Class Action Lawsuit Questions - Illinois

[genaccgenacc]

This is happening in Illinois, US. I am involved in a class action lawsuit with an ISP related to billing. I did not start the lawsuit, but I was sent an email about this class action lawsuit and that is how I found out about it. In the email there was a link to a website related to the class action lawsuit and information about how to get paid. I think I would have to provide my bank account information to get a payout.

1. Would it be safe to provide bank account information to the website for them to transfer money to the account?
2. Is this common practice for class action lawsuits where a member of the lawsuit provides bank account information for money to be transferred there?
3. Is there any risk of me losing any money from my account?
4. If the class action lawsuit fails, would I have to pay out any fees?

Thank you for the help.

 

[zddoodah]

In the email there was a link to a website related to the class action lawsuit and information about how to get paid. I think I would have to provide my bank account information to get a payout.

So...the case has settled? Why do you think you would have to provide bank account info? I've gotten payouts from numerous class action settlements over the years. The payout is usually made by check, but I've also gotten payment through Paypal and a prepaid Visa.

Would it be safe to provide bank account information to the website for them to transfer money to the account?

Impossible to answer this question in the abstract (this same answer applies to your third question).

Is this common practice for class action lawsuits where a member of the lawsuit provides bank account information for money to be transferred there?

Not in my experience.

If the class action lawsuit fails, would I have to pay out any fees?

I don't understand the question. Until and unless a settlement is reached that provides for payment to you, there should be no need for you to provide anything other than your contact information. If/when a settlement happens, then the concept of the "class action lawsuit fail[ing]" makes no sense.

If you want to identify the case (and I can think of no reason not to do so), I or someone else here can take a look at the current status.

 

[Taxing Matters]

This is happening in Illinois, US. I am involved in a class action lawsuit with an ISP related to billing. I did not start the lawsuit, but I was sent an email about this class action lawsuit and that is how I found out about it. In the email there was a link to a website related to the class action lawsuit and information about how to get paid. I think I would have to provide my bank account information to get a payout.

1. Would it be safe to provide bank account information to the website for them to transfer money to the account?
2. Is this common practice for class action lawsuits where a member of the lawsuit provides bank account information for money to be transferred there?
3. Is there any risk of me losing any money from my account?
4. If the class action lawsuit fails, would I have to pay out any fees?

Thank you for the help.

If the class action fails, you get nothing but you don't pay anything either.

As for providing your bank account information, I'd not do that until you know you are actually going to be paid something and have verified the legitimacy of the law firm supposedly handling the class action. If your first notice of this class action is an e-mail sent directly to you, my guess is that it's a scam e-mail and handing over personal/financial information would be a bad idea. I've seen a number of fake class action lawsuit e-mails myself over the years. Ask yourself how they happened to get your e-mail address? Scammers just send the notices to every e-mail address they can get hoping that a small percentage of the people getting them will fall for it and hand over money. Those e-mails tend to be generic and address you by your e-mail name, not your actual name. Those are good indicators of a fraudulent e-mail. If it was a legitimate class action case, the notice would tell you the court in which it is being litigated and the law firm handling the case. Does it have that information? Don't call any phone number in the e-mail. Look up the court's phone number and law firm's number independently to ask about this supposed class action. You might be able to find the information you need on the court's own website, if the e-mail tells you what court they claim it was filed.

 

[quincy]

This is happening in Illinois, US. I am involved in a class action lawsuit with an ISP related to billing. I did not start the lawsuit, but I was sent an email about this class action lawsuit and that is how I found out about it. In the email there was a link to a website related to the class action lawsuit and information about how to get paid. I think I would have to provide my bank account information to get a payout.

1. Would it be safe to provide bank account information to the website for them to transfer money to the account?
2. Is this common practice for class action lawsuits where a member of the lawsuit provides bank account information for money to be transferred there?
3. Is there any risk of me losing any money from my account?
4. If the class action lawsuit fails, would I have to pay out any fees?

Thank you for the help.

Is this class action against the Illinois State Police over Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) cards?

You should not have to provide bank account information to receive any payment that might result from a class action lawsuit settlement or trial. Usually a check will be sent to your home address.

It might be important to note that, if you are not a named plaintiff in the class action but rather just one of several members in the suit, any money you receive from a successful suit could be nominal. In other words, while you will not be expected to pay anything to be a class member, you should also not expect a huge payday.

 

[Taxing Matters]

Is this class action against the Illinois State Police over Firearms Owner Identification (FOID) cards?

No. The OP stated it was against an internet service provider (ISP) related to billing problems, likely that the ISP was billing more or adding more fees than it had disclosed to consumers when they signed up.

It might be important to note that, if you are not a named plaintiff in the class action but rather just one of several members in the suit, any money you receive from a successful suit could be nominal. In other words, while you will not be expected to pay anything to be a class member, you should also not expect a huge payday.

That's true, especially in cases like these ISP or similar consumer marketing lawsuits. The amount of damages per member of the class is pretty low in most of these suits; the only reason lawyers bring them is because there are thousands or millions of such customers so the lawyers in the class action case make a lot of money. The consumers, if the suit is successful, often just get chump change out of it. In this kind of case, what the consumer might get is a discount on future billing for some period, like a year, to make up for ISPs error.

 

[quincy]

No. The OP stated it was against an internet service provider (ISP) related to billing problems, likely that the ISP was billing more or adding more fees than it had disclosed to consumers when they signed up.



That's true, especially in cases like these ISP or similar consumer marketing lawsuits. The amount of damages per member of the class is pretty low in most of these suits; the only reason lawyers bring them is because there are thousands or millions of such customers so the lawyers in the class action case make a lot of money. The consumers, if the suit is successful, often just get chump change out of it. In this kind of case, what the consumer might get is a discount on future billing for some period, like a year, to make up for ISPs error.

ISP is ALSO the abbreviation for Illinois State Police - and there is/was a class action suit in the State over the costs being charged for FOID cards (fee stacking).

 

[Taxing Matters]

ISP is ALSO the abbreviation for Illinois State Police - and there is/was a class action suit in the State over the costs being charged for FOID cards (fee stacking).

Perhaps it is that case that the OP is asking about, but the OP used the phrase "an ISP", suggesting the term is a generalized one that applies to more than one entity. Had the suit been against the Illinois State Police then I would have expected the singular phrase "the ISP" instead as there is only one of those organizations. But I acknowledge that a lot people are not as particular about that sort thing when writing as I am so I can't completely rule out what you suggested.

 

[quincy]

... so I can't completely rule out what you suggested.

And I cannot completely rule out that genaccgenacc is referring to a class action lawsuit involving an internet service provider - or is perhaps talking about one of the several privacy lawsuits currently or previously in the courts.

That said, the Illinois State Police (ISP) seem to be attracting an awful lot of lawsuits.

I guess we will have to wait for genaccgenacc’s return.

 

[Taxing Matters]

That said, the Illinois State Police (ISP) seem to be attracting an awful lot of lawsuits.

Law enforcement agencies generally get sued a lot. It kind of goes with the nature of their work — criminals they arrest have all kinds of real and imagined complaints about the agencies that arrested them and put and end to their criminal enterprises. That said, some agencies are much better run and able to keep these kinds of lawsuits to a minimum while others have bad leadership and head agencies that seem to be magnets for attracting bad publicity and lots of lawsuits. I've not looked into how good or bad the Illinois State Police have in this regard. It's possible that, like the police of the state's principal city of Chicago, that it has a poor record of following the law. It wouldn't particularly surprise me if that were the case.

 

[quincy]

The police agency (ISP) lawsuits seem to be primarily over “creative” interpretations of the law.

Violations of the Illinois “Biometric Information Privacy Act” have spawned more than a few class action suits in Illinois, as well.

Without knowing which class action lawsuit genaccgenacc is speaking about, it is difficult to say if the email s/he received, and the website the email directs to, are part of an elaborate scam or are legitimate notice. I would seriously question any email received out of the blue, however, that asks for personal bank account information. That information should not be necessary.

 

[zddoodah]

a class action lawsuit with an ISP related to billing

Seems pretty obvious what is at issue here.

 

[genaccgenacc]

I would like to clarify that this lawsuit is against an internet service provider that I had before in Illinois. The lawsuit information was sent to an email that I only shared with my previous internet service provider and a few other businesses. It is not an email I make publicly available for anything besides business.

 

[quincy]

I would like to clarify that this lawsuit is against an internet service provider that I had before in Illinois. The lawsuit information was sent to an email that I only shared with my previous internet service provider and a few other businesses. It is not an email I make publicly available for anything besides business.

Thank you for the clarification.

Would you care to mention the specific class action suit and defendant? If you are not one of the named defendants, it should not be a problem for you in providing that information.

 

[genaccgenacc]

I did some more research online into the class action lawsuit and decided that it is legitimate. There were also other payment options for receiving payment that did not involve revealing my bank account information upon further examination. Thank you for the help.

 

[quincy]

I did some more research online into the class action lawsuit and decided that it is legitimate. There were also other payment options for receiving payment that did not involve revealing my bank account information upon further examination. Thank you for the help.

I am not surprised that other payment options exist. I would not recommend one that calls for disclosure of your personal bank account information.

Who are the parties in the class action suit?