| OAP wins landmark £25million legal battle for 1.4M train passengers Posted by Marlburian at 18:34, 22nd September 2024 |      |
I can't believe that the Reading Chronicle was the first with this story.
Justin Gutmann secured £25million from Stagecoach South Western Trains - the largest ever compensation package paid out from collective action in the UK. His epic legal battle claimed passengers with a Travelcard covering the Underground may have been overcharged for onward journeys out of London."
I'm not sure that the reporter has got her facts right ...
| Re: OAP wins landmark £25million legal battle for 1.4M train passengers Posted by JayMac at 19:14, 22nd September 2024 | |
I don't think the Reading Chronicle have an exclusive. The story has been around for months. As discussed here:
http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=28731.0
| Re: OAP wins landmark £25million legal battle for 1.4M train passengers Posted by Ralph Ayres at 21:37, 22nd September 2024 | |
I've been aware of this for some time, but it's the first time I've seen such a bizarre focus on Justin Gutmann's age ("dogged OAP", "pensioner", "retired", "grandad-of-one", "76"). Cynically, although it's stated that he has opted out of claiming himself, I do wonder if he will benefit indirectly in some way but perhaps it's just keeping his brain active at such a great age! If it's purely being done altruistically I'd say there are more worthy causes. I'm sure the legal teams involved will do well out of it.
| Re: OAP wins landmark £25million legal battle for 1.4M train passengers Posted by stuving at 23:38, 22nd September 2024 | |
I've been aware of this for some time, but it's the first time I've seen such a bizarre focus on Justin Gutmann's age ("dogged OAP", "pensioner", "retired", "grandad-of-one", "76"). Cynically, although it's stated that he has opted out of claiming himself, I do wonder if he will benefit indirectly in some way but perhaps it's just keeping his brain active at such a great age! If it's purely being done altruistically I'd say there are more worthy causes. I'm sure the legal teams involved will do well out of it.
His real beef seems to be with the regulators, but he ends up pursuing the companies - perhaps for the classic reason: that's where the money is. So his prime targets may not be the same as yours. And he has several cases on the go...
This case continues against SWR (only Stagecoach/SWT settled, out of court), and he has two more for SER and GTR, as well as five about mobile phone contracts. And that's just in the Competition Appeal Tribunal, he may have others being heard in other courts.
I was puzzled by the article mentioning the "2015 Civil Rights Act" - how is that relevant? Obviously that should be the Consumer Rights Act 2015! Though, in fact, this case was brought under section 47B of the Competition Act 1998, alleging that the
Defendants have abused their positions of dominance on the relevant markets in breach of the prohibition in Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“Article 102 TFEU”) and or section 18 of the [same] Act (“Chapter II Prohibition").
