Ohio veterans rated 100% disabled by the Department of Veterans Affairs have until Dec. 2 to file for refunds of the registration taxes and fees they paid on specialty military license plates. A summary of the court’s order puts the group at up to 23,376 people.
The settlement resolves Kacin v. Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles in the Ohio Court of Claims. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles denies the allegations, and the court has not found that it did anything wrong. Refunds depend on each veteran filing a claim on time.
What the lawsuit says the state kept collecting
The suit alleges the BMV kept charging full fees to disabled veterans even after a 2019 budget bill changed state law. Under Ohio Revised Code 4503.29, a disabled veteran who qualifies for fee-free registration may apply for registration through the specialty plate program without paying the listed registration taxes or fees.
The plaintiff, Jack Kacin, alleges the BMV collected those fees from certain veterans who bought Specialty Military License Plates through Deputy Registrar offices. The lawsuit was filed in March 2023, and the class was certified and litigated through an appeal before the parties settled.
One example in the settlement materials shows the scale of a single claim. The class representative paid $111.07 for one plate in 2021. A veteran who bought more than one plate, or who renewed, can list each purchase on the claim.
Who counts as a class member
The administrator’s site sets three conditions that all have to apply. The veteran bought a Specialty Military License Plate at an Ohio Deputy Registrar’s office on or after Oct. 17, 2019. The VA rated or compensated the veteran’s service-connected disability at 100% at the time of purchase. And the veteran has not already received a refund for that purchase.
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The plates covered are the specialty military designs created in 2018, tied to branch of service, theater of service or honors. Standard disabled veteran plates are not part of the settlement, because they were already issued without registration fees, according to the Open Class Actions summary.
Ohio’s BMV says on its own site that a qualifying veteran may choose one or two military plates in place of the Veteran with Disabilities plate. That is the choice that sits behind this case, and veterans who made it after Oct. 17, 2019 are the ones whose payments are in question.
How to file before Dec. 2
A claim needs a Declaration of Eligibility signed under penalty of perjury and supporting eligibility documentation. The declaration lists each plate purchase date, the plate number if known, the effective date of the 100% rating and a statement that no refund was received. The summary says a copy of a VA letter showing the 100% rating and its date is also required.
Claims can be filed online or by mail through the official settlement website’s filing instructions. Online claims use the Class Member ID printed on the notice, and veterans who did not get a notice can mail their documents instead. Filing is free.
The deadline is 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2026. The summary describes it as a receipt deadline, not a postmark deadline, so a mailed envelope that arrives on Dec. 3 does not count. The same date applies to opting out of the settlement or objecting to it.
Veterans who do nothing give up the right to sue the BMV separately over the same fees and receive no refund. Those who opt out keep that right but get no money from this settlement.
What comes after the filing
The refund is the full cost of the plate itself plus any sales tax paid. It does not cover separate services bought at the same time, such as personalization or transfer fees. There is no cap and no pro rata reduction, and the BMV calculates each refund from its own payment records.
After the deadline, the administrator, Kroll Settlement Administration, forwards claims to the BMV within 14 days. The BMV then has up to 120 days to confirm eligibility and work out each amount, followed by a seven-day window for a veteran to answer any question about a claim.
The court gave preliminary approval to the settlement in an order journalized Aug. 19, and a final fairness hearing is set for July 21, 2027. Payments go out only after final approval and the end of any appeal. The BMV pays the lawyers’ fees, up to $375,000, and the cost of notice and administration separately, so neither reduces what veterans receive.
Marc Dann, a managing partner at the DannLaw firm and a former Ohio attorney general, said the settlement means “every dollar they were wrongly charged will be returned to them.” Class members are expected to get notice by direct mail and email.
Refund checks, once issued, are void after 180 days, and unclaimed money returns to the BMV. Veterans can choose a paper check, or ACH, PayPal or Venmo, on the declaration. Questions go to the administrator at (833) 453-3775.
Filing for the Ohio plate refund before Dec. 2?
A claim that arrives one day late is worth nothing, and the settlement uses a receipt deadline, so the mail clock matters. A missing VA letter or a plate purchase date left off the declaration can slow a refund or shrink it.
The Settlement & Refund Recovery System explains the four-date rule for reading a settlement notice, so the opt-out, objection and claim dates do not get mixed up, and it includes a step-by-step filing walkthrough. It also has a claim log and payment tracker for recording what was filed and when.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
