6:28 am, September 25, 2026
Millions of UK motorists and businesses are being urged to register for a share of almost £56m in compensation after a court approved a payout scheme linked to a car shipping price-fixing scandal.
The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) has given the green light for £55.87m to be distributed to consumers and businesses who bought or leased new cars and vans from 37 manufacturers between 2006 and 2015.
The compensation follows a European Commission investigation which found that shipping companies had operated a cartel to fix prices for transporting new vehicles.
The Commission fined five shipping companies a total of €395m (£340m) in 2018, with the inflated transport costs ultimately affecting millions of UK vehicle buyers.
Now, former Which? consumer expert Mark McLaren, who brought the UK collective legal action, is urging eligible motorists and businesses to register for compensation, with payments expected to begin later this year.
The scheme covers new vehicles purchased or leased between October 18, 2006 and September 6, 2015, including models from Ford, Vauxhall, Volkswagen, Peugeot, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan, Toyota, Citroen, Renault, Honda, Hyundai and Kia.
A further 24 manufacturers are also included in the settlement.
Individual payouts will start at £25 for the first eligible vehicle, with an additional £5 available for each of the second to sixth vehicles.
Anyone who bought or leased more than six eligible vehicles will receive at least £2.50 for each additional vehicle.
Businesses that purchased vehicles for their own use are also eligible, including car rental, delivery, construction, maintenance and fleet management companies.
Public sector organisations and local authorities could also be entitled to compensation for tens of thousands of vehicles bought or leased during the period.
An estimated 17.8m vehicles in the UK were affected by the overcharging, with around 80% of new vehicles sold in the country arriving from overseas.
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.’
Those entitled to compensation will be able to receive their payments through several methods, including direct bank transfers, Nectar points or donations to charity.