Agents could be in for a massive £1.5bn payout if legal action filed against Rightmove today proves successful.

The claim alleges that Rightmove abused is position as the dominant property portal and charged estate agents “excessive” and “unfair subscription fees”.

Today, the claim has been filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal, with documents including the new substantial damages figure of £1.5billion.

Filing this claim today advances the route to meaningful compensation for those businesses who have had very little choice but to absorb excessive fee increases for many years.”

The action is brought by Jeremy Newman, a former panel member of the Competition and Markets Authority.

Newman said: “There has been an extremely encouraging response from estate agents since we announced this legal action. The stories shared by businesses, both small and large, have confirmed long-held concerns in the market about Rightmove’s conduct.

“Filing this claim today advances the route to meaningful compensation for those businesses who have had very little choice but to absorb excessive fee increases for many years.”

Financial pressure

Rightmove received a pre-action letter informing them of the imminent legal action in November last year.

More than 250 estate agencies from across the UK are understood to have expressed interest in and support for the claim since it was first announced.

James Hain-Cole, Partner at Scott+Scott said: “For years, thousands of businesses have been captive customers of Rightmove, which faces no effective competition.

“It’s therefore been allowed to financially squeeze its subscribers by consistently and materially raising prices without proper justification or explanation.

Click here to see the claims website.