It could be at least another year before collective claims for compensation over price-fixing by a cartel of truck makers is heard pending the outcome of another case in the Supreme Court.
Steven Meyerhoff, director at solicitor Backhouse Jones, said the process had been halted by another landmark case that is testing the standards applied to a collective proceedings order in a major competition claim.
Backhouse Jones is working with the RHA on its proposed claim, which has 11,100 operators with a total fleet size of 130,000. A second proposed claim – UK Trucks Claim (UKTC) – is being backed by legal firm Weightmans.
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Meyerhoff said half of the application was heard in June, which relates to funding and a decision on this is due “imminently”. However, by adjourning the remainder of the application, it could be October 2020 before the two collective claims are heard by the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).
“The CAT will progress the claim as quickly as possible, but for the RHA case it could be 12 months from now,” he said.
In addition to the RHA and UKTC, some large fleet buyers – including Royal Mail, Ryder and Dawsongroup – are pursuing their own claim for damages in the High Court.
