U.S. Court Approves Claims Process for De Beers Settlement

A U.S. District Court has approved the notice and claims process for the De Beers settlement, and forms to make a claim under the class action lawsuit will be published on December 21. However, the Court will hold a hearing only in mid-April 2008 to determine whether the settlement should receive final approval.

If it is approved, U.S. consumers and “reseller” members of the trade, who make up the majority of the settlement, will have until May 19, 2008 to file their claims.

The claim filing, which will cover gem-quality diamonds only, will be promoted by a trade magazine ad campaign starting in January, following a mailed notice to some 50,000 members of the trade by the end of December.

Notice to consumers about the De Beers settlement will start to appear in newspapers, magazines and online just before Christmas. The goal is to reach the maximum number of consumers who might wish to file a claim.

Because the claims process will require consumers to itemize the amount of their purchases of diamond jewelry, it is likely that consumers could ask retailers to research the purchase price of any diamond or diamond jewelry they obtained at their stores between January 1, 1994 and March 31, 2006, Jewelers of America (JA) said.

While the claims period for jewelers is also January 1, 1994 to March 31, 2006, the trade’s claims form will ask jewelers to pick any two-year period during those years, and to submit the total costs of the diamonds and diamond jewelry they purchased for resale during that time.

The claims administrator will use that figure to compute each jeweler’s share of the $137 million settlement.

Not all of the $137 million will be split among the trade and consumers. Attorneys can claim up to 25 percent of the total settlement for their fees, and some more to cover a portion of their expenses.

The payouts will take place in late 2008 or early 2009, to allow time for the claims administrators to assess all claims and apportion the funds among the claimants, according to court papers.

JA and the Jewelers Vigilance Committee’s (JVC) will provide forms and instructions on how to file the claims.