JEL Client FAQ’s
- Question: Please share Ampersand’s/Kelly Brown’s contact info.
Answer:
Kelly A. Brown,
Chief Executive Officer,
(414) 339-4058 Cell, (262) 381-8401 Office,
https://trustampersand.com,
[email protected],
N16W23217 Stone Ridge Drive, Suite 150 Waukesha, WI 53188
- Question: What exactly is this claim about? What did Visa/Mastercard do exactly?
Answer: In 2012, a class action lawsuit was brought against Visa and MasterCard, their subsidiaries and their 32 member banks covering the period 2004 to 2012. Visa/MasterCard settled out of court and put $3.5 billion in a fund to pay claimants. Several of the District Court’s decisions were immediately appealed. These dragged on until 2018 when the judge added seven more years to the coverage period (it now covered 2004 to 2019) and increased the payout fund to a minimum of $5.75 Billion. Claimants had from 12-1-2023 until 2-4-25 to file a claim. That deadline has now passed and we are waiting for claims to be paid.
- Question: What fee does JEL charge?
Answer: The fee you are being charged is stated in the Compensation paragraph of the agreement you signed with JEL.
Payout Questions:
- How much will I get?
Answer: There is no way to know the amount of your compensation because everyone’s payout will be determined by the size of their claim as a percentage of all of the claims that were submitted by February 4th 2025. So until all claims are received, the calculation cannot be made. Further, the claim administrator is very tight-lipped about this data. Consequently, no one will know the size of their payout until the check arrives.
- When will I get paid/How long after the deadline of February 4th2025 will it take to get paid?
Answer: Again, no one knows. A prior Visa case from 2003 paid out in about fourteen months after the close of the claim period. However, in this current case, the claim administrator is dealing with significant processing backlogs that have to be resolved before payout can occur so it is difficult to predict. When payout does occur, all claims will be paid at the same time.
- What is the percentage that I’ll be paid?
Answer: As established above, there is no way to know.
- What is the $ amount submitted for my claim? How do I find out?
Answer: That is handled by JEL. You may contact [email protected].
- Do my payment instructions apply to all of my companies?
Answer: If the companies I have just mentioned are all of your companies, then yes. If not, you will get another call..
- What happens if my business has shut down, was sold, changed officers or the authorized signer is no longer with the company?
Answer: You should discuss that with JEL and/or your attorney.
- I recently sold my business; how do I confirm you have my residence address for any proceeds so a check is not mailed to the new owner?
Answer: This call will confirm your Company’s legal name and your address. If you sold your business as a stock sale and didn’t specifically claim your right to the refund, this may be an issue. Check with your attorney
- I have more companies to submit a claim for, am I still able to do this?
Answer: No. The claim period has closed. If you need more info, contact your JEL Account Manager immediately or email Ed at [email protected].
- The emails that I have been sending recently to your company are getting rejected, so I am not sure if it is an issue with your emails or my emails.
Answer: Contact your JEL Account Manager.
- Question: Why has the claim process taken so long?
Answer: The Visa case is the largest class action settlement in US history with a payout fund of $5.75 billion. With that much money ‘in play’, fraud is a serious concern. This and Covid (in 2021 and 2022) have slowed the process considerably..
- Question: Is this a scam?
Answer: No. You should have received an email from JEL alerting you that I would be calling. Moreover, you have signed an agreement with JEL.
- Question: What happens if I choose not to accept the money?
Answer: It will be escheated (the right of a government to take ownership of assets when they are unclaimed for a prolonged period.) to the applicable state.
- Question: Who is getting my information and data?
Answer: JEL and Ampersand already have your information. It was used to file your claim. I am just confirming that data to assure that you get the money when payout occurs.
- Question: How are you handling my data?
Answer: We understand data security is very important, and we take it quite seriously, which is why any data that is passed between Ampersand and J.E. Lawrence is done with a private, secure File Transfer Protocol to make sure everything remains safe.
