In a recent landmark decision, the Court of Appeal upheld the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s decision to allow the Road Haulage Association (RHA) to pursue a collective action against truck manufacturers involved in a cartel that operated between 1997 and 2011.
The cartel was found to have resulted in inflated truck prices, affecting a wide range of businesses in the waste industry.
The potential compensation is estimated at £2 billion.
The RHA’s application for a Collective Proceedings Order (CPO) was initially granted by the court, allowing it to represent all affected claimants who chose to join the action. To date, approximately 18,000 companies have joined the claim. The truck manufacturers involved include MAN, Volvo/Renault, Daimler, Iveco (now Stellantis) and DAF.
DAF, MAN and a rival body known as UK Truck Claim (UKTC) challenged the Tribunal’s decision and sought to overturn it. However, the Court of Appeal dismissed their appeals and upheld the RHA’s position as the sole class representative in the case.
The main point of contention was a conflict within the group of claimants, specifically between those who had bought new trucks and those who had bought used trucks. The issue revolved around the concept of „resale pass-on”, with used truck purchasers arguing that the overcharge for new trucks had been passed on to them through higher resale or buy-back prices. On the other hand, purchasers of new trucks wanted to minimise the extent to which the overcharge affected them, as this would affect their potential damages.
To resolve this conflict, the Court of Appeal ordered the RHA to create a separate sub-group within its organisation to represent the interests of used truck purchasers. This sub-group must have a separate legal team and economist from the main claims representation. In addition, the Court suggested that it may be necessary for the sub-group to have its own separate funding for the claim.
Richard Smith, Chief Executive of the RHA, said he was pleased with the Court of Appeal’s decision and expected that the case could now proceed to the Competition Appeal Tribunal and secure compensation for all operators who joined the claim.
Steven Meyerhoff, a director of Backhouse Jones, the law firm representing the RHA, confirmed that its legal team is committed to putting in place the necessary safeguards as quickly as possible to allow the case to proceed to the Tribunal.