Buyers who filed a claim in the Differin benzoyl peroxide settlement are due $9.00 for every covered product, and the settlement website says payments were expected to be distributed in mid-October 2026. The claim window closed May 19, so only people who filed in time are in line. The site’s latest posted update is dated September 11 and does not say whether payments have gone out.
What the $990,000 Differin fund pays
The case is Williams v. Galderma Laboratories, L.P., No. 1:24-cv-02222, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, OpenClassActions reports. Plaintiffs claimed that Galderma misled consumers about possible benzene contamination in three Differin products, and Galderma denies the contamination, denies that its labeling was misleading and denies any wrongdoing.
Retail Boss reported that the complaint called benzene a “well known carcinogen” and said Galderma failed to warn consumers about possible contamination. The court gave preliminary approval to the $990,000 deal on February 19, 2026, the same date the class period ends.
The covered products are Differin Daily Deep Cleanser with 5 percent benzoyl peroxide, Differin Acne Spot Treatment with 10 percent and Differin Maximum Strength Acne Foaming Cleanser with 10 percent. Purchases count if they were made in the United States for personal, family or household use between January 1, 2020 and February 19, 2026.
The settlement fund is $990,000. The settlement website says a valid claim earns $9.00 for each covered product, with no limit for buyers who had proof of purchase and a limit of three products for buyers who did not.
Claimants who filed without a receipt could therefore be paid at most $27. Someone who documented six cleanser and spot-treatment purchases would be owed $54. Payouts can be adjusted, because fees and administration costs are paid from the fund before cash goes to class members.
Retirement deadlines, in your inbox: Miss an enrollment or claim deadline and the money can be gone. The Retirement Money Brief keeps you ahead of the ones that matter, every weekday.
Get the Retirement Money Brief →
We may earn a commission from links on this page.
Class members pay nothing for the lawyers who negotiated the deal, the FAQ says. Attorneys’ fees, cost reimbursement, service awards and administration costs all come out of the $990,000 before the $9 payments are calculated.
Where the payment date stands
The court held its final approval hearing on June 30, 2026, approved the settlement and approved class counsel’s request for attorneys’ fees, costs and service awards, the site says. The amount of the fee award is not listed there, and the final approval order is linked on the site.
The site’s wording is that “settlement payments are expected to be distributed in mid-October 2026.” OpenClassActions describes that as an expected window and not a fixed date, and its September 26 report said no payments had yet been reported.
The FAQ asks claimants to be patient and to check the website for updates. Mid-October has now passed, and the site shows no posted confirmation that distribution has started, so a claimant who has not been paid has no official word yet on the new timing.
Neither the site nor the FAQ says how payments will be delivered, whether by check, electronic transfer or another method. Claimants who changed their email or mailing address since the spring claim form can update it through the administrator, as the next section explains.
What claimants can do while they wait
The FAQ puts the responsibility for address updates on the claimant. Changes go to the Differin BPO Product Claims Administrator, P.O. Box 4100, Portland, OR 97208-4100, and the administrator, Epiq, answers questions at 1-877-317-7638.
The deadline to file, opt out or object was May 19, 2026, and the site lists no further step for people who already filed. A buyer who missed the window cannot join now.
Class members who did not opt out gave up the right to sue Galderma over the released claims, the FAQ says, and the details sit in Section 7.1 of the settlement agreement on the Documents page. That release applies to every buyer in the class, whether or not a claim was filed.
Buyers who opted out before the deadline kept the right to sue, but they gave up any payment. The release in the agreement does not depend on whether a buyer filed a claim, which is why the settlement site tells class members to read Section 7.1.
Could the $9 payment shrink?
The fund pays attorneys’ fees, cost reimbursement, service awards and administration costs before cash goes to claimants. Retail Boss also reported that payouts may be pro-rated depending on the total number of valid claims, and neither the site nor OpenClassActions says how many were filed.
The site’s $9 figure is the stated amount for a valid claim, and the site has not posted a lower number. Any gap between that amount and the payment that arrives would show up only once distribution begins.
For now the facts are narrow and firm. The claim period is closed, the court has approved the deal, the per-product amount is stated, and the payment window has been named but not confirmed.
Still waiting on the Differin payment?
The Differin site’s mid-October window has now passed with no posted update, and a claimant whose address or email changed since the spring claim form can miss the payment entirely.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System includes a claim log and payment tracker built for this kind of wait, with room for what was filed, what was promised and when the money was due. Its source vault of 12 official places money sits also points to where settlement and unclaimed money turns up when a payment goes astray.
Record the Differin payment status in a settlement claim tracker →
More Financial Reading
- 21 Ways to Stretch a $2,087 Social Security Check
- 15 Places to Find Your Share of the $4.25 Billion States Give Back
- 15 Steps to Stop the Scams That Took $7.7 Billion From Seniors
This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
