Update On Delivery Overcharge & How You Can Claim.
Friday, 3. April 2020
Compensation could be owed to UK business that bought or leased new cars and vans between October 2006 and September 2015, as a result of legal action taken against five shipping firms for price fixing.
MOL, “K” Line, NYK, WWL/EUKOR and CSAV were found to have violated EU competition law by the European Commission on February 21, 2018. The EC held that the shippers had coordinated rates, allocated tenders, coordinated reductions of capacity in the market and exchanged commercially sensitive information to maintain or increase the price of intercontinental shipping of new vehicles.
The companies were fined £343m by the EU and now class representative Mark McLaren has filed a claim against them for overcharging UK consumers and businesses, instructing law firm Scott+Scott UK LLP.
McLaren said: “When UK consumers and businesses purchased or leased a new car, they paid more for the delivery of that car than they should have done, as a result of a long-running cartel by five of the world’s leading maritime shipping companies. I have spent much of my career working in consumer protection and I strongly believe that compensation should be paid when consumers are harmed by such deliberate, unlawful conduct.”
Affected vehicles include those from Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, Citroen and Renault.
The claim is being brought in the Competition Appeal Tribunal as a collective action on an opt-out basis, so that all eligible consumers and businesses will benefit from any damages awarded without incurring any legal fees or risk of adverse costs. The value of the claim is believed to be in excess of £150 million – or up to £60 per vehicle.
Businesses or consumers that purchased one or more new cars, or light commercial vehicles, between October 2006 and September 2015 are automatically included within the class.
Class members will not pay costs or fees to participate in this legal action. The legal action is being funded by Woodsford Litigation Funding. There are no legal or other fees, or any risk of adverse costs, for class members.
For additional information or to register interest, visit https://www.cardeliverycharges.com By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News
