Collective proceedings for domestic electricity billpayers

07/05/24

Spottiswoode v Nexans France SAS & others [2024] CAT 31

Clare Spottiswoode CBE has been authorised by the Competition Appeal Tribunal to act as the class representative in collective proceedings seeking to recover damages for any loss which flowed through to domestic electricity bills in Britain from the power cables cartel identified by the European Commission.

The class includes (subject to certain exceptions):

“All people alive who directly paid (and personal representatives of deceased people who had directly paid) the cost of domestic consumption of electricity supplied via the distribution network in Great Britain on or after 1 April 2001.”

More details are available on the Class Representative’s website, www.homeenergyaction.co.uk.

By the time of the hearing of the collective proceedings application on 11 April 2024, the making of a collective proceedings order was unopposed.

The Tribunal delivered its judgment on the collective proceedings application on 3 May 2024. The judgment addresses, among other things: precision in defining a class; arrangements for class members who are minors; permissible litigation funding arrangements following the Supreme Court’s judgment in PACCAR; and the appropriateness of considering a plan for future distribution of any damages at the stage of certifying collective proceedings.

The judgment is here.