DAF has been accused of preventing truck operators from receiving compensation for its involvement in a cartel, after it wrote to hauliers and urged them not to opt in to a collective claim.

The RHA said the email from the truck maker was “another blatant attempt” to place legal obstacles between operators and them obtaining compensation and branded DAF’s claims misleading.

DAF NV’s emailed letter, which Motor Transport has seen, said that opting in to the RHA’s claim would mean any compensation would not be paid to hauliers directly but would first be used to pay the RHA’s insurer, funder and lawyers.

It claimed £235m would first be paid to the collective claim’s funder before any compensation was paid out and that this amount may even increase.

DAF, along with Iveco, Daimler-Mercedes, Renault-Volvo, Scania and MAN was found by the European Commission to have breached competition law between 1997-2011 and fined almost £2.5bn for their cartel activity.

The letter said: “Since such an arrangement does not seem to be in your interests, DAF is considering different options to solve the claims against it, with no excessive payments to third parties.

“Any such alternative option will only work if you have not already opted in. Once you have opted in, you will not receive money unless and until the insurer, funder, and lawyers, has received its full compensation.

“Therefore, we urge you not to rush to opt-in.”

DAF NV added that operators could still opt in to the RHA’s claim up until 31 December 2024 and that it would provide companies with its potential proposal “well in advance of that deadline”.

It said this would mean they could still opt in to the RHA’s scheme if it made the most sense.

However, the RHA hit back this week and said DAF’s email did not provide a balanced view.

Richard Smith, RHA MD said: “The email from DAF is misleading and appears to be another attempt to place obstacles in the way of operators obtaining compensation, as they have done all the way through this case.

“DAF suggests that the RHA’s claim is not in the interests of operators but has not provided any details of what could happen in the event that operators do not opt in to the claim.

“If you do not opt in, your claim against DAF is likely to be out of time and this could leave operators in a position where they are unable to obtain any compensation.”

“The RHA’s funding and insurance arrangements have been considered and approved by the competition appeal tribunal, confirming that it is in the interests of claimants for the RHA to proceed with this claim on behalf of the industry. The RHA considers the total compensation could be around £2 billion and if this is the case, claimants will receive the vast majority of the compensation paid.”

Smith added: “We have said all along that one of the important benefits of its claim is that it will place operators in a much better bargaining position to obtain the full compensation they deserve.

“DAF is only one of the defendants to the claim and operators must opt in to preserve their claim against all the major truck manufacturers.”

The long-running legal battle involving the manufacturers and haulage firms has given rise to a number of compensation claims including the RHA’s class action, launched in 2018, which has been beset by legal challenges.

DAF was approached for comment.

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