A pensioners' group is suing a mobility scooter company for alleged price-fixing in what is believed to be the UK's first 'class action' law suit.
The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) alleges Pride, the market leader in the UK's mobility scooter sector, breached competition law by banning online retailers from selling scooters below the recommended retail price.
Lawyers believe the case could be worth nearly £8m and represents a watershed moment for consumers.
Pride said it is not aware of any evidence that consumers have suffered a loss as a result of its past distribution policies
The NPC, a campaign group for pensioners which has 1.5 million members, brought the action after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), ruled Pride breached competition law.
In March 2014, the OFT said Pride, which sells the popular 'Jazzy Power Chair' and 'oGo Es 8' range of scooters, banned retailers from advertising online prices below the recommended retail price (RRP) between 2010 and 2012.
It found evidence Pride referred to online retailers who priced below the RRP as 'internet rogues' and said the company broke the act 'by participating in agreements and/or concerted practices which had as their object the prevention, restriction or distortion of competition'.
Solicitors Leigh Day claim up to 34,000 consumers, mainly pensioners and people with disabilities, who bought seven models in Pride's 'Colt' range of scooters and the Elite Traveller LX (part of the Go-Go range) between 2010 and 2013 could be entitled to up to £200 compensation. The letter estimates the total value of the claims, could be up to £7.7m.
It says: 'The claims raise the common issue of whether class members were overcharged for their mobility scooter as a result of Pride's infringements of competition law, and by how much.'
In October 2015, the new Consumer Rights Act allowed consumers to claim compensation for breaches of competition law for the first time. The new rules were brought in because it was considered too difficult for consumers to claim under the previous system.
The National Pensioners Convention alleges Pride breached competition law by banning online retailers from selling scooters below the recommended retail price
Class actions, which are only available for breaches of competition law, are new to the UK but have been used in the US, Australia, Canada and other countries for many years.
Dot Gibson, general secretary for the NPC, which said the group wanted to take the action forward to protect the interest of all pensioners and consumers.
She said: 'This is not just about older people it is a consumer story also. It puts down a marker to retailers that you can't pull the wool over people's eyes, particularly older people. Consumers need protection and retailers need to know they can't do it. We are keen for it to be a success so it sets a bench mark for the future.'
Chris Haan, a lawyer at Leigh Day, said: 'We are pleased to be bringing the first ever class action in the UK under the new consumer protection legislation. It is likely that this case will be the first of many class actions where consumers sue to get back overcharges resulting from companies breaching competition law.
'It was practically impossible for consumers to gain compensation under the old system and companies were able to get away with ripping off consumers at will.
Pride is the market leader in the UK's mobility scooter sector, which sells the popular 'Jazzy Power Chair' and 'oGo Es 8'
'Under that system the tens of thousands of disabled and elderly people who have been affected by the price hike in this case would each have had to sign up for a court case when they had only lost a small amount each.
'That is why claims were never brought- it just was not worth the grief for the amount of money involved. We hope that the new class action system will finally enable consumers to enforce their rights.'
Pride confirmed it had received a letter from solicitors. The company's chief executive, Nick Allen, said: 'Pride notes the OFT decision did not include any finding that consumers suffered financial loss as a result of Pride's distribution policies.
'The OFT also found that those policies were anyway widely ignored by 'internet only' sellers who wished to compete on the basis of price alone.
'Pride is not aware of any evidence that consumers have suffered a loss as a result of Pride's past distribution policies. We will be robustly resisting what we consider to be an opportunistic and baseless claim.'
Lawyers believe the case could be worth nearly £8m and represents a watershed moment for consumers
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