Millions of shoppers can claim up to £70 compensation – do you qualify?

Millions of shoppers could each get up to £70 compensation following a long-running legal case against Mastercard – and crucially, you don’t need to own a Mastercard to claim.

Last month, a tribunal approved a settlement in a lawsuit against Mastercard regarding historic fees levied on businesses by the card provider.

Walter Merricks, a former financial ombudsman, argued that customers were charged higher prices after fees were wrongly levied on transactions during a 15-year period between 1992 and 2008, and should be paid compensation.

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It’s not necessary to have ever had a Mastercard debit card or credit card to be eligible for the payout.

Martyn James, a consumer expert, said: “The £200 million settlement against Mastercard makes it the largest settlement of a group claim in the UK. It’s estimated that 44 million people might be in line for a payout as a direct result of this legal action.”

It had been expected that the payments would be made in the coming months, however a fresh legal challenge means they will now be delayed.

We explain who's eligible, how to register for updates, how the claims process is likely to work, and how much you could get.

Why has Mastercard been ordered to pay compensation?

Whenever you buy something using a debit card or credit card, there are a series of transactions to get your money into the retailer’s bank account.

Card networks, like Mastercard and Visa, act as middlemen between customers, banks, retailers and any other organisations taking card payments. In return, the networks take a small fee on each purchase.

The legal claim against Mastercard centred around these card processing fees, alleging that the charges were too high, making it more expensive for companies to accept card payments.

Retailers and other organisations may have then passed on these increased costs to consumers via higher prices for goods and services. This means everyone – regardless of whether you’re paying with another type of card such as Visa or Amex, or even just cash – was potentially affected.

James points out that back in the mid-2000s, Mastercard was ordered to reduce its fees, also known as “interchange fees”, by the European Commission. “However, by that point, millions of people had been potentially overcharged.

“As a consequence, a class action – or group action – was launched on behalf of all affected people by Merricks. The original claim sought £10 billion in compensation, with an estimated 44 million people affected,” he notes.

Commenting on the outcome, Merricks said the settlement “represents a fair and just outcome for UK consumers”. He added: "Virtually all UK consumers had lost out for long periods by paying higher prices than they should have done as retailers passed on those costs.”

Who’s eligible to claim the Mastercard compensation?

You'll be able to claim the compensation if you meet all five criteria:

1. You lived in the UK for at least three months in a row between 1997 and 2008. For England, Northern Ireland and Wales, the exact period is 20 June 1997 and 21 June 2008. For Scotland, it's 22 May 1992 to 21 June 2008.
2. You were aged 16 or over for all of those three months. This means anyone born on or after 22 March 1992 can't claim.
3. During the same period, you bought goods or services from a firm selling in the UK. This does not need to have been with a Mastercard.
4. You lived in the UK on 6 September 2016.
5. You haven't previously opted out of the legal case.

How do I claim?

According to MastercardConsumerClaim.co.uk, which is being run by legal services firm Epiq to handle the claims process, information on how to claim will be posted on the website "in the coming weeks".

However, the process is likely to be delayed due to a legal twist – more on that later in the article.

For now, you can register on the website to be notified about when the online claim form becomes available.

It is free to make a claim, and once the online form is available, you will have 90 days to make your claim.

MastercardConsumerClaim.co.uk says: “You will not need to submit any proof to make a claim, but you will need to self-certify that you are entitled to make a claim and provide your name, date of birth, postal and email addresses, telephone number and banking details into which your share of the settlement sum is to be paid.”

It’s possible to claim on behalf of a deceased or incapacitated person if they met the five criteria mentioned above.

How much money could I get?

If the expected number of people claim the Mastercard compensation – roughly 2.2 million based on professional estimates – each person will get £45. If more people claim, the individual payout will decrease.

If fewer people than expected claim, the maximum each person will get is £70, with any remaining funds going to charity The Access to Justice Foundation.

When will I get the money?

Payments had been expected to be made by the end of the year. However, they will now be delayed due to a legal challenge.

A company called Innsworth, which helped fund the case, is trying to challenge how the £200 million settlement is split.

The firm says the tribunal that approved the settlement "made a series of errors in its judgment" when deciding how much of the £200 million should go to Innsworth. So it's filed a judicial review to try and get a bigger cut.

As a result, the launch of the online claims portal will be delayed – which means payouts will be delayed too. If the case is successful and Innsworth gets more of the £200 million, this could reduce the amount of money you end up getting.