According to SquareTrade’s records, you previously received a reimbursement from SquareTrade in connection with at least one SquareTrade Protection Plan that you purchased.

The Court directed that the notice be made available because you have a right to know about a proposed settlement of a class action lawsuit, and about all of your options, before the Court decides whether to approve the settlement. If the Court approves it and after any objections and/or appeals are resolved, an administrator appointed by the Court will make the payments that the settlement allows.

This package explains the lawsuit, the proposed settlement, your legal rights, what benefits are available, who is eligible for them, and how to get them.

The Court in charge of the case is the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, and the case is known as Shuman v. SquareTrade, Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-02725-JCS (N.D. Cal.). The people who sued are called Plaintiffs, and the company they sued, SquareTrade, Inc., is called the Defendant.

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.

In a class action, one or more people called Class Representatives (in this case Michael Shuman, Tommy Gonzales, and Kathleen Abbott) sue on behalf of people who have similar claims. All these people are Class Members. One court resolves the issues for all Class Members, except for those who excluded themselves from the Class. Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph C. Spero is in charge of this class action.

The Court did not decide in favor of Plaintiffs or Defendant. Instead, both sides agreed to a settlement. That way, they avoid the cost of further litigation and a trial, and the people affected will get compensation. The Class Representatives and their attorneys think the settlement is best for all Class Members.

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.

If you are still not sure whether you are included, you can ask for free help. You can call 1-888-964-1110 for more information.

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.

Attorneys’ fees and cost reimbursements, service awards for the Class Representatives, and settlement administration expenses will also be paid by SquareTrade in addition to the above benefits and will not impact how much money you may receive from the settlement.

Your payment amount depends on which Class you are in, and also how many previous Protection Plan reimbursements you received from SquareTrade and in what amounts.

Fast Cash Subclass: For each Protection Plan they purchased as to which they received a Fast Cash payment that was lower than the replacement cost of their protected item, Fast Cash Subclass members are eligible to receive the difference, for each applicable claim, between (1) the amount that SquareTrade reimbursed them as estimated replacement cost, and (2) the cost of replacing the protected item at the time the claim was submitted (up to the original purchase price). The chart below provides an example:

Fast Cash Subclass members may claim the difference between Box A (Fast Cash payment you received) and Box B (Cost to replace your item). If the difference is $35 or less, you do not need to submit supporting documentation. If the difference is more than $35, a receipt or other supporting documentation must be provided, or the claim will be limited to $35. Your claim cannot exceed the difference between what you received under Fast Cash and the original amount that you paid for the covered item.

SKU-Cap Subclass: SKU-cap Subclass Members will be paid the difference between the amount(s) SquareTrade already reimbursed them and the original purchase price of their protected item(s).

Fast Cash Subclass: To qualify for payment, you must have submitted a Claim Form no later than February 14, 2023. SquareTrade sent eligible Fast Cash Subclass members with valid claims a payment in the form of a check or digital disbursement card. 

SKU-cap Subclass: You did not need to do anything to receive a payment. Unless you excluded yourself, SquareTrade automatically sent you a payment in the form of a check.

Update your mailing address if it has changed since SquareTrade last mailed you a payment.

The Court approved the settlement following the hearing on February 24, 2023. Class Members were sent a check or digital disbursement card on May 31, 2023. 

Unless you excluded yourself, you are staying in a Class, and that means you can’t sue, continue to sue, or be part of any other lawsuit against SquareTrade about the legal claims and facts underlying this case. It also means that all of the Court’s orders apply to you and legally bind you. If you did not exclude yourself, you agreed to the Release in Section 5 of the Settlement Agreement, which describes exactly the legal claims that you gave up by remaining in the Class.

To exclude yourself from the settlement, you must have either filled out and submitted the online form on the File an Exclusion page no later than January 30, 2023, or sent a letter by mail postmarked no later than January 30, 2023 saying that you want to be excluded from Shuman v. SquareTrade, Inc.

You could not have excluded yourself on the phone or by e-mail. If you excluded yourself, you will not receive any settlement payment, and you could not object to the settlement. You are not legally bound by anything that happens in this lawsuit. You may be able to sue (or continue to sue) SquareTrade in the future about the legal issues and facts underlying this case.

No. Unless you excluded yourself, you gave up any right to sue SquareTrade for the legal issues and facts underlying the claims that this settlement resolves. If you have a pending lawsuit, speak to your lawyer in that case immediately. You must have excluded yourself from this Class by January 30, 2023 to continue your own lawsuit.

No. If you excluded yourself, do not send in a claim form; you will not receive money from this settlement. But you may sue, continue to sue, or be part of a different lawsuit against SquareTrade.

The law firms appointed by the Court to represent you and other Class members are Gibbs Law Group LLP (www.classlawgroup.com), and Handley Farah & Anderson PLLC (www.hfajustice.com). Together, the lawyers are called Class Counsel. You will not be charged for or by these lawyers. If you want to be represented by your own lawyer, you may hire one at your own expense.

The Court approved the Plaintiffs' request for $1,000,000 in attorneys' fees and costs, along with approving a service award of $5,000 each to Class Representatives Michael Shuman, Kathleen Abbott, and Tommy Gonzales. These amounts are paid separately and will not impact the payments made to Class Members. SquareTrade will also separately pay the costs to administer the settlement.

You could have asked the Court to deny approval of the settlement by filing an objection directly with the Court or by submitting an objection on the File an Objection page. You could not ask the Court to order a different settlement; the Court can only approve or reject the settlement.

Objecting is simply telling the Court that you don’t like something about the settlement. You could have objected only if you stayed in the Settlement Class. Excluding yourself is telling the Court that you don’t want to be part of the Settlement Class. If you excluded yourself, you have no basis to object because the case no longer affects you.

The Court granted final approval to the settlement following the hearing on February 24, 2023.

No. The Court granted final approval to the settlement following the hearing on February 24, 2023.

The Court granted final approval to the settlement following the hearing on February 24, 2023.

SKU-cap Subclass members who did nothing were automatically sent a settlement check.

Fast Cash Subclass members who did nothing will receive no settlement payment. They must have submitted a claim to receive a payment.

Also, unless you excluded yourself, you won’t be able to start a lawsuit, continue with a lawsuit, or be part of any other lawsuit against SquareTrade about the legal issues and the facts underlying the legal issues in this case, ever again.

The notice summarizes the proposed settlement. For key documents from the litigation and more details about the Settlement Agreement, please visit the Important Documents page or contact the Settlement Administrator at info@stsettlement.com or by calling 1-888-964-1110.

You can email the Settlement Administrator at info@stsettlement.com or call 1-888-964-1110 toll free for additional information.

All the case documents that have been filed publicly in this case are also available online through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov. This case is called Shuman v. SquareTrade, Inc., Case No. 3:20-cv-02725-JCS (N.D. Cal.). You may also obtain case documents by visiting the office of the Clerk of Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, located at the Phillip Burton Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except court-observed holidays. More information about the clerk’s office hours and other locations can be found at https://www.cand.uscourts.gov/locations.

You can also contact Class Counsel for them to answer questions.

The notice only summarizes the proposed settlement. For the precise terms and conditions of the settlement, please see the Settlement Agreement, by contacting Class Counsel using the contact information above, by accessing the Court docket in this case, for a fee, through the Court’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records (PACER) system at https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov, or by visiting the office of the Clerk of the Court for the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, Phillip Burton Federal Building & United States Courthouse, 450 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102, between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding Court holidays. You may also review key documents from the case, including the Settlement Agreement, on the Important Documents page.

PLEASE DO NOT TELEPHONE THE COURT OR THE COURT CLERK’S OFFICE TO INQUIRE ABOUT THIS SETTLEMENT.