Several car carrier operators are facing a US-style class action lawsuit in the UK that claims that millions of motorists were overcharged for vehicle deliveries between 2006 and 2012.
An “opt out” collective action has been filed at the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal against vehicle carriers MOL, K Line, NYK Line, Compania Sud Americana de Vapores (CSAV) and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics and sister company Eukor.
Mark McLaren, formerly of Which? and currently on the consumer panel of the UK's Legal Services Board, is bringing the group action on behalf of consumers and businesses under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
“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," McLaren said in a statement.
The claim is thought to be worth over £150m ($192.4m) or up to £60 per new car or light commercial vehicle, according to the statement.
UK motorists and companies who bought or leased new cars affected by the price-fixing activity between October 2006 and September 2015 are automatically included in the class and would be eligible for compensation if it is successful.
"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," McLaren said.
Legal team
McLaren is being assisted in the claim by an independent advisory committee, headed by Sir Richard Aikens, a former Lord Justice of Appeal of the Courts of England and Wales.
Law firm Scott + Scott has been instructed by the claimant, as well as barristers from Brick Court Chambers in London.
"Claims of this kind, where very large numbers of class members each suffered losses that are too small to litigate individually, are precisely the types of claim that the UK collective actions regime was designed to facilitate," said David Scott of Scott + Scott.
The collective action is being funded by Woodsford Litigation Funding, a third-party legal action financier.
Action worldwide
The claim follows a total fine of €395m imposed by the European Commission against four car carrier companies in 2018 for violating the bloc’s competition rules.
That fine applied to Chile’s CSAV, Japan’s K Line and NYK Line, as well as Scandinavian joint ventures WWL and EUKOR.
Car carrier owners that engaged in the price-fixing activity are facing a number of claims by different parties, who say they were overcharged as a result.
NYK Line, Wallenius Wilhelmsen and CSAV are facing a UK trial as a result of price-fixing claims by German car maker Daimler, as TradeWinds reported in December.
The manufacturer has said it lost $214m in overcharges on trade worth more than $1.94bn.
German car maker BMW is pursuing damages claims in South Africa against car carrier owners including Japan's MOL, Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL) and K Line, which it claims engaged in fixing prices.
Regulatory decisions have been handed down by regulators in countries including Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the United States, Peru, Brazil, South Africa and Chile.
Outside the EU, regulatory fines have exceeded $755m, according to McLaren's press statement.
