Proof of purchase and no-proof claims

Nearly every consumer settlement claim form asks the same question in some form: can you prove it? The answer decides which tier you claim under, and the difference is often between a flat payment of a few dollars and reimbursement of documented losses running to hundreds.

Why there are two tiers

A settlement has to be administrable. Requiring every class member to produce a receipt from six years ago would suppress claims to almost nothing; accepting unsupported claims for any amount would invite abuse. The compromise is a low flat payment available on attestation alone, and a higher payment for those who can document what they lost.

The structure also answers a requirement the court applies. Rule 23(e)(2) requires a judge to consider whether a settlement treats class members equitably relative to each other before approving it. Paying someone with a $400 documented loss the same as someone with none is exactly the kind of thing that invites objection, so tiers are the norm.

What usually counts as proof

The claim form defines it, and the definitions are broader than people assume. Commonly accepted: receipts and invoices; bank or credit card statements showing the charge; order confirmation emails; account or purchase history exported from the company's own website; shipping confirmations; and, in data breach cases, the breach notification letter itself, which is often accepted as proof of class membership.

For out-of-pocket losses in breach cases, the documentation shifts to what you spent afterwards: credit monitoring invoices, bank fees for a replaced card, notarization or postage, and in some settlements documented time spent, at a rate the agreement sets.

What usually does not count

A screenshot of the company's marketing. A statement that you were a customer, without a transaction. A summary you typed yourself. Records that fall outside the class period, which is the most common reason a documented claim is downgraded rather than rejected: the purchase is real, but it happened a year before the period the settlement covers.

The attestation is not a formality

A no-proof claim is still a sworn statement. Claim forms are signed under penalty of perjury, and administrators run duplicate detection and pattern checks across the whole claim set. Batches of identical claims from one address, claims for products never sold in that region, and claims from people outside the class are routinely rejected, and deliberate false claims are fraud rather than an over-optimistic guess.

The practical reading: claim the tier you can stand behind. If you genuinely bought the product in the period and simply cannot find the receipt, the no-proof tier is exactly what it exists for.

How to decide, in five minutes

Search your email for the company name and for "order", "receipt" and "confirmation", restricted to the class period. Download the card statements for the period, which most banks keep for seven years, and search the merchant name. Check whether the company's own website still shows your order history; retailers and platforms often do, and an exported history is usually accepted.

If that produces documentation and your loss exceeds the flat amount, file the documented tier and attach what you have. If it produces nothing, or the documented amount is barely above the flat payment, take the flat payment: the processing is faster and the rejection risk is lower.

Keep a copy

Whatever you file, keep the claim number, the confirmation email and copies of what you uploaded. Administrators send deficiency notices asking for more, and they usually have a short deadline. A claim that goes unanswered at that point is closed, and it is the most common way a valid claim ends up unpaid.

How to file a settlement claim without being scammed covers confirming the claim site is genuine before uploading anything, and how class action payouts are calculated explains what the tiers are drawn from.