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A UK court has approved a plan to pay £56 million in compensation to millions of UK consumers who lost money from inflated car delivery charges.
Former Which? consumer expert Mark McLaren urged consumers to sign up to receive the compensation, which can be paid in a variety of ways including Nectar points, donations to charities and direct banking in the coming months.
The case followed the European Commission’s 2018 decision to fine the shipping companies MOL, K Line, NYK, WWL/EUKOR and CSAV 395 million euros (£340 million) for fixing prices for the transport of vehicles.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has now approved a plan to distribute £55.87 million in compensation to consumers and businesses who bought or leased new cars or vans from 37 brands between 2006 and 2015.
Those who bought vehicles from Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes, Nissan, Toyota, Citroen, Renault, Honda, Hyundai, and Kia, alongside 24 other major vehicle manufacturers from 2006 to 2015 are owed compensation.
Individual payouts for consumers and businesses will start at £25 for the first vehicle, while those with more than one affected vehicle stand to receive an additional £5 for vehicles two to six and at least £2.50 for each extra eligible vehicle.
Mr McLaren said: “Signing up now is the best way to be first in line for compensation.
“With everything now fully approved, the distribution of settlement monies can be distributed later this year.
“Those already signed up will be contacted as soon as the distribution is open and will be directed to our online claim form to get back the money you’re owed.
“We’ve done everything we can to make this process as easy as possible for those affected.
“This settlement has been secured on behalf of consumers and businesses who were overcharged for new vehicles, because of hidden agreements between companies they’d never heard, which secretly cost them money.
“They now deserve to get that money back.”
Businesses who bought new vehicles for their own use are also eligible, including car rental, delivery, construction, maintenance, and fleet management companies.
Government institutions across the UK are also owed compensation, with tens of thousands of vehicles purchased or leased by public sector organisations and local authorities in the relevant period.
Some 80% of all new vehicles in the UK are shipped in from abroad, with an estimated 17.8 million vehicles in the UK affected by the overcharge during the relevant period.
Anyone who purchased or leased a new vehicle in the UK between October 18 2006 and September 6 2015 is invited to sign up at www.cardeliverycharges.com/register.