The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has approved a settlement between Mark McLaren, class representative in the car delivery charges legal action and CSAV, one of the five defendant shipping groups.

CSAV, one of five shipping groups which operated an illegal cartel to manipulate car shipping prices, proposed a settlement of £1.5 million in October.

The settlement was approved at a hearing at the CAT on Wednesday (December 6)

CSAV is the smallest defendant in the cartel, with around 1.7% market share of the cartel. This will not settle the claim against the other four defendant groups, which is expected to proceed, with a trial due to be listed in early 2025.

The settlement sum will be held in escrow and class members will receive damages once the litigation is resolved against the other Defendants.

Mark McLaren, class representative, said: “We are delighted that we have been successful in securing a settlement that will provide redress to those British consumers and businesses who bought new cars and vans and have suffered a loss as a result of the cartel.

This is a significant milestone in this claim, which is important for the class members and also for upholding the rule of law and demonstrating that this regime works.”

Belinda Hollway, partner at Scott and Scott, the law firm instructed by McLaren, added: “This is a great outcome for the class in this case, and it is also a great outcome for the collective actions regime.

“It shows that collective settlements can be achieved and that the regime is working to deliver compensation to the victims of breaches of competition law.”

More than 17 million cars are said to have been affected by the price fixing scheme, run by international shipping firms MOL, K Line, NYK, WWL/EUKOR and CSAV, with the claim value expected to be up to £60 per car.

Those affected are consumers and businesses who bought new vehicles from many of the leading brands including Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Citroen and Renault between October 2006 and September 2015.

The legal action followed followed the European Commission’s decision in 2018 to fine these shipping companies €395 million for fixed prices and rigged bids for roll-on, roll-off (RoRo) transport of vehicles.

The EC found that the shippers had coordinated rates, allocated tenders, coordinated reductions of capacity in the market and exchanged commercially sensitive information to maintain or increase the price of intercontinental shipping of new vehicles.

When buying or leasing new vehicles, consumers and businesses pay for delivery costs and the class action aims to help that those who were overcharged get their money back.