If you bought or leased a new car or van in the UK between October 2006 and September 2015, you could be included in a £92.75 million legal settlement.
The settlement follows a long-running competition claim against several international vehicle shipping companies. It was alleged that they operated an illegal cartel, coordinating prices and restricting competition when transporting new vehicles into Europe.
Lawyers argued that these inflated shipping costs were ultimately passed on to consumers and businesses buying new vehicles.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal has now approved a series of settlements worth a total of £92.75 million.
What was the claim about?
The claim centred on allegations that several major shipping companies worked together between October 2006 and September 2012 instead of competing fairly.
According to the claim, the companies exchanged commercially sensitive information, coordinated prices and allocated customers. It was alleged that this increased the cost of shipping new vehicles into Europe, with some of those additional costs ultimately being reflected in the prices paid by motorists and businesses.
The European Commission investigated the conduct and, in 2018, fined several shipping companies more than €395 million for breaching EU competition law.
While those fines were paid to regulators, they did not compensate the people and businesses who may have paid higher prices when buying or leasing new vehicles.
The UK collective action was brought to recover compensation for eligible purchasers and lessees.
Who could be included?
The settlement may affect millions of people who bought or leased eligible new cars or vans in the UK between 18 October 2006 and 6 September 2015. Not every manufacturer is included.
Our quick checker can help you understand whether you may be included before directing you to the official claims process for the next steps.
How Join the Claim can help
We believe consumers deserve to know about claims that could affect them. That’s why we raise awareness of important consumer settlements, explain what they mean in plain English and help people understand whether they may be included.
Where appropriate, we signpost people to the official claim website for the latest information and any future compensation process.
If you bought or leased a new vehicle during the relevant period, it’s worth checking whether you could be due a share of the compensation pot.
Join the Claim connects consumers with SRA-regulated lawyers. Visit the claim page to check your eligibility if a claim is open with one of our trusted legal partners. If a group action has not yet been launched, you can register your interest and we’ll keep you informed if a partner firm decides to take a claim forward.
