Chambers to lead multi-billion pound compo claim against auto manufacturers

Barristers from Exchange Chambers in Manchester will lead a multi-billion pound legal claim against five of the world’s biggest vehicle manufacturers following a massive price-fixing fine imposed last year by the European Commission.

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has lined up funding from Therium Capital Management for a potentially vast compensation claim, which could see further penalties imposed on DAF, Daimler, Iveco, MAN and Volvo Group, which manufactures both Volvo and Renault trucks.

David Went from Exchange Chambers said: “We are taking this case to the Competition Appeal Tribunal as it is the specialist court in the UK that deals with these types of claims and is an effective way to seek redress for operators.

“The initial stage involves asking the Tribunal to authorise the RHA to act as industry representative and to set out the basis on which operators can opt into the claim. The first hearing is expected to be later this year.”

Tom Handley, director of Exchange Chambers, said: “Working with solicitors Backhouse Jones, our team will seek the best compensation deal than it can on behalf of Road Haulage Association members.  The funding from Therium is the largest tranche of After The Event insurance that’s ever been underwritten.”

Barristers working on the case from Exchange Chambers in Manchester include Mark Cawson QC and Stephen Connolly.

It is understood to be the first British legal claim emerging from the aftermath of a €2.93bn price-fixing fine imposed on the five companies last July by Brussels-based competition watchdogs.

The RHA estimates that roughly 650,000 trucks were sold in the UK between 1997 and 2011 – the 14-year period that the cartel was deemed by the European Commission to have been in operation.  Individuals who join the claim will not be charged for doing so.

Last year’s fines in Europe sent shockwaves through the business community as they smashed the record for penalties imposed on a single cartel.

Announcing them, Margrethe Vestager, the EU Competition Commissioner, said last July: “There are over 30 million trucks on European roads, which account for around three-quarters of inland transport of goods in Europe and play a vital role for the European economy.

“It is not acceptable that MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco and DAF, which together account for around nine out of every 10 medium and heavy trucks produced in Europe, were part of a cartel instead of competing with each other.”

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