A ‘pioneering’ £1.5m settlement has been agreed in a car delivery charges opt-out claim which the Competition Appeal Tribunal will now need to approve - potentially a first for the tribunal in a collective action.
The ‘major milestone’ has been agreed between Mark McLaren, the class representative in the CAT litigation, and the smallest of the five defendant shipping groups. Scott+Scott, instructed by McLaren, and Wilmer Hale, for CSAV, have made a joint application to seek approval of the settlement.
At a hearing listed for later this year both parties will ask the tribunal to approve the proposed settlement.
CSAV is the smallest defendant in the cartel with a 1.7% market share. The claim will continue against the other four defendant groups – MOL, “K” Line, NYK and WWL-EUKOR – with a trial expected to be listed in early 2025.
The legal action centres on delivery charges for those who bought a new car or van between 18 October 2006 and 6 September 2015. McLaren is seeking to recover the extra charges from the international shipping companies involved in a cartel which affected the price of deep-sea carriage of new motor vehicles.
More than 17m cars are said to have been affected by the price-fixing scheme, involving customers who bought new vehicles from car brands including Ford, Vauxhall and BMW. The total value of the claim is estimated to be in excess of £150m according to the claim’s own website, where individuals can register to recieve updates on the progress of the case.
McLaren said: ‘This is a major milestone in this case but, as the first ever collective settlement, it is also a significant development for the wider UK collective action regime.
‘I am looking forward to the collective settlement approval hearing on 6 December 2023, to demonstrate to the tribunal why the settlement is in the best interests of class members – UK car and van buyers who have suffered a loss as a result of the cartel.’
Steven Friel, chief executive officer of litigation funder Woodsford, which is financing the collective action, said: ‘I am delighted with this pioneering settlement, which demonstrates the power of litigation funding to help hold large companies to account for their wrongdoing, in this case cartel behaviour.
‘Woodsford has provided significant financial backing for this case, and other similar cases in the CAT opt-out regime. Our funding, which is provided on only the most meritorious cases, sends a signal to corporate wrongdoers that they cannot act with impunity.
‘This is the first settlement to have been agreed in principle in a CAT collective claim, underscoring the importance of this regime, and the litigation funding that is essential to it, to deliver access to justice.’
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