Important Update: Benefits to eligible class members were distributed on May 31, 2023.
The Court granted final approval to the settlement following the hearing on February 24, 2023. Copies of the Court's Order and other relevant documents are available on the Important Documents page.
What is this lawsuit about?
The lawsuit alleges that SquareTrade underpaid two groups of consumers who purchased SquareTrade Protection Plans, made claims under those Plans, and received a reimbursement from SquareTrade under those Plans.
For the first group, known as the Fast Cash Subclass, the lawsuit alleges that after some customers submitted claims under their Protection Plans, SquareTrade sent them a Fast Cash payment equal to its estimate of the replacement cost of the covered item and that this payment was less than it should have been. SquareTrade denies this.
For the second group, known as the SKU-cap Subclass, the lawsuit alleges that SquareTrade inadvertently applied a “cap” to the reimbursement amount it paid to a small number of customers. The Plaintiffs and Defendant agree that this cap should not have been applied.
Who is included?
Everyone who fits either or both of the following descriptions is a member of the Settlement Class. The Settlement Class is comprised of two sub-classes:
Fast Cash Subclass: Any person who, during the Class Period, (i) submitted a claim for coverage under a Protection Plan, and (ii) whose claim was resolved via a Fast Cash Payment from Defendant.
SKU-Cap Subclass: Any person who, during the Class Period, (i) submitted a claim for coverage under a Protection Plan, (ii) resolved the claim by receiving a monetary payment from Defendant, and (iii) received less than the amount the person should have received were it not for the SKU-cap Error.
However, even if you fall within the above descriptions, you are not a Class Member if you are one of SquareTrade’s officers, directors, legal representatives, successors, subsidiaries, or assigns, or you are a judge to whom this case is assigned, the judge’s spouse, or have a third degree of relationship to the judge or his spouse, or are the spouse of someone with a third degree of relationship.
What does the Settlement provide?
SquareTrade has agreed to make payments to qualified Class Members to supplement the amount(s) they previously received as reimbursement after making a claim under a SquareTrade Protection Plan.
SquareTrade has also agreed to make two changes. First, SquareTrade has modified its Fast Cash claims process to include a disclosure, at the time the customers are presented with the amount of the Fast Cash payment, that if a replacement item costs more than the Fast Cash payment, the customer can submit documentation of this and receive additional reimbursement, up to the amount they originally paid for their item. SquareTrade will agree to maintain this change to its Fast Cash claims process. Second, SquareTrade will implement measures to eliminate the SKU-cap Error, which had resulted in the inadvertent capping of payments issued by SquareTrade for a small number of claims. SquareTrade agrees that it will take reasonable steps to maintain these corrections to its systems so as to prevent the SKU-cap Error from reoccurring in the future.