Settlement Notices

Your options after a class action settlement notice

Updated · Sources

A settlement notice gives you five options: file a claim, exclude yourself, object, go to the final approval hearing, or do nothing. If the court approves the settlement, every option except excluding yourself leaves you bound by its release, so the first choice is whether you stay in the class; the helper below shows what each option keeps and gives up, and the choice stays yours.

A closed envelope in the center with four arrows pointing to four blank cards in navy, teal, amber and light blue.

How to read the result

The helper sorts the options into those that match your answers, those that match in part, and the rest, and shows for each what you do, what it keeps, what it gives up and which deadline governs it. When two answers pull apart, such as wanting the payment and also keeping the right to sue on your own, it says so: no option gives you both. Your own notice and settlement agreement decide the details.

The five options at a glance

Many notices open with a table of options modeled on the plain-language guide the Federal Judicial Center (FJC) wrote for judges. The FJC calls its wording deliberately blunt:

The FJC's model wording for each option, and what stays with you
OptionFJC model wordingBound by the release?
File a claim“The only way to get a payment.” Federal Judicial Centerchecked October 1, 2026Yes
Exclude yourselfGet no payment. This is the only option that allows you to ever be part of any other lawsuit against XYZ, about the legal claims in this case.No
Object“Write to the Court about why you don't like the settlement.”Yes, if the court approves
Go to the hearing“Ask to speak in Court about the fairness of the settlement.”Yes, if the court approves
Do nothing“Get no payment. Give up rights.”Yes

"XYZ" stands for the company in the FJC's model. In a settlement where some people are paid without filing anything, "the only way to get a payment" and "get no payment" don't hold for them; that's covered further down.

File a claim

Keeps: your place in the class and any payment the settlement offers you. Gives up: the right to sue separately over the claims the agreement releases. You send the claim form by the claim deadline, online or by mail as your notice allows. Claim forms can be sworn: on one court-approved form we read, the claim form is signed under penalty of perjury Flagstar settlement administratorchecked October 1, 2026. Payment comes later, and the FJC's model notice says so plainly: “Payments will be made if the Court approves the settlement and after appeals are resolved. Please be patient.” Federal Judicial Centerchecked October 1, 2026

Exclude yourself (opt out)

Keeps: any right you have to bring your own case about these claims, at your own cost. Gives up: any payment from this settlement. Rule 23(c)(2)(B) requires the notice to a federal class certified under Rule 23(b)(3), the kind of class this page is about, to state that the court will exclude from the class any member who requests exclusion, and the time and manner for requesting exclusion, and under Rule 23(c)(3), the judgment covers those to whom the notice was directed, who have not requested exclusion, and whom the court finds to be class members Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law Schoolchecked October 1, 2026.

The method is set by each notice, and some are strict. One notice we read says: “Exclusion requests cannot be made via phone or email.” U.S. District Court, W.D. Wash.checked October 1, 2026 It also says: “‘Mass’ or ‘class’ exclusion requests shall not be permitted.” In the notices we read, opting out also ends your right to object: the first notice says that anyone who opts out is barred from objecting, and another says you may object only if you have not excluded yourself U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohiochecked October 1, 2026.

Object

Keeps: your place in the class. Gives up: nothing extra, but if the court approves the settlement anyway, you're bound by the release like everyone who stayed in. Rule 23 says that “any class member may object to the proposal,” and that “the objection must state whether it applies only to the objector, to a specific subset of the class, or to the entire class, and also state with specificity the grounds for the objection.” You don't need a lawyer: the rule's committee note tells courts that “a class member who is not represented by counsel may present objections that do not adhere to technical legal standards” Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law Schoolchecked October 1, 2026.

Objecting asks the judge to say no; it can't rewrite the deal. One notice puts it this way: “the Court can only approve or reject the Settlement.” Whether you can object and still claim depends on the notice. One says: “You may file a claim even if you object to, or comment on, the Settlement.” U.S. District Court, D.D.C.checked October 1, 2026 Another, for people paid automatically, says: “If you object, you will still receive a payment if you are a Subclass A member.” Where the objection goes also varies: one notice wants it filed with the court and sent to the administrator, another wants it mailed to the court, and one says an objection must be written under penalty of perjury U.S. District Court, W.D. Wash.checked October 1, 2026. Your notice gives the address and what to include.

Go to the final approval hearing

Keeps: your place in the class. Gives up: nothing by itself. At the hearing the judge decides whether the settlement is fair; the court may approve it “only after a hearing and only on finding that it is fair, reasonable, and adequate” Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law Schoolchecked October 1, 2026. You don't have to attend; the notices we read say so. To speak, the notices we read ask you to say so in writing by a set date. The hearing can also move: notices tell you to check the case website, so take the date from there.

Do nothing

Doing nothing still has a result. The FTC put it in one line: “Class members who do nothing in response to the notice will automatically become bound by the settlement terms.” Federal Trade Commission staffchecked October 1, 2026 What you receive depends on how the settlement pays. Where payment needs a claim, one notice says that no valid claim means no payment, but you are still bound unless you exclude yourself U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohiochecked October 1, 2026. Where payment is automatic, the money comes and the release applies all the same. One agreement we read says members are bound even if they never received notice, never made a claim, or never cashed a check Parties, filed in W.D. Wash.checked October 1, 2026.

What a release is

A release is the list of legal claims that class members give up in exchange for the settlement. It's a defined term in the settlement agreement, and it is not "everything": it covers the claims the agreement lists, against the people and companies it names. In one notice we read, the release applies whether or not a claim form is filed U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohiochecked October 1, 2026. That's why "I never filed, so nothing changed for me" doesn't hold. The notice usually points to the release section of the agreement for the exact wording. This site doesn't interpret any particular release; class counsel named in the notice can explain it.

Claims-made, automatic, or both

In its study of consumer class actions, the FTC sorted settlements into claims made, direct payment, and two kinds of hybrid Federal Trade Commission staffchecked October 1, 2026: in claims-made settlements everyone must file to be paid, in direct-payment settlements no one has to, and in hybrids some must, or a claim adds to an automatic payment. The FJC's guide for judges says that where the company already holds the data, “those claims should be paid directly without requiring claim forms” Federal Judicial Centerchecked October 1, 2026.

Your notice says which kind yours is, usually in the section on how to get a payment; that decides what "do nothing" means for you. In some settlements the money is shared pro rata, meaning the fund is divided in proportion to each approved claim, so the final figure depends on how many people claim. One notice we read says payments are shared pro rata by the size of each recognized claim U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohiochecked October 1, 2026, and that the plan of allocation is subject to change until the court approves it.

Three settlements, three different answers

Paid automatically, or only on a claim. In the Amazon returns settlement, Subclass A members are paid automatically and do not file a claim form U.S. District Court, W.D. Wash.checked October 1, 2026, while Subclass B members must file an eligible claim form to be paid, and a person in both subclasses can receive payouts from both funds. In the helper, a reader in the first group who answers "automatic" sees "do nothing" match a wish to be paid; a reader in the second sees that doing nothing means no payment. Both are bound by the release unless they opt out, and opting out there takes the website form or a signed letter. The current dates are on our Amazon returns settlement page.

Objecting and still claiming. A reader who wants the payment but thinks the deal is unfair sees "file a claim", "object" and "go to the hearing" listed together. Whether that works depends on the notice; the Visa and Mastercard ATM fee notice allows it in so many words. See our ATM fee settlement page for its deadlines, which are not all of the same kind.

Keeping the right to sue. A reader who wants to bring their own case sees "exclude yourself" as the only match, with the note that it means no payment and no objection. In the Kroger prescription settlement, the exclusion deadline comes before the claim deadline, so by the time the claim deadline arrives, the chance to opt out has passed. Our Kroger settlement page gives both dates, and our page on class action deadlines explains why the order matters.

Who can help, for free

If you aren't sure a notice is genuine, check it first with our notice checker.

This page gives general information about how class settlements work, not legal advice about your situation. It doesn't recommend any option; which one to take is your decision.

Sources

  1. Rule 23. Class Actions, with Advisory Committee NotesLegal Information Institute, Cornell Law School
  2. Judges' Class Action Notice and Claims Process Checklist and Plain Language Guide (2010), PDFFederal Judicial Center
  3. I Need Legal HelpLegal Services Corporation
  4. Claim Form, Angus et al. v. Flagstar Bank, N.A., No. 2:21-cv-10657Flagstar settlement administrator
  5. Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, In re: Amazon Return Policy Litigation, No. 2:23-cv-01372-JNWU.S. District Court, W.D. Wash.
  6. If You Paid for One or More Prescription Drugs with Insurance At Kroger, A Class Action Settlement Could Affect You (Long-Form Notice)U.S. District Court, S.D. Ohio
  7. Notice of Proposed Class Action Settlement, Burke v. Visa Inc., No. 1:11-cv-01882U.S. District Court, D.D.C.
  8. Consumers and Class Actions: A Retrospective and Analysis of Settlement Campaigns (September 2019), PDFFederal Trade Commission staff
  9. Settlement Agreement, In re: Amazon Return Policy LitigationParties, filed in W.D. Wash.
  10. Procedural Guidance for Class Action Settlements (published Nov. 1, 2018; modified Sept. 5, 2024)U.S. District Court, Northern District of California
  11. State attorneys generalUSAGov

Each source listed here was read on .