May 8, 2026
If you've ever been watching the news and hear that a product you use is under scrutiny for toxic ingredients, you're definitely not alone. And if you're seeking compensation from the culprit company, you're not alone in that either.
Advocacy group Toxic-Free Future's 2024 Retailer Report Card (1) gave 17 retailers failing grades for not ensuring the safety of the products they sell — Macy's, Chipotle, Publix and Trader Joe's are among the failing retailers.
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And it's not just harmful ingredients that are cause for concern. Brands have also been called out publicly for defective products, data breaches, environmental damages, false advertising and more.
The Duane Morris law firm's 2026 Class Action Review (2) reported that more than 13,000 class action lawsuits were filed last year and the ten highest settlements reached $79 billion — almost double the amount from the previous year.
The report also found that consumer fraud was one of six areas that received the largest settlements, totalling $2.1 billion.
Gerald L. Maatman, one of the editors of the Duane Morris report, told Forbes (3) that "these settlement numbers reflect a new era of risk for corporate defendants and the continuation of a trend to use the class action mechanism to redistribute wealth on an unprecedented scale."
Getting the money you feel you're owed from big companies might feel far-fetched, especially if you don't have the means to hire a lawyer. But, people have discovered a no-lawyer-required hack in the form of free settlement apps — and they say they're getting decent payouts.
How it works
There are a handful of settlement apps you can sign up for — Claimed, Catch, Settlemate and Sparrow, just to name a few. Most of these apps are free to download, but some do charge a membership fee once downloaded.
Catch (4) and Claimed (5) do not charge any fees for use, but Claimed states on their site that they earn a small percentage of any successful claims.
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Once you've made an account, you can use these apps to search for class-action lawsuits you are eligible for, provide any necessary supplemental information and wait for your settlement to be approved. Some cases require proof of eligibility — such as receipts — but many don't.
When a settlement is reached and you are approved, you can be paid out via debit card, credit card or Paypal.
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Are people actually getting money back?
These apps are garnering a reputation on social media for earning people thousands of dollars in settlements. If you search "class action lawsuit settlement app" on TikTok, thousands of videos appear.
TikTok user @sydney.adams29 (6) said she got $1,863 in settlement money in 2025, despite not thinking the settlement app she used was legit two months prior. Another user @blair3sween (7) claimed she got $250 from a settlement with Epic Games. The Claimed app website (8) states that $12 million has been claimed by their users since the app was created.
While this certainly sounds enticing, some people are raising concerns over the legitimacy of these apps because of small payouts and the user-generated content (9) featured in their ads. Discussing the Claim app, Reddit user (10) @Fun-Dragonfruit-3165 wrote "I signed up for this like 7 months ago. I think I got one pay out? There was $7 in my PayPal account one day but I couldn't tell where it came from."
Other Reddit users in this thread questioned the need for these apps, since information about class action lawsuits is already available elsewhere online, on sites like Top Class Actions (11), which directs you to the necessary claim forms, rather than using an app as the middleman.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
Toxic-Free Future (1); Duane Morris (2); Forbes (3); Choose Catch (4); Claimed (5),(8); TikTok (6),(7); Reddit (9),(10); Top Class Actions (11)
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Em Norton is a Content Specialist at moneywise.com. They have been with the company since 2022.
