Foam class action can get you $20

Payout results from settlement of multiple lawsuits in Canada against a dozen manufacturers

Starting Tuesday, you can claim $20 or more to compensate for being overcharged on purchases of sofas, mattresses or carpet underlay, made in Canada, containing flexible polyurethane foam.

Just fill out a simplified form at the Foam for Cash site, along with a photo of the product label or receipt.

The payout results from an out-of-court settlement of multiple lawsuits in Canada against a dozen manu- facturers of the foam, who allegedly formed a cartel to fix their prices between 1999 and 2012. Both consumers and businesses are eligible to collect money, depending on the number and type of Canadian foam products purchased.

From now until the claim filing deadline next February, you will see a flurry of ads urging you to apply for money you may be owed and telling you how to collect it.

This may remind you of a class-action settlement in 2015, also about price fixing, in which you could get $20 if you bought any electronic devices containing DRAM (dynamic random access memory) be- tween 1999-2002. No receipts required.

I applied for my share of the $80-million DRAM settlement and got a $20 cheque in less than a year. I wrote about the successful campaign and its catchy slogan “The Money is Mine,” which attracted one million claims.

The administrator approved 880,000 claims for the $20 simplified benefit and sent cheques in December 2015. Those who applied for more than $20 and showed purchase receipts received cheques in July 2016.

The DRAM settlement set a precedent because it gave money back to consum- ers. The Foam For Cash settlement, while smaller at $38 million, uses the same tactics.

In Canada’s largest price-fixing settlement in 2004, vitamin manufacturers agreed to pay a whopping $132 million to end class-action suits. But the lawyers said it would be too difficult to track down consumers who were overcharged.

Instead, they paid part of the settlement funds to charities and non-profit groups in Canada devoted to nutrition and food education.

Our widespread use of electronic and social media makes it easier for lawyers to reach people and tell them how to claim money.

“We expect most consumers will use the simplified form to claim $20,” says Heather Rumble Peterson, a lawyer with Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP in Windsor, Ont.

This type of claim requires either a proof of purchase or a photo of the tag of one foam product for which you are making a claim, a tag that indicates it was made in Canada.

Strosberg Sasso Sutts is one of four law firms that prosecuted the class actions, as well as Quebec non-profit group Option consommateurs. The defendants include Carpenter, DomFoam/Valle Foam, Vitofoam, Foamex Innovations and Woodbridge Foam.

“With the time lag since you made these purchases, we recognize that you may no longer have receipts. The claims administrator will work to help you find ways to qualify for payment,” Rumble Peterson says.

Without documents that show your purchases, you can submit those from which your purchases can be calculated or extrapolated — such as invoices, historical accounting records or budgets for products containing foam.

There is a two-pronged message in the Foam for Cash campaign, similar to that of the Money is Mine computer memory chip campaign.

One, $20 may not seem significant, but you can file a claim online in five minutes. Then, just sit back and wait for your money in the mail.

Two, there are serious consequences to the economy when manufacturers collude to raise prices. Applying for a share of the settlement lets you show your concern about healthy competition in Canada. Ellen Roseman’s column appears in Smart Money, eroseman@thestar.ca.