You may be able to get up to $300 for repairs or up to 75% of the original purchase price for a replacement if you own specific Whirlpool, KitchenAid, or Maytag three-door models manufactured between 2012 and 2019.
A frost-clog problem lies at the core of Paperno v. Whirlpool Corp. On the evaporator, moisture condenses, solidifies, and obstructs airflow. After that, your refrigerator works harder, the temperature rises, and your groceries go bad.
Although many owners reported recurring failures, service technicians were able to melt the block of ice. As a result, Whirlpool was accused in the lawsuit of selling an appliance that was unable to maintain its cool. The settlement avoids a trial, and the company denies any wrongdoing.
Which refrigerators are listed?
Only three-door French-door units are covered, with a pull-out freezer underneath and two doors opening the fresh-food section above. The seven-year manufacturing window that encompasses eligible serial numbers is 2012-2019.
Finding the metal tag inside the refrigerator, copying the serial number, and entering it into CoolingSettlement.com’s lookup tool is the quickest method of checking. You’re in if the website approves of you.
Repairs and complete replacements are the two categories of cash relief. You can recover up to $300 of the cost of repairs if your refrigerator was fixed within the first three years of purchase.
Up to $225 can be awarded for repairs made in years four through six, and up to $150 can be awarded for repairs made in years seven or eight.
The frost-clog forced you to give up and purchase a new refrigerator. A portion of that purchase might also be reimbursed to you. If an owner replaces a unit within the first three years of purchase, they can get back 75% of the original cost, or 50% if they didn’t ask Whirlpool to fix it first.
The rebate decreases to 45 percent (or 25 percent in the absence of the previous Whirlpool request) when the breakdown occurs in years four through six. After the sixth year, replacements are completely uninsured.
If you file a claim within 90 days of the repair, the same sliding scale will be used for any subsequent ice-block failures that occur during the refrigerator’s first eight years.
Future malfunctions are taken into consideration: if your refrigerator ices up after January 31, 2025, you can still make a claim within ninety days of the repair, provided that the incident occurs within the first eight years of the unit’s existence.
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One-page documents
- Obtain documentation, such as the model and serial number, labor and part invoices, and possibly pictures of the frozen scene.
- Go to CoolingSettlement.com and select either “Future Issue” or “Past Frost-Clog Issue.”
- Enter your contact information, refrigerator details, and repair costs in the form.
- The Philadelphia administrator’s address is on the form; you can mail a paper packet or upload documents. Not a printer? JPGs taken with your phone are accepted by the web portal; just make sure they are readable.
Final arguments were heard by Judge Rita F. Lin on May 13, 2025.
The administrator will add up all legitimate claims and make payments by check, PayPal, or Venmo after her written approval is dropped and any appeals are resolved.
In order to preserve consumer dollars, Whirlpool is paying $1.16 million in legal fees separately.
