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Merricks funder loses settlement challenge

Litigation funder Innsworth Capital has lost its case over its share of the £200m settlement in former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks’ lengthy opt-out collective action against Mastercard

Merricks’ claim, launched in 2016, was initially valued at about £14bn but eventually settled for £200m. Innsworth argued for equal division, giving potential claimants £4.50 with the unclaimed amount (in practice, all of it) going to the funder.

However, the High Court held the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) was correct to allocate about £68m to Innsworth, representing its costs in the case plus a profit of about £22m, in R (on the application of Innsworth Capital) v CAT [2026] EWHC 1393 (Admin).

Merricks hailed the result ‘a complete vindication’. 

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