By the end of May 28, 2025, Californians will get an electronic payment or a reimbursement check from the State of California v. Vitol settlement, as the settlement administrator has started the distribution process. The California drivers who have submitted a claim form can check out the details of the lawsuit and the upcoming check below.
California vs Vitol Settlement Check
The Attorney General of California has alleged that three defendants, SK Trading International Co., Vitol Inc., and SK Energy Americas, will pay a settlement fund of $50 million, out of which the $37,500,000 fund will be used for compensating the affected class members and the rest $12,500,000 will be paid to California state as a penalty.
The settlement class members who have filed the claim form before 08 January 2025 and are waiting for the settlement payout can expect the check to reach them soon, as the payment distribution began on 29 April 2025. The electronic payments must have already reached the class members, now the wait is for the payout check.
According to the settlement, the payout amount was not defined earlier, but as per reports, the California residents have or will receive the payout up to $21.65 from this net settlement fund, which is the amount left over after settlement expenses and court-approved costs are subtracted.
Who will receive the payout?
The California vs Vitol Settlement payout will be offered to people living in California if they meet the following conditions:
- If you purchased fuel in one of the qualifying locations between February 20, 2015, and November 10, 2015.
- The eligible Southern California counties from where you have purchased gasoline are as follows:
- Los Angeles
- San Bernardino
- Orange
- Kern
- Riverside
- Santa Barbara
- Imperial
- Ventura
- San Luis Obispo
- The non-residents of California who previously lived in California, or who have purchased the gas while traveling in the state, can also receive the payout.
- The class members who have done nothing or excluded themselves from the settlement will not receive anything from the settlement.
What’s the lawsuit about?
The California Attorney General brought this case and alleged that the three defendants had caused the retail gas prices in California to jump due to their manipulation. The lawsuit was filed in 2020 and claims the defendants worked together to manipulate the prices and disrupt the market.
With such practices, the defendants have violated the state laws, however, the defendants have refused to admit any wrongdoing or antitrust law violations. A $50 million payment has been agreed upon by the businesses to settle their lawsuit with the state of California.
The penalty part of the settlement fund will be used by the local and state governments to implement consumer protection laws and initiate methods or campaigns to make sure such incidents do not occur in the future.
What to do if payment is not made till 28 May 2025?
As we mentioned, the payment of the California vs Vitol settlement will be made by the end of 28 May 2025 to the eligible claimants, as the process can take time. However, the administrator has said that any claimants who were expecting the payment as they have filed the form, but did not receive the payout, can reach out to the administrator through the following ways:
- You can write an email to the administrator at [email protected] and inquire about the payment delay or if the payout has been sent or not.
- You can call the administrator toll-free number at 1-877-725-7523 and talk to the operator about the settlement payout.
- You can post a query to the administrator’s postal address, where you have sent the claim form, but our advice to you will be to go for the online method or call the administrator, as the process will be much faster.
When you ask about your California vs Vitol settlement payout, make sure you have your claim ID and confirmation code with you to get your payout details easily without any hassle.
The class members of the California settlement who opt for the electronic method should reach out to the administrator if the payment is not processed till now, as it’s been half a month since the payment distribution began.