Claim deadline
The claim deadline is the last day the administrator will accept your claim form. Miss it and you almost always get nothing, even if you clearly qualified.
Deadlines are set by the court and printed on the notice and the settlement website. Postmark rules apply to paper claims, so a form posted on the deadline usually counts, while one delivered later does not.
Administrators can accept late claims at their discretion, and occasionally do when the fund has money left. It is not something to rely on.
If a deadline is close and you are unsure whether you qualify, file anyway with accurate information. A claim that is honestly made and then rejected costs you nothing; a claim never filed cannot be reconsidered.
Related terms
Final approval
Final approval is the decision by a judge, after a fairness hearing, that the settlement is fair and can take effect. Payments follow once any appeals are resolved.
Proof of purchase
Proof of purchase is documentation showing you bought the product or used the service, usually a receipt, an order confirmation, a bank statement line, or a photograph of the item.