Latest World Breaking News Online News Portal
Thousands of people could be paid £70 each by Mastercard after a legal ruling – but you cannot get the money if you were born after a certain date.
Money expert Martin Lewis has weighed in on the Mastercard compensation ruling on his MSE website. It comes after the credit card giant settled out of court for £200 million in a case about high processing fees. The claim alleged that Mastercard’s fees were too high, and these costs pushed up prices at retailers – so even those who never had a Mastercard might have been impacted and so can still make a claim, if you fall in the right years.
Martin Lewis tweeted about the issue, and alerted his followers to the fact that you don’t actually need to have a Mastercard – or ever had one – to claim. He said: “Check now if you’re due up to £70 from Mastercard – even if you’ve NEVER had one. Millions are in line for compensation after the card firm settled a landmark legal case against it out of court…”
To claim, according to the claim website, you need to have lived in the UK for at least three months in a row between 1997 and 2008, and be aged 16 or over for those months. In that period, you need to have bought something from a UK retailer, with any payment method.
But as MSE makes clear: “This age requirement was put in place because those aged 16 or over were considered ‘more likely to have suffered loss on their own account’ (in other words, they were more likely to be spending their own money), given the working age in the UK.”
Crucially, this means that anyone born on or after March 22, 1992 ISN’T eligible and can’t claim.
You also need to have lived in the UK on September 6, 2016, and not have opted out of the legal case previously (which is unlikely).
A legal portal has now been set up on the website MastercardConsumerClaim.co.uk.
It says: “The Competition Appeal Tribunal today gave its final approval to the £200 million settlement in the long-running class action against Mastercard, which will now allow the millions of UK consumers who are part of the class to come forward and claim their share of the £200 million, with individuals potentially getting between £45 and £70 each.
“UK consumers will shortly be able to register to receive a payment by completing a simple online form regardless whether they ever held a Mastercard card. It is expected that payments will be made to consumers who register before year end.
“This is the largest settlement of a group litigation for the benefit of UK consumers. Whilst the settlement level is less than the billions that were initially claimed, in the end the facts of the case as they became known through many hearings, with witness and expert evidence, meant that the true value of the claim became clear and the £200 million represents what the Tribunal considered to be without doubt a fair and reasonable settlement. In today’s economic times, UK consumers will welcome up to £70 in their pockets.”
It added: “It also commended his decision to come up with a distribution plan that seeks to ensure maximum participation from UK consumers in the settlement payment process.
“Challenges to the settlement by litigation funder Innsworth Capital, which sought to argue that it should get at least £179 million and UK consumers should be capped at getting no more than £4 each, were all comprehensively rejected. The Access to Justice Foundation may also benefit from the settlement.
“Official information on how to claim will be posted on this website in the coming weeks.
“You are automatically a member of the class if you (i) lived in the UK (for at least a continuous period of three months) between 22 May, 1992 and 21 June, 2008; (ii) were aged 16 or over during this time; (iii) (for non-business purposes) bought goods and services from businesses selling in the UK, irrespective of the means of payment used; and (iv) were living in the UK on 6 September, 2016.”
The maximum amount you will get is £70, though the amount could end up lower if more people put a claim in, Martin Lewis’ MSE said.
