Distribution is the stage claimants care most about and the one least often explained. It is also where a well-run action distinguishes itself, because a settlement figure means nothing until it has been divided.
First, the gross fund
A settlement is agreed either as an aggregate sum for the class or as a formula producing a figure per claimant. Aggregate settlements are simpler to negotiate and harder to divide; formula settlements are the reverse. In either case the fund is fixed before any deduction is applied.
Then the deductions, in order
- Court or tribunal-approved costs of the proceedings, including counsel and expert fees.
- The funder's return — in England, following PACCAR, expressed as a multiple of committed capital rather than a share of damages.
- After-the-event insurance premium, where the action carried adverse-costs cover.
- The firm's fee, as a percentage of the recovery, set out in the claimant agreement before signature.
- Administration: a fixed per-claim charge covering verification, payment processing and the claims record.
Every one of these is disclosed in advance and, in court proceedings, approved by the judge or tribunal. A claimant should be able to reconstruct their own net figure from the schedule without assistance. If they cannot, the schedule is wrong.
A claimant should be able to check our arithmetic. That is not a courtesy; it is the point.
Then allocation
The net fund is divided by a formula applied identically to every claimant. Common bases are transaction volume, duration of exposure, documented loss, or a flat sum where the loss is genuinely uniform. Most schemes combine a base amount with a variable component, which keeps small claims worth claiming.
Claimants with documents typically recover more than claimants without them, because evidenced loss can be valued precisely. This is why we ask for statements early even when they are not strictly required.
Then payment
Bank details are verified before any payment is released — normally by a micro-deposit or open-banking confirmation, never by an emailed instruction. Tax documentation is collected where the jurisdiction requires it. Payment then follows on a published date, with the gross figure, each deduction and the net amount visible before a claimant accepts.
And finally the residue
Some claimants never come forward. What happens to their share is set out in the scheme: it may revert, be redistributed among participating claimants, or be applied to a charitable purpose approved by the court. It should never be a surprise, and it should never quietly return to the defendant.
This article is general information about procedure and is not legal advice on any individual claim. Regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (fictional entity). All case references, figures and names are fictional sample content prepared for this demonstration.
