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Canadians are frustrated about the delays in the Kitec class action lawsuit settlement payout. It has been nearly nine years since Canadian and U.S. courts approved the $125-million Kitec class action settlement, but some people are still waiting for their reimbursements. The claims period closed in January of this year.
The Kitec class action settlement went into effect on Jan. 10, 2012, and although there are millions of dollars at stake, less than $3 million had reportedly been paid out to claimants as of January 2019.
Kitec Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Eligibility
Canadian homeowners with Kitec plumbing who experienced costly leaks or floods as a result of faulty plumbing were eligible to file a claim in this class action lawsuit settlement.
An reported estimate has projected that 292,000 North Americans have Kitec plumbing installed, but the exact number of homes in Canada equipped with the Kitec pipes is unknown.
Kitec is known as an inexpensive and easy to install substitute for copper pipes. The plumbing was mostly installed in hot water baseboard or in-floor heating and may be labelled with another brand name PlumbBetter, IPEX AQUA, or WarmRite. Kitec plumbing was popularly used in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Partial Compensation Has Been Deliberate
Homeowners started off getting 50% of their compensation in the Kitec class action settlement.
Since 2012, 4,412 homeowners in North America have filed a claim and received partial compensation for their failed Kitec plumbing caused leaks or flooding.
485 Canadians have reportedly been paid $688,022.68, as of 2019. Most claimants received compensation in the hundreds or low thousands, but one claimant received $149,803.92.
Therefore, only a small portion of the $97.7 million has been paid out since May 2018.
According to lawyer David Robins, the compensation payments have deliberately been “very modest because they’re only intended to provide some partial compensation on an interim basis until we had a sense of the class size and the number of people who were seeking compensation,” as reported by CBC News.
Reasons for Kitec Class Action Settlement Payout Delay
Lawyer for the Kitec class action lawsuit settlement, David Robins said that claims that were filed before the deadline have been processed, but some claimants’ information has yet to be turned in, slowing some claims down.
Mr. Robins also suspects that Canadians just do not know about the settlement, so merely a fraction of eligible homeowners filed a claim.
Class action lawyer and Dalhousie University professor Mike Dull explains that many people are confused or unsure about how class actions work. 
He explains, “And so class members, folks who are entitled to compensation under a settled class action, are often then subjected to a land of confusion,” reported CBC News.
According to Dull, many people do not know they are a part of a class action lawsuit because only a few people need to start one, but everyone who has dealt with the same problem is included without having to take action.
The individual claimants must take action and file a claim when the class action settlement is approved in court. Class action settlement money cannot be paid out until each claimant has filed, so the process can take a while.
In regards to the Kitec class action settlement, Dull said, “Then the claims administrator is obligated to distribute the funds among the number of applicants, prorated to the degree that each claim is valued,” according to CBC News.
However, he added that the eight-year-long Kitec class action lawsuit settlement is an exceptionally long time, but also happens rarely.
One Claimant Reportedly Says It’s Too Much Paperwork
Claimant Jack Patriquin of Sutherland Lake, N.S., has Kitec plumbing installed in his home and has not filed a claim for compensation because it was a hassle.
Jack requested a claim and said he was given “reams of paper” to fill out and complete, so he decided that filing a claim was not worth his time, CBC News reported.
Although he had to repair many Kitec leaks, he said hiring a lawyer to help with the paperwork would not be worth it.
David Robins agreed that many potential claimants feel that the paperwork is daunting, but more compensation could be coming now that the claims period has closed. The courts will decide how much more money claimants will get.
Top Class Actions will post updates on this Kitec class action settlement as they become available. Click on the “Follow Article” at the top of this page to get the latest updates about the Kitec class action settlement by using your free Top Class Actions account. For the latest updates, keep checking ca.TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter.
This isn’t the only class action lawsuit settlement payout facing delays. Sixties Scoop survivors’ settlement checks have also been delayed due to obstacles created by COVID-19.
What do you think about the Kitec class action lawsuit settlement being delayed? Have you experienced delays in a payout you are owed? Tell us your story in the comment section below!
The Class Members are represented by David Robins of Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP.
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19 thoughts onKitec Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Payout Delayed
Hello David Robbins: Actually i believe you should resign from the Kitec Lawsuit. The lawsuit was badly designed for Canadians to be attached to the US law courts. 10,000 filed a claim days before claims process closed –who believes this? I any case I will go back to court to ask judge why “failure to disclose defective material” by a developer when he sold condos had to be part of the class action lawsuit when condo was sold with defective material AFTER class action lawsuit was approved saying “NO defective material in your condo”. I think also the law students deserve a chance to study this lawsuit where I expect everyone will be dead before a settlement is approved . !!
The developers in Ontario signed a warranty when they sold condos as late as 2008 or later with Kitec in the condo saying there was no defective material in the condo they sold but in 2006 , the courts etc all agreed Kitec was a defective material for a class action lawsuit of over $100 million dollars.
The developers “failed to disclose” Kitec as defective material and broke the law! Did anyone see a notice of the class action lawsuit in a paper?
Time to go back to court as plaintiff lawyers will never it seems get settlement cheques to plaintiffs and this Kitec lawsuit seems useless, probably sent to the garbage bin and the internet is full of excuses as to why settlement cheques can not be issued.
One step closer. They processed all the claims. Just need court approval for payout. Hopefully summer 2022.
any updates since then May? How can we tell if they processed our claim? I haven’t heard anything since submitting it back in 2019 or beginning of 2020
We’re interested in this as well, having submitted in 2019 and never hearing anything more.
The developers , lawyers, and courts in Canada have been successful in moving this class action lawsuit to the US , even Louisville, the deep south. Now they say 10,000 claims suddenly appeared just before the dead-line. SO forget about the claims getting resolved by the US justice system let alone the Canadian courts.