Truck Cartel – an update for claimants

We are hopeful that that we will shortly get the green light to go ahead with our collective claim for compensation from the Truck Cartel. We would then be able to go ahead with the opt in process.

This comes after the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) hearing last week (4-5 June) considered the solutions we’ve put in place to address concerns from a previous judgment from the Court of Appeal (25 July 2023) which ruled there was a conflict of interest between class members who bought new trucks and those who bought used trucks.

The Court of Appeal said at the time it was not possible for new truck purchasers and used truck purchasers to be represented by the same team within the RHA or by the same lawyers and expert economist. However, it was satisfied the RHA could ‘split’ itself and properly represent all operators in the class.

We established two separate teams and formed a new company – RHA Used Trucks Limited (RUTL) – to act on behalf of used truck operators, which appointed its own law firm and expert economist.

Our legal team says the recent hearing went well and the Tribunal gave some encouraging indications ahead of a further hearing during the week of 15 July; we are hopeful we will finally get the green light to go ahead.

What happens next if we get the green light

You will need to formally ‘opt in’ to continue with your claim if we get the green light.

We will send you a copy of what is known as a “Rule 81 Notice” which will provide important details about the claim. This includes the basis on which the Tribunal has permitted the claim to proceed, how the conflict of interest has been dealt with, how to opt in, and the date by which you need to opt in.

There will be a cut-off date for opting in to the claim and the Tribunal has provisionally indicated that this might be 31 December 2024.

If you have not opted in by the cut-off date, you will not be able to do so and will not be part of the claim. To be clear, it does not matter that you are already signed up or registered for the claim – you will need to go through the opt-in process to confirm your involvement in the claim.

Helping you with the opt in process

We propose to bring in a third-party specialist in data management called Punter Southall Analytics and use a state-of-the art legal platform called FinLegal to help you opt in.

It's likely that Punter Southall Analytics will also request your Vehicle Operator Licence (VOL) details and permission to access them. This will help us to verify the number of trucks for which you will be claiming and match those records to list price data.

More details on this will be provided in due course.

Please retain your records of trucks purchased and prices paid if you have them.

We will update you shortly after the hearing the week of 15 July.