Anyone who bought certain Thinkware dash cams in the United States between January 25, 2019 and August 31, 2024 has until December 14, 2026 to file a claim in a California class settlement. The lawsuit says the company advertised a “Super Night Vision” feature without telling buyers it worked only while the car was parked. Thinkware denies any wrongdoing, and the payment per camera is expected to be small.
Which Thinkware cameras count
The settlement covers five models: the X700, F200PRO, DC-M2-FG-IR, DC-M2-FG and F70PRO. The official settlement website sets the purchase window at January 25, 2019 through August 31, 2024 and requires the purchase to have been made in the United States.
The case is Jessica Ratzak v. Thinkware Systems USA, Inc., No. S-CV-0049793, in Placer County Superior Court in California. A summary of the deal at OpenClassActions says the complaint alleged that the night-vision function worked only in parking mode, a limit the ads did not disclose.
Thinkware denies the allegation, and no court has ruled on the merits. The deal is a negotiated compromise, with a final fairness hearing still ahead and payments to follow only after the court approves it and the settlement takes effect.
Owners need the model number on the camera, the purchase date and the Settlement Claim ID printed on the notice. OpenClassActions reports that the online form asks for that ID and that it could not confirm whether the form accepts claims from people who never received a notice, so owners without one should look for the original email or postcard first.
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How much each claim is likely to pay
The settlement fund is $850,000, paid by Thinkware Systems USA, according to OpenClassActions. Class counsel, the Law Offices of Todd M. Friedman, may ask the court for up to $283,333.33 in fees, up to $20,000 in costs and a service award of up to $10,000 for the plaintiff.
After those deductions and the cost of administering the claims, OpenClassActions figures about $436,667 is left for buyers. Divided by roughly 65,130 cameras, that works out to about $6.70 per camera.
The $6.70 is an estimate and not a promised amount. Payments are calculated pro rata, so each valid claim is worth more when fewer claims arrive and less when more do. The official site says payments are made after the effective date and final court approval.
Money that nobody claims does not go back to Thinkware. The settlement website says unclaimed funds go to The Public Justice Foundation.
Proof rules and the December 14 filing deadline
One camera needs no receipt, and the buyer attests to the purchase. Two or more cameras need proof, such as a receipt, an order confirmation, a card statement or an installation invoice, OpenClassActions reports.
Claims can be filed online or on a mailed paper form. The online deadline is 11:59:59 p.m. Pacific time on December 14, 2026, so owners with several cameras, such as a family with one in each car, have reason to start collecting order emails from retailers now.
A fall 2026 list of open settlements puts the Thinkware deal among 28 cases with claim windows still running, and shows December 14 as the cutoff. The administrator is EisnerAmper, according to OpenClassActions, while the settlement website itself refers only to the Claims Administrator and links a contact page.
Buyers who want to keep the right to sue Thinkware on their own must send an exclusion request to the claims administrator by November 30, 2026. Excluded members cannot receive a payment, the settlement website says.
Objections to the deal are due at the court the same day, November 30. An objector who also files a valid claim still receives a pro rata payment if the settlement is approved, the site says.
The final fairness hearing is set for January 12, 2027 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific in Department 32 of the Gibson Courthouse in Roseville, California. Attendance is optional, and OpenClassActions notes that the date could change.
Is a few dollars a camera worth the filing?
For a single-camera owner, the work is a short online form and a Claim ID, with no receipt required. The expected return is about $6.70, which makes this a small job with a small payoff.
Owners of several cameras face a better ratio because payments are made per camera and each additional camera earns its own share once proof is attached. A fleet buyer or a household with three cameras would be the group the proof rule is written for.
The two dates carry different consequences. November 30 decides whether a buyer keeps the right to sue separately, and December 14 decides whether any money arrives. A buyer who wants the payment and has no plan to sue only needs the second one.
The fees class counsel may request are subject to court approval, so the $283,333.33 figure is a ceiling and not a final charge. If the judge awards less, more of the $850,000 stays in the pool for buyers, and the per-camera estimate would edge up.
Everything after December 14 depends on the January 12 hearing and the settlement’s effective date. Buyers who file on time should expect a wait of weeks or months before any payment, because the site ties payment to final approval.
Holding a Thinkware Claim ID and two dates to track?
A Thinkware claim runs on two dates two weeks apart, November 30 to opt out or object and December 14 to file. Mix them up, or file without the Claim ID printed on the notice, and a payment of roughly $6.70 per camera is gone.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System teaches the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice and lays out a step-by-step filing walkthrough. Its claim log and payment tracker keeps each filing’s date and expected payout in one place, which matters when a second camera needs proof of purchase.
Keep every claim date in a settlement claim log and payment tracker →
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
