Vehicle Carriers Class Action

Case Info.

Did you pay to ship a car or other equipment on wheels by ocean freight from an overseas location to Canada between February 1, 1997 and December 31, 2012? If so, your legal rights could be affected.

Class Actions are underway across Canada which allege overcharges for Roll On Roll Off (RO/RO) ocean freight shipping of vehicles, bought or leased during that time.

Class action lawsuits have been brought across Canada against 20 international Ro/Ro shipping companies.

Those lawsuits allege that people or companies in Canada who paid for international Vehicle Carrier Services, including as part of the cost of the purchase or lease of a new car, may have overpaid for the cost of those services between February 1, 1997 and December 1, 2012 (the Class Period).

“Vehicle Carrier Services” means paid international ocean shipping services via roll on/roll off vessels (“RoRo”) of cargo, such as new and used cars and trucks, as well as agricultural, construction and mining equipment (collectively “Vehicles”). A “RoRo” is a type of ocean vessel that allows wheeled vehicles to be driven on and off the vessel and parked on its decks for ocean transport. It is alleged that among other things, customers were overcharged for Vehicle Carrier Services as the defendants participated in an unlawful conspiracy to fix, raise, maintain, increase, or control the price for Vehicle Carrier Services. 
 

Current Status of the Class Action:

At these hearing, the Courts will determine whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and in the best interests of the Class Members. The lawyers for the Plaintiffs will also be requesting that legal fees of up to 25 percent of the settlement funds plus disbursements and applicable taxes be approved by the Courts and paid out of the settlement funds.


The Settlement Fund will not be distributed to Class Members at this time. The continuing litigation may or may not result in further settlements or judgments. If there is a further recovery, it will be added to the present monies and an efficient distribution will be made at an appropriate time so as to avoid the cost of facilitating multiple distributions. The Courts will approve when and to whom the settlement funds will be distributed.
 

Your Options:

To comment on the settlement

  1. If you do not oppose the proposed Settlement Agreement, you do not need to appear at the hearing or take any other action at this time. If the Settlement Agreement is approved by the Courts further notices will be posted;
  2. If you wish to comment on or object to the Settlement Agreement, you must deliver a written submission to the appropriate lawyer below by May 1, 2017. The lawyer will forward any submissions to the appropriate Court.

Foreman & Company

1-855-814-4575 

classactions@foremancompany.com

4 Covent Market Place

Attention: Jonathan Foreman

London, Ontario N6A 1E2

Belleau Lapointe LLP

1-888-987-6701

info@belleaulapointe.com

306 Place d'Youville, office B-10

Attention: Maxime Nasr

Montréal, Québec H2Y 2B6

Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman

1-800-689-2322

info@cfmlawyers.ca

Suite 400, 856 Homer Street

Attention: David G.A. Jones

Vancouver, British Columbia V6B 2W5

Opt-out of the proceeding

  1. If you do not want to be a class member for the Vehicle Carrier Service Class Action, you must opt-out by May 10, 2017. To opt-out you must send a signed written election to opt-out by mail, courier or email (roroclassaction@ricepoint.com) to:

Mail

Vehicle Carriers Class Action

Opt-Out Administrator

PO Box 3355

London, ON N6A 4K3

Courier

RicePoint Administration Inc.

1480 Richmond St

Suite 204

London, ON N6G 0J4

The election should include (a) your full name and current address and (b) a statement indicating you wish to be excluded from the proceedings. If you opt-out you will not be able to participate in the Settlement or any future Settlement of Judgement. You cannot opt back in at a later date. You may be able to bring your own lawsuit at your own expense. 


Important Dates:

Quebec Settlement Approval Hearing May 16, 2017
Ontario Settlement Approval Hearing May 29, 2017
British Columbia Settlement Approval Heaing June 7, 2017
Objection Deadline May 1, 2017
Opt-Out Deadline May 10, 2017