Court to consider Rightmove £1.5billion case claim today

The Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) will hold a hearing today to decide if the £1.5billion legal action brought by agents against Rightmove can go ahead as a group claim.

The legal action is being taken on behalf of thousands of estate agents who claim they have been overcharged by the property portal.

The case is being led by a former Competition and Markets Authority panel member Jeremy Newman.

It claims that Rightmove abused its dominant position in the online property portal market by charging excessive and unfair fees to estate agents.

“Any  alternative would be a serious obstacle for small and medium-sized businesses.”

The hearing will determine if the case can proceed to full trial as a group claim rather than agents having to bring individual cases. A judgement is unlikely to come this week and usually takes a few months.

Commenting ahead of the hearing, Newman says: “We look forward to making the case that this claim should proceed.

“Any  alternative would be a serious obstacle for small and medium-sized businesses, and few (if any) can justify the time, cost and risk of bringing a claim alone, or of joining an opt-in claim.

“The result would be fewer businesses compensated and higher legal costs. That helps only Rightmove.”

The hearing can be viewed live on the CAT website from 10.30am on Monday.

‘Without merit’

Rightmove revealed in its annual report earlier this year that it expects to spend £2.3million on legal costs following the recent launch of a ‘class action’ lawsuit against the firm.

The portal will present an argument against the case today but reiterated its previous statement when asked to comment on Friday.

The statement says: “Rightmove is confident in the value we provide to our partners and consumers, who are at the core of our   business solutions and digital platform.

“As one of the most efficient parts of the UK housing market, we help people across the UK to move home by bringing buyers, sellers, renters, landlords and agents together. Our platform continues to provide a growing range of constantly evolving products and features which facilitate market transparency, liquidity and confidence. This claim is without merit, and we will defend it vigorously.”