In the Peter vs Apple Class action settlement final approval hearing held on 21 August 2024, the court approved the $25 million settlement. The class members who have filed the claim are now awaiting settlement compensation.
The settlement website has not issued any new updates on the payout; however, class members can expect the payment soon if they have filed a valid claim. Let’s see when you can expect the Apple class action settlement payout.
Peters vs Apple Class Action Settlement
A lawsuit was filed against Apple in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles in 2019 alleging the defendant had misguided the users about the Family Sharing feature. The Family sharing feature allows the users to share the subscription of particular apps with other family members.
The plaintiffs claim that most of the apps do not support family sharing, but still, Apple presented the Family sharing feature where people can share subscriptions. Apple did not agree with the allegations and decided to resolve the case with a $25 million settlement.
The court has called out the people who were involved in Apple’s Family Sharing plan to file an election form before 01 March 2024 to receive the class payment. The final hearing was held in August 2024, the class members who have filed the settlement form can expect the class payment in 2025 as it may take the administrator some time.
In the final hearing, the court ordered re-compliance with the settlement scheduled for April 2025 and the class counsel will submit the report and declaration from the claims administrator in March 2025.
Peters vs Apple Class Action Settlement Payout
The Apple class action settlement was settled with a $25 million settlement fund, which will be used to compensate the class members. Apple has deposited the fund to the neutral company that the Court has set as a settlement Administrator. But before that, the gross settlement fund will be used to settle the following fees:
- Attorney’s Fee and costs up to $6,250.00
- Settlement Administrator costs and fees of up to $872,283.20 for managing, processing, and distributing the settlement.
- Class Representatives Incentives award up to $10000 to each class representative who has filed the lawsuit and working with class counsel
After the above expenses and fees are deducted from the gross settlement fund, the net settlement fund will be used for the class payment. The class payment for each claimant would depend on the number of claims filed and many other factors.
According to the administrator’s estimates, each class member will receive a class payment of up to $30 through this settlement. The class members should understand that if the administrative costs and other costs go higher, or the filed claims are higher, the payout per person can be reduced as well.
Who will receive the Peters vs Apple Class Action Settlement?
According to Peters vs Apple Class Action Settlement, people who meet the following eligibility conditions will be part of the settlement and can receive the class payment:
- All the Apple users who purchased the subscription to an app through the Apple App Store, except the first-party Apple apps during the class period, 21 June 2015 to 30 January 2019.
- You signed up for the app while you were part of a Family Sharing Group that included at least one other member during the time of the subscription, and Apple’s records indicate that these members were located in the United States at the time of the purchase.
Exclusions:
- Employees, agents, or officers of Apple Inc. are excluded from the Apple Family Sharing settlement.
- All the judges, staff, and their immediate family members are also excluded from the settlement.
- People who have submitted the exclusion form before the deadline of 01 March 2024 gave up the right to receive the class payment.
How will you receive the Peters vs Apple Class Action Settlement payout?
The eligible class members of the Peter vs Apple Class action settlement who have filed the valid claim on the settlement will receive the class payment through the payment method they have elected in the form. In Apple Class action settlement, the class members can receive the class payment either by ACH transfer or check.
The class members who opted for checks should know they should cash out the payment before it becomes void and gets automatically canceled. The class members who have changed their mailing address or ACH transfer details should update the authority now to receive the payment timely otherwise they might miss the payment when the administrator processes it in 2025.
What to do if you lose or miss the Settlement check?
The class member advised me to inform the settlement administrator about any change in the mailing address to avoid losing or missing the check, however, if you still lose it before you cash out the payment, you must contact the settlement administrator.
The settlement administrator may replace your settlement check based on your reasoning and you might get the settlement check before the void date of the original check. The void date of the replaced check will be the same, so the class members expecting the payment should stay updated on the payment distribution.
The settlement administrator will update the payment distribution timing on the settlement website at https://www.petersfamilysharingplan.com/, so the class members should regularly visit the site and monitor when their class payment will be disbursed.
The Apple Family sharing settlement was approved by the court in August 2024, the class member waiting for the payment can expect it in early 2025.