Verizon customers could get $100 each thanks to new settlement: Who qualifies, how to get paid

(NEXSTAR) – Verizon customers may be entitled to a piece of a $100 million sum the company agreed to pay to settle a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit alleges Verizon customers were hit with an administrative charge as part of a “deceptive scheme.” Verizon denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to pay affected users up to $100 each.

The group of people who qualify includes all Verizon customers, current or former, in the U.S. who “received postpaid wireless or data services from Verizon and who were charged and paid an Administrative Charge and/or an Administrative and Telco Recovery Charge between January 1, 2016 and November 8, 2023.”

“Postpaid” phone plans are the opposite of prepaid plans. With postpaid plans, you sign a contract with a phone provider, and then you’re billed monthly based on your usage.

People who qualify should have also received a notice by mail or email.

To claim your payout, you’ll need the ID and confirmation code from the settlement notice sent to you. Once you have that, you can submit a claim online by the April 15 deadline.

As is common with class action lawsuits, how much each person will get isn’t yet known. It depends, in part, on how many people file a claim and get approved.

You may end up having to share the $100 million fund with millions of other Verizon customers. In a fact sheet published late last year, the company said it had 92.7 million “wireless retail postpaid connections” under its consumer division, and 29.5 million in its business division.

The minimum payment for eligible members is expected to start at $15, according to the settlement administrator, and grow by increments of $1 depending on how long you were a Verizon customer. The maximum payment is $100 per customer.

Once the settlement is approved and final, payments will be sent by check or electronic payment.

Verizon plans to keep charging the administrative fee in question, but has agreed to amend its customer agreement to better disclose it, according to the settlement.