Amazon Prime users have days to claim their part of $2.5B settlement

Anyone that is either a current or past subscriber to Amazon Prime needs to pay attention to a current class action lawsuit against the shopping giant, as there is just days left to claim your share of a $2.5 billion settlement pot.

The lawsuit, filed originally by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) back in 2023, alleged that Amazon had subscribed millions of unwitting customers to the Prime service without their knowledge, subsequently forcing them to go through a complicated procedure in order to cancel.

This involved "manipulative, coercive, or deceptive user-interface designs," according to the bipartisan government entity, with the online shopping giant tricking "consumers into enrolling in automatically-renewing Prime subscriptions."

As a result of the lawsuit, Amazon had agreeded to hand over a historic settlement totalling $2.5 billion, made up of a $1 billion fine for the FTC and $1.5 billion to impacted customers. They also pledged to simplify the cancellation process for Prime subscriptions going forward.

Who is eligible for compensation?

While some individuals have already received automatic compensation from the settlement, anyone who has been a Prime subscriber between the dates of June 23, 2019 and June 23, 2025 could be eligible, so long as you meet the following criteria:

• You and your account is based in the United States
• You used more than 3 but fewer than 10 Prime benefits across any 12-month period within the aforementioned eligible dates
• These can include things like free shipping, access to exclusive discounts, or using additional Prime services like Prime Video or Amazon Music
• You were subscribed to Amazon Prime unintentionally and attempted to cancel using a challenged enrolment flow
• This relates to enrolment flows highlighted by the FTC, including the universal Prime decision page, the shipping selection page, the single page checkout, or the Prime Video enrolment flow

You need to make sure you match all of the eligibility criteria to claim for compensation, with just days left to submit (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

If you meet all of the criteria then make sure you submit all of the relevant information in a claim, as you don't want to miss out on the money that you're likely owed.

How to claim your share of the settlement

In order to submit a claim from the settlement you first need to head to the official website, after which you can start the filing process and see if you are entitled to compensation.

Once you're on the website you'll want to click on the 'File Claim' button, after which you can go through the official process which involves verifying your eligibility and completing a claim form.

The FTC agreed a total settlement of $2.5 billion for Amazon as a penalty, with $1.5 billion going to impacted customers (Roberto Schmidt/AFP via Getty Images)

Payouts for this stage of the settlement compensation process are currently scheduled to be sent in September 2026, although that remains subject to change.

You will also be eligible for a maximum payout of $51, with each individual's own circumstances contributing to the amount of money that you're owed from the agreed settlement.

When is the deadline for claiming?

You'll want to hurry as there's only a few more days for you to claim your share of the compensation, with this current stage officially closing on July 27, 2026, as per CNBC.

It shouldn't take more than a few minutes for you to submit a claim, providing that you are eligible and have the associated documentation, so you've got nothing to lose and shouldn't pass up 'free' money if you can.