Row over British Mastercard claim settled
A litigation funder in a British mass-consumer claim against payments company Mastercard has settled a dispute with the claim’s class representative over fees.
According to the England-and-Wales Gazette, former financial ombudsman Walter Merricks has announced that funder Innsworth Capital has agreed to drop an arbitration claim against him.
The action, over historical interchange fees charged by Mastercard, was the first mass-consumer action to be approved in Britain.
Distribution
Merrick has now released an order made by the Competition Appeals Tribunal facilitating payment of just over Stg £62.5 million to Innsworth.
“After almost ten years of litigating, first with Mastercard and then with Innsworth, to get compensation for British consumers, this finally opens the way for me to prepare for distribution of at least £100 million to consumers,” he stated.
The money will be shared equally between an unknown number of claimants from a class consisting of anyone who shopped in British supermarkets between May 1992 and June 2008. Claimants will be recruited with a nationwide publicity campaign and given six months in which to register.
2024 settlement
The action was originally valued at some £14 billion, but the parties settled in 2024 for £200 million.
Innsworth, which had invested £46 million, pursued a claim for £179 million from the settlement. This was thrown out by the divisional court in June.
Innsworth also began arbitration proceedings against Merricks for failing to use his best endeavours in the action.