header-logo header-logo

20 May 2022 / Eleanor Leedham
Issue: 7979 / Categories: Features , Collective action
printer mail-detail

Merricks v Mastercard: watch this space

81950
Eleanor Leedham reports on lessons learned from Mr Merricks’ multi-billion-pound action against Mastercard: what could this mean for other collective proceedings?
  • The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) ruled in March that Mr Merricks’s arguments on the domicile date and an amendment application in his ongoing action against Mastercard had been successful.
  • The UK landscape for opt-out actions continues to emerge, with five more opt-out collective claims certified by the CAT since Mr Merricks’s claim began in August 2021.

In March this year, the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) determined that around three million deceased persons are automatically part of a class of 46 million on whose behalf Mr Walter Merricks, former head of the Financial Ombudsmen Service, is claiming paid higher prices because of excessive fees charged by Mastercard. Each member of the class could potentially receive around £300, should Mr Merricks succeed in the proceedings.

Getting up to date

The CAT’s judgment on consequential matters (1266/7/7/16 Walter Hugh Merricks v Mastercard Incorporated and Others [2022] CAT 13) follows

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers—4 Brick Court

42BR Barristers to be joined by leading family law set, 4 Brick Court, this summer

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Winckworth Sherwood—Rubianka Winspear

Real estate and construction energy offering boosted by partner hire

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Gateley Legal—Daniel Walsh

Firm bolsters real estate team with partner hire in Birmingham

NEWS
A wave of housing and procedural reforms is set to test the limits of tribunal capacity. In his latest Civil Way column for NLJ this week, Stephen Gold charts sweeping change as the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 begins biting
Plans to reduce jury trials risk missing the real problem in the criminal justice system. Writing in NLJ this week, David Wolchover of Ridgeway Chambers argues the crown court backlog is fuelled not by juries but weak cases slipping through a flawed ‘50%’ prosecution test
Emerging technologies may soon transform how courts determine truth in deeply personal disputes. In this week's NLJ, Madhavi Kabra of 1 Hare Court and Harry Lambert of Outer Temple Chambers explore how neurotechnology could reshape family law
A controversial protest case has reignited debate over the limits of free expression. In NLJ this week, Nicholas Dobson examines a Quran-burning incident testing public order law
The courts have drawn a firm line under attempts to extend arbitration appeals. Writing in NLJ this week, Masood Ahmed of the University of Leicester highlights that if the High Court refuses permission under s 68 of the Arbitration Act 1996, that is the end
back-to-top-scroll