Yes. To receive your payment, you (or, if you are represented, your lawyer) must submit completed, signed versions of these forms to the Claims Administrator:
1. Payment Election Form.
If a lawyer represents you in this Settlement Program, he or she must choose how to receive the funds on your behalf.
If you are not represented by a lawyer and you are a Portal user, you can log into your Portal account and fill out the Payment Election Form to select your payment method. If you are not represented by a lawyer and you do not have a Portal account, you can contact the Claims Administrator to request a copy of the Payment Election Form.
2. Form W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification.
If a lawyer represents you in this Settlement Program, he or she must submit a “Form W-9 – Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification.” This form is published by the IRS and is used for legal entities receiving payment to provide their Taxpayer Identification Numbers and certify that they are accurate.
If you are not represented by a lawyer, you do not need to provide a Form W-9.
3. SWS-5 – Sworn Statement: Status of Assignment of Claim.
Under the Rules Governing Payment of Claims Involving Third-Party Funders, the Claims Administrator is required to ask all eligible Settlement Class Members whether they have assigned or attempted to assign any settlement benefits from their Monetary Award to a Third-Party Funder. To receive payment, eligible Class Members must complete, sign and submit a Sworn Statement regarding the Status of Assignment of Monetary Claim. Settlement Class Members identified by Third-Party Funders participating in the Third-Party Funding Resolution Protocol ("Resolution Protocol") must complete and return a Form SWS-5(A) (Status of Assignment of Claim Involving Resolution Protocol). Settlement Class Members not identified by Third-Party Funders participating in the Resolution Protocol must complete and return a Form SWS-5(B) (Status of Assignment of Monetary Claim Not Involving Resolution Protocol). At the Court’s instruction, these Sworn Statements must be completed and signed by Class Members, not their lawyers, even if the Settlement Class Member is represented.
4. Statement of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs.
If a lawyer represents you in this settlement program, he or she must submit a Statement of Attorneys’ Fees and Costs, their retainer agreement, and an itemized list of costs. These documents are used to help ensure compliance with the Court’s order capping attorneys’ fees at 22% of awards plus reasonable costs.
After you receive notice that you are eligible for an Award, the whole payment process could be complete in as little as two weeks, but it will most likely take longer than that. There are several things that can affect when you get paid, including these:
(1) Whether you, Class Counsel, or the NFL Parties appeals (Class Counsel and the NFL Parties have 30 days from the date of the Notice of Monetary Award Claim Determination to file an appeal);
(2) Whether your claim is placed into audit;
(3) Whether a Bankruptcy Court must approve your payment;
(4) If you will receive payment as a Representative Claimant or Derivative Claimant Representative, whether you still need to be approved to act on the Settlement Class Member’s behalf;
(5) When your claim is placed on a Claims Administrator Funding Request (the Claims Administrator submits Funding Requests to Class Counsel and the NFL Parties by the 10th day of each month);
Reminder: If your claim becomes eligible for payment (there are no appeals, no audits and no Bankruptcy issues) after the 10th of a month, you will not be placed on a Claims Administrator Funding Request until the next month.
(6) Whether the Special Masters approve the Claims Administrator’s Disbursement Report and authorize payment to move forward (after the Special Masters approve a Disbursement Report, the Claims Administrator sends it to the bank); and
(7) Whether you entered into a cash advance agreement with a Third-Party Funder.
Reminder: The Rules Governing Payment of Claims Involving Third-Party Funders govern the payment of Monetary Claims that involve Third-Party Funder transactions.
In most cases, your claim will be paid within 15 to 60 days of being placed on the Funding Request.
Reminder: The Payment Process Timeline on the Reference Guides page of the Settlement Website provides more information about this (click here to view it).
The Court appointed Citibank as the Trustee for this Settlement Program. If you are eligible for a payment, Citibank will send the funds to you (or, if you are represented, to your lawyer).
Reminder: You can find more information about the Settlement Trust in Section 23.5 of the Settlement Agreement, which is available on the Settlement Website (click here to read it).
It depends on how you (or, if you are represented, your lawyer) ask to be paid. There are two options:
(1) Wire transfer: the funds are electronically sent to the designated bank account; or
(2) Check: a check is mailed to the designated address.
You (or, if you are represented, your lawyer) can use the Payment Election Form to tell the Claims Administrator how and where funds should be issued by Citibank. If you are represented by a lawyer, your lawyer will complete the Payment Election Form. If you do not have a lawyer, you must complete the Payment Election Form. Portal users can fill out the Payment Election Form online in their Portals. If you do not use a Portal, contact the Claims Administrator to request a blank Payment Election Form.
No. The Claims Administrator cannot pay you for some of your Monetary Award while the rest is subject to an appeal. You will receive payment for your Monetary Award only after the appeal process is finished.
If you are represented by a lawyer and entitled to a Monetary Award or Derivative Claimant Award, the Settlement Program will issue the full payment to your lawyer, subject to applicable reductions (for example, unresolved Medical Liens, offsets for Eligible Seasons, Derivative Claimant holdbacks, common benefit holdbacks, etc.). The payment will be made to your lawyer, who then will pay funds to you according to whatever representation agreement you have with your lawyer. In certain limited instances, the Settlement Program will make the payment in your name rather than your lawyer’s (click here for an FAQ describing such circumstances).
If you are not represented by a lawyer, the Settlement Program will issue the full payment directly to you, subject to applicable reductions.
No. Section 30.1 of the Amended Settlement Agreement prohibits Settlement Class Members from assigning any rights or claims relating to the subject matter of the Class Action Complaint to any person or entity other than the NFL Parties. The Claims Administrator will not recognize such assignments or attempts to assign. This includes the assignment of any rights to receive a Monetary Award or a Derivative Claimant Award, or any portion of an Award, in exchange for a cash advance. The Claims Administrator does not provide cash advances nor is it affiliated with any groups offering cash advances.
On April 5, 2018, the Court ordered that if a lawyer represents a Settlement Class Member, the lawyer’s fees cannot be more than 22% of that Settlement Class Member’s Award. (Click here to read the Order.) The Order specifies that the cap on lawyers’ fees is 22% “plus reasonable costs.” This 22% fee cap includes a 1% withholding for the Common Benefit Fund, which means the fee cap is effectively 21%.
Claims service providers are those companies that, on a contingency fee basis, agree to perform services on behalf of Settlement Class Members relating to Registration, medical testing, Claim Package preparation, lawyer referrals, and/or other actions concerning the Settlement. The fee cap applies to and includes: (1) claims service provider fees plus reasonable costs, (2) lawyers’ fees and (3) a 1% withholding for the Common Benefit Fund. This means that a Settlement Class Member’s Award is subject to only one fee cap, and the 22% fee amount must cover claims service providers’ fees and costs, lawyers’ fees and a 1% withholding for the Common Benefit Fund. To be clear, the claims service providers’ fees and costs are not to be classified as attorneys’ expenses or costs.
The Court’s
Order Regarding Withholdings for Common Benefit Fund dated June 27, 2018, directed the Claims Administrator to release to the Attorneys’ Fees Qualified Settlement Fund the 5% of Awards withheld for the Common Benefit Fund. Any
5% Common Benefit Fund Holdback amount that the Claims Administrator had withheld in the Monetary Award Fund, plus any investment earnings that accrued on that amount, has been disbursed to the Attorneys’ Fees Qualified Settlement Fund. See Section 23.7 of the Settlement Agreement, available
here, for more information about this Fund. The Court’s Order dated December 21, 2023 reduced the withholding for the Common Benefit Fund to 1%. Click
here to read an FAQ about Common Benefit Fees.
Generally speaking, if you were represented by a lawyer at the time your payment was issued and 5% of your award was held back for the Common Benefit Fund, the release of 4% belongs to the lawyer that represented you. This is because the 5% Common Benefit Holdback should have been deducted out of the lawyer’s contingency fee. If you believe your lawyer charged you more than your agreed-upon contingency fee or that contingency fee exceeds the 22% Fee cap, you should contact your lawyer about the return of the portion of the holdback to which you may be entitled.
If you were not represented by a lawyer at the time your payment was issued and 5% of your award was held back for the Common Benefit Fund, or we determine that you are entitled to a portion of the holdback, we will contact you if we have not done so already.
1. Log in to your account in the NFL Concussion Settlement Program Portal available at https://www.nflconcussionsettlement.com/Login.aspx (the "Portal") and review the Payment Election Form to make sure the information it contains remains accurate. If any updates are required, submit updated forms through the Portal. If you do not have a Portal account, call us at 1-855-887-3485 to verify that we have your current payment information.
2. Complete, sign and submit the Certification form available [here]. This will certify that to the Claims Administrator that the Payment Election Form you submitted is accurate. Send a signed version of the completed Certification to us at ClaimsAdministrator@NFLConcussionSettlement.com. If you are not able to email it, you may mail a signed version of the completed Certification to:
NFL Concussion Settlement
Claims Administrator
P.O. Box 25369
Richmond, VA 23260