.¹⁹

In a claims-made settlement, more common in consumer cases, class members must actively file to get anything. Claims rates are frequently below 10% and sometimes below 1%. One claims administrator testified that for consumer settlements relying on media advertising rather than direct notice, the median claims rate was 0.023%. Unclaimed money is typically redirected to a charitable organization through a mechanism called cy pres (French for “as near as”), which requires that the recipient’s mission align with the purpose of the lawsuit. In rare and disfavored cases, unclaimed funds revert to the defendant.¹⁹

The FTC has estimated that only about 4% of people who receive legitimate settlement notices actually submit claims.²⁰ If you are eligible, the form is the only thing standing between you and the money.

Are Settlement Payments Taxable?

It depends on what the money is replacing. The IRS uses an “origin of the claim” test: in lieu of what were the damages awarded?²¹ Payments for personal physical injuries or physical sickness are generally excluded from taxable income under Internal Revenue Code Section 104(a)(2). Emotional distress damages are tax-free only if they stem from a physical injury. Lost wages, back pay, and employment-related discrimination payments are taxable as ordinary income. Punitive damages are always taxable, even in a physical injury case, and interest on a settlement award is likewise taxable.²² Most consumer class action payouts — data breach refunds, overcharge recoveries, and the like — do not involve physical injury and are therefore generally includable in gross income. The IRS typically respects the allocation spelled out in the settlement agreement.

How to Tell Whether a Settlement Notice Is Real

Scammers impersonate settlement administrators to harvest personal information. A legitimate notice will never ask for your Social Security number, your bank account details, or an upfront fee to process your claim.²⁰ Other warning signs include demands to download attachments, poor grammar, vague case details, and pressure to act immediately.

To verify a notice, search independently for the case name. Find the official settlement website and cross-reference the case number on the notice against the one on the site. Reputable aggregators such as ClassAction.org and TopClassActions.com maintain searchable databases of verified settlements.²⁰ If you believe you have received a fraudulent notice, the Federal Trade Commission accepts reports at reportfraud.ftc.gov.²³

1
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2
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3
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