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£100 million will be distributed to class members, with individual payouts ranging from £45 to £70 depending on claim volume.
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£45.5 million is secured as a minimum return for Innsworth.
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£54.4 million remains available for further cost coverage and Innsworth’s additional return on investment.
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Any unclaimed funds will be donated to the Access to Justice Foundation, which may receive up to £86 million if only 200,000 consumers come forward.
Justice Roth acknowledged the “disappointing” scale of the settlement compared to the original claim size but noted that Merricks faced “very substantial obstacles,” including challenges around causation and legal limitation. Final legal advice estimated Merricks’ chance of success at only 40%, which the CAT considered “optimistic.”
The tribunal will appoint retired judge Andrew Gordon-Saker to independently assess the legal costs incurred, in a process modeled after the Australian class action framework. Willkie Farr & Gallagher (UK) LLP and Innsworth have been ordered to provide detailed billing records for review.
Merricks expressed pride in securing what he called “the largest settlement for a group of U.K. consumers through the English courts.” He also criticized Innsworth for attempting to block the settlement and initiating arbitration proceedings against him personally, an action he said could have led to his bankruptcy.
Mastercard agreed to provide £10 million to cover Merricks’ legal fees in the dispute with Innsworth, a move which the CAT stated did not compromise the fairness of the settlement.
In closing, Merricks called on the Association of Litigation Funders to investigate Innsworth’s conduct and consider appropriate action.
The case is Walter Hugh Merricks CBE v. Mastercard Inc. and others, case number 1266/7/7/16 in the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
