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Class actions

United Kingdom — CAT collective proceedings and group litigation orders

NationalGBDerived or secondary source

United Kingdom

Rule id
collective.uk
Version
1.0.0
In force from
October 1, 2015
Last read against its sources
August 5, 2026
Countries bound
United Kingdom

In plain language

What this regime says.

The Competition Appeal Tribunal runs a real opt-out class regime for competition claims, in which UK-domiciled class members are included automatically. Everything else is opt-in group litigation in the ordinary courts, where you must issue your own claim.

Who is covered

For CAT proceedings, everyone within the class definition in the collective proceedings order — which for consumer overcharge cases can be tens of millions of people who need do nothing. For group litigation, only those whose claims are on the group register.

What you get

A share of an aggregate award or approved settlement, after the funder's approved return and costs. No figure is set by statute.

Where claims go wrong

  • Assuming the CAT regime covers any consumer claim. It is competition law only.
  • Assuming a group litigation order includes you. It does not until your own claim is on the register.
  • Not searching the CAT case register — for large consumer overcharge claims there is a real chance a certified class already covers you.
  • Signing a funding agreement in group litigation without reading the costs and adverse-costs provisions.
The official claim route

Authority

Every citation,
with its pinpoint.

A claim that cites “EU law” gets filed. A claim that cites Article 7(1)(c) gets answered. These are the exact coordinates this entry rests on.
  1. Competition Act 1998, s.47BCompetition Act 1998, as substituted by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, Sch. 8URL verified 2026-08-05s.47B — collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, combining two or more claims under s.47A. Proceedings may be commenced only by a person the Tribunal authorises to act as class representative, and may continue only if the Tribunal makes a collective proceedings order specifying whether the proceedings are opt-in or opt-out
  2. Consumer Rights Act 2015, Sch. 8Consumer Rights Act 2015URL verified 2026-08-05Sch. 8 — the amendments to the Competition Act 1998 that created the opt-out collective proceedings regime in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, in force 1 October 2015
  3. Mastercard Inc v Merricks [2020] UKSC 51Supreme Court of the United KingdomURL verified 2026-08-05The certification threshold for a collective proceedings order is a relative merits test, not a requirement that the claims be susceptible to proof on a common basis or that damages be capable of individual assessment. The Tribunal is not to conduct a mini-trial at the certification stage
  4. Civil Procedure Rules, Part 19 (representative parties and group litigation orders)Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (England and Wales)URL verified 2026-08-05CPR 19.8 — a claim may be begun by or against one or more persons as representatives of others who have the same interest; CPR 19.21-19.26 — group litigation orders, under which claims giving rise to common or related issues are managed together on a group register. A group litigation order is opt-in: a claim joins the register only if it is issued and entered
  5. Lloyd v Google LLC [2021] UKSC 50Supreme Court of the United KingdomURL verified 2026-08-05The CPR 19.6 (now CPR 19.8) representative-action procedure cannot be used to recover uniform "loss of control" damages for a class without proving individual damage, which closed the route that had been expected to serve as a general opt-out mechanism outside competition law

Sources

Where a figure is indexed, converted or published by a regulator rather than fixed in the instrument, the provenance is recorded separately. Anything marked as a modelled estimate is exactly that — a model, not a statutory number.

What it imposes

Clocks, defences and the ladder.

A rule module builds these while it evaluates, because a limitation period depends on which forum is open to you. What follows is the structure this regime produces — deliberately with no dates and no figures, because those belong to your facts rather than to the law.

What it entitles you to, beyond money

  • A route into a collective action, if one existsIn the Competition Appeal Tribunal the Tribunal decides at certification whether proceedings are opt-in or opt-out. Where an opt-out collective proceedings order is made, every class member domiciled in the United Kingdom is included automatically and must act only to leave; class members domiciled elsewhere must opt in. Under a group litigation order in the ordinary courts nothing is automatic: you are in only if your own claim is issued and entered on the group register before the cut-off date the court sets.s.47B — collective proceedings before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, combining two or more claims under s.47A. Proceedings may be commenced only by a person the Tribunal authorises to act as class representative, and may continue only if the Tribunal makes a collective proceedings order specifying whether the proceedings are opt-in or opt-out
  • Your own individual claim is still thereCollective redress is an alternative route, not a replacement. Unless you are bound by a judgment or a settlement in a collective action, your individual claim under the ordinary law survives, and for a small sum it is usually the faster route. Check the other regimes in this result.

What the other side will say

Each of these is a refusal this regime lets a counterparty attempt, paired with the answer to it. Reading them before you write is worth more than any amount of polish on the letter itself.

"We can file your class-action claim for you — for a percentage"

high likelihood

A claims-filing service, a "settlement recovery" app or a law firm that is not class counsel contacts you offering to handle the claim, taking 15-40% of whatever arrives. Some buy the claim outright for a fraction of its value. Others harvest the personal data on the form.

What answers it

Filing is free, it is done on the administrator's own website, and it takes minutes. Class counsel are already paid out of the settlement — you do not retain anyone and you do not owe anyone a percentage. Several administrators now reject bulk third-party filings outright, and some settlement agreements void claims submitted by an aggregator, so using one can cost you the whole claim rather than a slice of it. The only address you should be entering your details into is the official settlement website named in the notice, which is also the only place that can tell you the real deadline.

"Up to $X" is read as an entitlement

high likelihood

The notice, the press coverage and the aggregators all quote the maximum per-claimant figure. It is read as an entitlement.

What answers it

"Up to" is a cap, not a promise. Almost every consumer settlement is a fixed fund divided among valid claims, so the per-claimant payment falls as the claims rate rises and is calculated only after the claims period closes, after the administrator validates claims, and after fees and costs come out. A settlement quoted at "up to $100" routinely pays single digits. That is not a reason to skip filing — the form is free and takes minutes — but it is a reason not to plan around the headline number.

Where to take it next

  1. Check the register of live collective actionsThis is the authoritative list of actions that have actually been brought. Search the trader's name. If an action is listed, the register entry will tell you the class or group definition, which is what decides whether you are covered.Collective actionofficial page
  2. Report it to Competition and Markets AuthorityCollective actions start as patterns in a regulator's or consumer body's complaint data. A single report is free, takes minutes, and is the only mechanism by which a case like yours becomes a case at all. It does not give you money and should not be mistaken for a claim.Regulatortypically 60 daysofficial page
  3. Run your own individual claim in parallelDo not wait for a collective action. They take years, most never certify, and the individual routes in this result run on their own limitation periods that keep expiring while you wait. If a collective action later covers the same loss you simply give credit for anything already recovered.Claim directtypically 30 days

The same claim type elsewhere

Class or group settlement — are you inside the class definition?GLOBALSupranational — party states varyFed. R. Civ. P. 23Confidence: highBelgium — action en réparation collective (Code de droit économique, Book XVII)BENational — BelgiumCode de droit économique / Wetboek van economisch recht, Livre XVII, Titre 2 (arts. XVII.35 et seq.)Confidence: lowEuropean Union — Representative Actions Directive (EU) 2020/1828EUSupranational — 27 countriesDirective (EU) 2020/1828 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumersConfidence: highFrance — action de groupeFRNational — FranceAction de groupe — Code de la consommation, arts. L623-1 et seq., as reformed in 2025Confidence: lowGermany — Abhilfeklage and Musterfeststellungsklage (VDuG)DENational — GermanyVerbraucherrechtedurchsetzungsgesetz (VDuG)Confidence: mediumItaly — azione di classe (arts. 840-bis et seq. c.p.c.)ITNational — ItalyCodice di procedura civile, arts. 840-bis to 840-sexiesdecies (Legge 12 aprile 2019, n. 31)Confidence: mediumNetherlands — WAMCA collective damages actionsNLNational — NetherlandsWet afwikkeling massaschade in collectieve actie (WAMCA)Confidence: mediumPoland — group proceedings (postępowanie grupowe)PLNational — PolandUstawa z dnia 17 grudnia 2009 r. o dochodzeniu roszczeń w postępowaniu grupowymConfidence: low

Other rights in the same countries

England & Wales — tenancy deposit protection (Housing Act 2004 ss. 213–215)GB-EAWSub-national — United KingdomHousing Act 2004, s. 213Confidence: highEngland & Wales — unclaimed estates and bona vacantia (Administration of Estates Act 1925 s. 46)GB-EAWSub-national — United KingdomAdministration of Estates Act 1925 (c. 23), s. 46(1)(vi)Confidence: mediumGreat Britain — Delay RepayGBNational — United KingdomNational Rail Conditions of TravelConfidence: mediumNorthern Ireland — tenancy deposit schemes (SR 2012/373, as amended 2023)GB-NIRSub-national — United KingdomTenancy Deposit Schemes Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2012Confidence: mediumScotland — tenancy deposit schemes (SSI 2011/176)GB-SCTSub-national — United KingdomTenancy Deposit Schemes (Scotland) Regulations 2011, reg. 3Confidence: highConsumer Credit Act 1974 s.75 (and s.75A) — creditor joint and several liabilityGBNational — United KingdomConsumer Credit Act 1974, s.75Confidence: highUK Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 (and the not-yet-commenced DMCCA subscription regime)GBNational — United KingdomConsumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134)Confidence: highUK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018GBNational — United KingdomUK GDPR Arts. 15–21 and Data Protection Act 2018Confidence: medium

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Not a law firm. Not legal advice. You send it yourself. This page describes a law; it is not advice about your situation and no outcome is promised.