Car cartel lawsuits extend to fleets, seek compensation for millionaires
This is the case System Capitalwhich in 2019 already led the first “litigation finance” operation, or fund created to fight lucrative legal battles with the cargo cartel. “Family office” Systema Capital is facing an ambitious financial operation with which it is creating aspirations to become the largest car cartel claims platform in Spain, with funds of 15 million euros for legal defense and the ability to defend around 100,000 affected people in joint claims.
Legal platform called A&P and with the trade name ‘recoveryourmoney.com” represents another step in the fight against the car cartel, as it aims to attract companies with fleets of cars and vans. There are already 30,000 people registered on Recovertudinero.com. It has the advantage of having the essential resources to substantiate all claims with professional and reliable expert evidence in accordance with the guidelines of the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) Guidelines for Quantifying Damages. With significant in-house resources, the firm envisions the independence and ability to become the first business-to-business legal platform for auto cartel damage claims.
Vehicle fleets
Until 2026, car and van fleets, rental companies, taxi unions, commercial agents, business associations, as well as companies and self-employed workers from different sectors that require fleets for their activities will also be able to complain against brands. ..with significant income expectations. A&P’s goal is to provide representation to approximately 100,000 vehicles throughout Spain by facilitating the financing of 100% of legal costs, so that clients do not have to wait or risk any capital. And there is no cost to the customer if the claim is lost. Difficult forecast for brands for the next two years.
Ivan Komerma, a partner at Systema Capital, explains that a framework expert report will be prepared using information about victims who reach the platform, and that the success of any lawsuit depends on this report: “The larger the sample analyzed, the more reliable it is. result and the more likely we are that the judge will consider the figure we claim instead of providing symbolic figures, which we have seen happens when expert evidence is not reliable. When asked about the amount of the claim, he admits that the estimates are not final, but a clear percentage of the premium that brands have charged above the self-imposed limits for free competition is already beginning to emerge. “Our first indications are an average premium of around 8-10%, to which we would have to add interest from the date the damage occurred, which could mean an additional 50% on top of that 8-10%,” Comerma explains. .
300 million at stake
The total size of the car cartel case is estimated in various Spanish courts at approximately 300 million euros, which largely explains the interest of lawyers and venues in bringing claims and benefiting from this open procedural business pie. As further information to support the proven existence of the cartel fined by the CNMC, Comerma assures that at the moment they have not discovered “that a certain brand periodically applied a premium strategy different from that of other cartel members.” “
Car cartel
On 23 July 2015, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) imposed a fine of €171 million on 21 car companies and two consultancies for anti-competitive practices. The Supreme Court confirmed them in 2021. According to the CNMC investigation, the brands exchanged confidential information among themselves, the amount of dealer discounts was agreed upon and there were no aggressive offers.
Most collective platforms that bring victims together to file an appeal against the car cartel charge some type of fee, which ranges from an initial payment to pay for experts’ services to a commission on the money earned. In the case of the site Recuperadinero.com, through which the A&P platform wants to promote claims, capital is not at risk and the process is accelerated by the development of systems for transmitting data and documents electronically. This fact is noteworthy because in claims exceeding €2,000 (more than 80%), collection periods are extended beyond 18 months or two years.
Company
A&P’s claims platform consists of Systema Capital’s litigation finance team; a team of competition lawyers led by Allura & Peimondt, which in turn forms the LegalTech A&P platform; the LegalTech technology team led by Oklaim (a Highpow group company that develops solutions for law firms handling large cases); a panel of cartel experts in Spain led by PQAxis; and a digital operations audit team led by Minsait (an Indra group company). The A&P Legal Platform (operating under the business name www.recuperatudinero.com) brings together a team of lawyers who want to reduce barriers for companies to file claims and access compensation cases with minimal impact on their operational resources through a single information delivery system.
Quantitative damage assessment
The purpose of lawsuits against automakers is not to demonstrate the guilt of the brands, as this is understandable after the Competition fine and the Supreme Court ruling, but solely to demonstrate a quantification of damages. Therefore, preparing an impeccable expert report is critical to the final verdict. On the other hand, presenting collective claim and fleet data provides the benefits of economies of scale, allowing for a better assessment of the data and the resulting economic impact, for which previous studies have indicated a 20% premium.