Official sources first
We only use Tier-1 official sources when researching or updating a settlement record. These include:
- Court orders and dockets (final approval orders, preliminary approval orders)
- Official settlement administrator pages and claim portals
- Government refund program pages (e.g. FTC, CFPB, state AG offices)
- Official long-form settlement notices and settlement agreement PDFs filed with the court
Discovery platforms, news coverage, press releases, and third-party aggregators are never cited as authoritative sources. They may help us locate an official source, but the official document itself — not a secondary account of it — must back every published value.
Every field is traced to a source
Each published value — claim deadline, eligibility summary, proof requirement, estimated payout, court name, case number, payment status — is attributed to a specific official document. Our internal record stores:
- The type of official authority (e.g. "the court's final approval order", "the settlement administrator's official page")
- The exact supporting passage extracted from that document
- The date the source was verified
- A confidence score reflecting extraction quality and source tier
On public-facing pages we show the authority type and the verified date — never our internal source links. This is by design: the raw URL to a court document or administrator page is our research evidence, not a user-facing reference. We point you to the official settlement site or claim form directly when action is available.
Verification levels
Each published settlement carries one of four verification tiers, determined by the strongest official source backing its key fields:
At least one key field (deadlines, eligibility, or payment status) is backed directly by a court order or court docket — a final approval order or preliminary approval order from the presiding court. This is the highest source tier for a litigated class action.
Key fields are backed by the official settlement administrator's published page or claim portal. Administrator pages reflect the court-approved terms and are the authoritative reference for claim procedures, deadlines, and eligibility criteria.
The record is backed by an official government refund program page — typically an FTC, CFPB, or state attorney general page administering a consumer refund. These programs are government-operated rather than court-supervised class actions.
Key fields are backed by an official settlement document — a long-form notice PDF, a settlement agreement PDF, or a claim form page — filed with or published by the court or administrator. The document itself is the official record, not a secondary account of it.
A settlement is only published when it reaches at least the Document-verified tier. Records that have been checked against an official source but do not yet meet the confidence threshold remain in internal review.
Re-checked on a schedule
Official sources change: administrators update deadlines, courts issue supplemental orders, and refund programs close. We re-fetch official sources for published records on a scheduled cycle and compare the current content against stored values.
When a discrepancy is found, the record is flagged for review. If the update is confirmed against the new official source, the field value and verification date are updated and the change is recorded in the public change log. If the source cannot be resolved, the record is marked for human review before any public update is made.
Publish guardrails
No record publishes automatically. A settlement passes a deterministic publish gate before becoming visible on SettleSignal. The gate checks:
- Official-source evidence required — at least one field source must be backed by a Tier-1 official source.
- Source quality threshold — the confidence score for the backing extraction must meet a minimum floor.
- No open review tasks — any flagged discrepancies, low-confidence fields, or human-review tasks must be resolved before publication.
- Allowed-value validation — status, proof requirement, payment status, and other enumerated fields must match allowed values.
AI-assisted extraction proposes field values. The deterministic guardrails and, where needed, human review determine whether those proposals pass the publish gate. AI does not publish settlements — the gate does.
What "Verified" does not mean
Verification on SettleSignal means a field value was checked against an official source at a specific date with a recorded confidence level. It does not mean:
- That you are eligible for a settlement — eligibility is determined by the settlement administrator and the court, not by us.
- That you will receive a payment — payments are issued by the administrator after the court process concludes and are subject to the terms of the settlement.
- That the information is current as of today — although we re-check on a schedule, official sources may change between checks. Always confirm deadlines and eligibility on the official settlement source before filing.
We are not a law firm and do not provide legal advice. SettleSignal does not submit claims on your behalf, does not represent you in any legal proceeding, and does not assess your individual eligibility. The settlement administrator and the court determine eligibility and payment amounts. For legal advice, consult a licensed attorney.
Live trust metrics
These figures reflect the current state of our published catalog and are updated as records are verified and re-checked.
- 26 settlements published
- 522 fields checked against official sources
- 96% average verification confidence
- 2 court-verified settlements
- Jun 7, 2026 most recent verification date