The UK’s leading truck manufacturer is facing criticism for allegedly prolonging legal proceedings to prevent around 11,000 truck hauliers from receiving compensation for historical price fixing. This criticism from the Road Haulage Association (RHA) comes nine years after major truck companies, including DAF, Volvo, MAN, and Iveco, were fined €3 billion by the European Union forprice collusion over 14 years and charges related to stricter emission rules.
The RHA first filed a £1 billion compensation claim against the guilty manufacturers seven years ago on behalf of hauliers, many of whom are small family-run businesses. Richard Smith, the managing director of the RHA, accused manufacturers of boosting costs to deny claimants their rightful compensation. The delay, partly due to the Covid pandemic, has reduced the number of hauliers seeking compensation by over a third, from 17,500 to 11,400.
Smith further disclosed receiving letters about claimants who have died, indicating that they wished to be removed from the claim. The RHA’s claim involves approximately 200,000 trucks, with 30% allegedly supplied by the UK’s leading supplier, DAF, and seeks more than £6,000 compensation per truck. Smith accused manufacturers of using legal tactics, such as DAF’s conflicted settlement promises in court, to hinder the claim process.
In 2023, the claim faced additional delays when DAF won a two-year case examining the RHA’s ability to finance its legal action through litigation funders. The Supreme Court ruled against the RHA’s funding arrangement, leading to the need for renegotiation of terms between the RHA and Therium, the litigation funder involved. This funding support is crucial, as claimants would not be able to afford the legal costs on their own.
This situation comes in the wake of Royal Mail and BT receiving £17.5m in damages from DAF last year, based on a decision by the UK’s Competition Appeal Tribunal connected to the same European cartel ruling. DAF Trucks was approached for comment on these allegations.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/may/27/daf-truck-maker-accused-of-stringing-out-hauliers-legal-case-for-compensation
