The eight multi-claimant actions continue to progress through the Birmingham Courts. At the start of May, we attended a further hearing where the strategy for how those claims will progress was discussed. This included how lead claimants will be selected and which essential issues they will represent. We will be conducting questionnaires with the claimants to ensure all information relevant to the claim is properly considered. 

These multi-claimant actions represent the first group actions being put forward to the courts of England and Wales for motor vehicle finance undisclosed commission claims. As such there is considerable interest in these actions from both claimant and defendant law firms. 

Separately, we have been sending further letters before action to both motor finance providers and credit intermediaries. These letters relate to the non-disclosure of commissions paid by the finance providers. Following these letters being sent, we will be issuing further court proceedings on behalf of our clients against both motor finance providers and credit intermediaries. 

FatFace LTD
We are actively engaged in communication with the defendant’s solicitors. Our primary objective is to identify the clients who have been adversely affected by the data breach incident. 

South Staffs Water
We are currently awaiting a response from the defendant’s solicitors. This follows our action of sending a letter of claim on behalf of our clients on March 28, 2023. We have received confirmation of the receipt of our letter, and the defendant’s solicitors have requested approximately three months to conduct an investigation into the matter before providing us with a response to our claim. We expect their three-month investigation to conclude in June 2023. 

Arnold Clark
We are currently awaiting a response from the defendant’s solicitors. Our initial letter of claim was sent on behalf of our clients on April 4, 2023. The defendant’s solicitors have requested approximately three months to conduct an investigation into the matter before providing us with a response to our claim. We expect their three-month investigation to conclude in July 2023.

DSG
We have initiated legal proceedings by sending a formal letter of claim to the defendant’s solicitors on behalf of our clients on May 18, 2023. As the next step, we will prepare and submit the necessary documentation to the court within the forthcoming months. 

Curry’s Retail LTD
We are waiting for the case management hearing on June 15, 2023. Once this hearing has taken place we will be in touch with clients with the outcome. 

A case management hearing takes place in order for the court to identify and understand what the issues in dispute are and to consider whether they can be narrowed before the trial.

Best Connection
We are actively receiving new leads regarding various individual data breach claims. These leads serve as valuable information for our ongoing efforts in handling and pursuing the respective claims. 

Business Interruption claims have continued to gain momentum since the last update, with more cases being brought to the High Court against various insurers. 

On May 4 2023, Barings Law, along with four other firms, concluded a two-week trial for the very first ‘at the premises’ case at the High Court of Justice in London. The judgement from that hearing is expected to be handed down in July. We are hoping that the judgement will bring positive news for a significant number of policyholders across the UK for all law firms handling BI claims. 

We are now looking to challenge insurers on other policy variations and complex issues to help more policyholders who have so far been met with rejections. 

For claims against Curry’s Retail LTD for the mis-selling of phone insurance, we have received 339 settlements this year so far for our cohort of clients who have had upheld complaints.

As the year continues, we look forward to more positive outcomes for our clients.  

Our attempts to settle claims for undisclosed commissions outside of court have been denied by the Lenders. We are currently in the process of obtaining instructions from our clients to prepare to issue court proceedings. We are doing this with the help of a barrister who has significant expertise in this particular area of law with hopes that we can secure settlements for our clients.

We are pleased to inform you that since we started taking on tenancy deposit cases, we have gained significant traction, and as a result, we have taken legal action in six cases regarding the failure of landlords protecting their tenants’ deposits. 

These six cases have been officially issued in court, and we are determined to fight for the rights of tenants. One of our cases has been assigned a hearing date, which will take place on June 29. This is a crucial step forward in our fight for justice, and we are optimistic about the outcome and what this will mean for future cases.