Veterans and service members in the 3M Combat Arms earplug settlement’s Deferred Payment Program began receiving Year 2 point-based payments in October 2026, at a Point Dollar Value the administrator calculated at about $5,378 per point before fees. The administrator projects it as the largest of the program’s five annual payments; registration is closed and nothing new can be filed.
Current Status
Year 2 payments are going out. The settlement administrator, BrownGreer, told claimants in an August 12, 2026 alert that point-based payments for the second payment cycle of the Deferred Payment Program (DPP) would start on October 1, 2026, and repeated that schedule in an August 24 alert after the court weighed in on how the payments would be handled.Claimants are now reporting that their portals show a notice that a Year 2 point-based award payment has been issued, and some report second-round deposits from their law firms, including one reported net payment of about $34,000 after attorney fees. Individual amounts vary widely because each claimant’s award depends on their own point total and fee agreement.
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What Changed
3M agreed in August 2023 to pay $6 billion between 2023 and 2029 to resolve the Combat Arms earplug claims consolidated in In re: 3M Combat Arms Earplug Products Liability Litigation, MDL No. 2885, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida. Service members and veterans alleged the dual-ended earplug could loosen in the ear without the wearer noticing and let damaging noise through. 3M denied the allegations, and the settlement is not an admission of liability. In January 2024, 3M elected to pay the $1 billion it could have paid in stock in cash instead.Claimants chose between two payment tracks. The Expedited Payment Program paid fixed amounts by hearing-loss level, with the higher levels set at $10,000, $16,000 and $24,000, and was fully funded by April 2025. The Deferred Payment Program pays claimants by points, in five annual cycles from 2025 through 2029, with the value of a point set each October 1 based on the money in the settlement fund.
The first DPP cycle, calculated October 1, 2025, produced a Point Dollar Value of about $933.50. For the second cycle, the administrator’s August 12, 2026 alert gave a calculation of $5,378.00 per point and said the official figure would be set on October 1, 2026, and could change if more insurance recovery money was deposited before then. It also said the 2026 value would be the largest of any year in the program. Claimants and law-firm updates are reporting $5,378.00 as the final 2026 figure; the official settlement website had not posted the final number as of October 3, 2026, and each claimant’s Payment Notice states the value actually used.
How a Point Turns Into a Payment
Each DPP claimant’s points were set from their audiogram, based on the severity of the hearing injury, with adjustments for factors such as hearing loss in both ears. A cycle’s gross award is the claimant’s point total multiplied by that year’s Point Dollar Value. Two deductions then come out:- A 9% common benefit assessment, set by court order in September 2023, which pays the lawyers who ran the MDL on behalf of all plaintiffs. The common benefit fee guide explains how it works.
- The claimant’s own attorney’s fee under their contingency agreement, which varies by firm and by contract.
As an illustration only: a claimant with 5 points would have a 2026 gross award of $26,890. After the 9% assessment, $24,469.90 remains. If that claimant’s fee were 40% of the remaining amount, the net payment would be about $14,682. The same 5 points earned $4,667.50 gross in 2025.
On August 11, 2026, the court entered Case Management Order 100, which bars attorneys from charging expenses against Cycle 2 and later payments. The program also applies a rule that every claimant must net at least 50% of the award after the assessment, fees and expenses.
What a $34,000 Payment Implies
Under the same assumptions as the example above — the 9% assessment and a 40% fee on what remains — each point is worth about $2,936 net in 2026. A net Year 2 payment of about $34,000 would therefore point to an award of roughly 11 to 12 points. With a lower fee, the same payment would correspond to fewer points; at a one-third fee it would be about 10. That is an estimate worked back from the point value; a claimant’s own Payment Notice is the only reliable statement of their points and deductions.Payments under the separate Extraordinary Injury Fund, which pays additional awards to claimants with qualifying injuries in five 20% installments, are on their own schedule. The administrator planned the Cycle 2 Extraordinary Injury Fund payments for September 2026, so some claimants may have received two different deposits this fall.
Why the 2027 to 2029 Payments Will Be Smaller
The administrator has projected how each DPP claimant’s five-year total will be split across the cycles: about 9.2% in 2025, about 52.7% in 2026, about 20.5% in 2027, and about 8.8% each in 2028 and 2029. It describes these as projections rather than guarantees and said it published them so claimants would not be surprised when the 2027 to 2029 payments come in below the 2026 one.The pattern follows 3M’s funding schedule. 3M’s scheduled deposits include $800 million on September 15, 2026, and $150 million on December 1, 2026, followed by $750 million and $50 million in 2027 and $300 million in each of 2028 and 2029. In October 2025, the administrator tentatively projected a cumulative Point Dollar Value of $9,500 to about $10,100 per point across all five cycles by 2029. The 2025 and 2026 values together come to about $6,311.50 per point.
If a Year 2 Payment Has Not Arrived
Represented claimants are paid through their law firms, which receive the payment, take the agreed fee and disburse the rest, so the timing of a deposit depends partly on the firm. Some payments are held for reasons that have nothing to do with the point value:- Law firms that objected to Case Management Order 100 had to file their objections by September 4, 2026. The administrator holds Cycle 2 payments to those firms’ clients until the objection is heard and ruled on.
- Unresolved medical liens, such as government health-plan reimbursement claims, can delay a payment until they are cleared.
- A small number of DPP claimants had not received their first-cycle payment as of October 2, 2026, according to the settlement website, and unresolved file issues can carry over into later cycles.
A claimant’s attorney can see the Payment Notice and the reason for any hold. The official Combat Arms Earplug Settlement website posts the program alerts, FAQs and payment statistics. The 3M Combat Arms earplug lawsuit explainer covers the litigation and the settlement terms in more depth.
Questions
How much is the 3M earplug Year 2 payment per point?
In an August 12, 2026 alert, the settlement administrator, BrownGreer, calculated the 2026 Point Dollar Value for the Deferred Payment Program at about $5,378 per point and said the official figure would be set on October 1, 2026. That is a gross figure: a claimant’s payment is their point total times the Point Dollar Value, less the 9% common benefit assessment and their own attorney’s fee. Each claimant’s Payment Notice states the final value used.
Why is the 2026 3M earplug payment so much bigger than the 2025 payment?
The money available for each Deferred Payment Program cycle depends on what 3M has deposited into the settlement fund by that year’s October 1 calculation date. The 2025 Point Dollar Value was about $933.50. The administrator projects the 2026 cycle at around 52.7% of each claimant’s five-year total, against about 9.2% for 2025.
Will the 2027 to 2029 3M earplug payments be as large?
No. The administrator projects the 2027 payment at about 20.5% of each claimant’s five-year total and the 2028 and 2029 payments at about 8.8% each. It describes those percentages as projections, not guarantees, and published them so claimants are not surprised when later payments are smaller than the 2026 one.
Why has my 3M earplug Year 2 payment not arrived?
Point-based payments for Cycle 2 began on October 1, 2026, and are issued through claimants’ law firms, so timing varies. Payments to clients of firms that objected to the court’s Case Management Order 100 are held until the objection is ruled on, and liens or unresolved file issues can also hold a payment. A claimant’s own attorney is the first place to ask.
Can I still join the 3M earplug settlement?
No. The settlement covered service members and veterans who had filed or registered claims in the litigation, and registration closed years ago. The 2026 payments go only to people already enrolled in the Deferred Payment Program.
Sources
- Combat Arms Earplug Settlement program alerts — Alert No. 26-01, “Payment Cycles 2-5 and CMO 100 on Getting Awards Paid” (August 12, 2026); Alert No. 26-02, “Directions from the Court on CMO 100 and EIF and DPP Payments in Payment Cycle 2” (August 24, 2026); Alert No. 25-0008 on the Cycle 1 Point Dollar Value (October 1, 2025)
- Combat Arms Earplug Settlement official website — payment statistics (last updated October 2, 2026) and 3M funding timeline
- Settlement program FAQs — 9% common benefit assessment and Extraordinary Injury Fund installments
- Order and Notice Regarding MSA Amendment (ECF 3995, January 26, 2024) — 3M’s election to pay the full settlement in cash
- 3M — Combat Arms Earplugs Settlement Moves to Final Resolution (March 2024)
- U.S. District Court, Northern District of Florida — MDL No. 2885
This page is informational and is not legal advice.
