Group action deadlines: don’t miss out!

Given that many people will miss group action deadlines, it’s important for us to advise about them and stress the importance of making a claim sooner rather than later.

Although we can’t speak for other firms, we offer No Win, No Fee legal representation for clients eligible for group actions that we take forward. This means that we can write off our legal fees if the claim doesn’t succeed, so it begs the question: what have you got to lose in making a claim?

Despite this, people still put it off and many still miss out. We can tell you this from considerable experience. As such, take heed of this vital advice and make sure you don’t miss your chance to claim compensation!

The consequences of missing group action deadlines

The consequences of missing group action deadlines are really simple. In many cases, if you miss a key deadline, you may be unable to make a successful claim for compensation at all.

For example, if you miss a Group Litigation Order (GLO) cut-off date put in place by the court, you won’t be able to benefit from any formal decisions or settlements in the action. Separate to this, if you miss a limitation date, you could be statute-barred from making a  claim. This can mean that the opponent in a case can raise a defence to say that you missed the deadline for claiming.

In any scenario where an important deadline is missed, the consequences could be severe. It could lead to missing out on tens of thousands of pounds in damages. The risk is simply not worth taking in our view.

It happens a lot

One of the reasons we’re issuing warnings about people missing group action deadlines is that it actually happens a lot.

We have been involved in a few actions where a formal GLO has been established and the court has put a deadline in place. Some of these deadlines passed years ago and we still receive new enquiries for them. It often happens when an action is in the news, where the media may be reporting a successful court hearing. We get an influx of people asking us to join, but we must sadly turn those people away where a deadline has passed.

It can also be common for people to approach us within weeks or days of deadlines approaching too. We usually have our own cut-off points to make sure that we can hit the deadline for our live clients, so leaving it too late is also incredibly dangerous.

One of the important ones where there’s a deadline in place right now is for the British Airways Data Breach. You can start your No Win, No Fee legal case via the dedicated website here.

Is there any way around this?

In most circumstances, missing group action deadlines can simply mean that there’s nothing that can be done for you at all.

Unfortunately, these are not acceptable reasons:

• “I didn’t know about the deadline”
• “In didn’t know I was eligible to claim”
• “I wanted to wait until there was a clearer answer as to whether I could win or not”
• “I was out of the country and didn’t realise I could claim”
• “I forgot to start my case”

The deadlines are there for good reasons. Unfortunately, making an application to the court to join or start a case once a key deadline has passed will often fail.

A different law firm (not us!) once missed a deadline for an action years ago due to funding issues and the judge simply refused their clients to be able to join. As such, choosing the right law firm to represent you that has proven experience in this area of law is also incredibly important.

Always remember: we offer genuine No Win, No Fee representation. With this way of working, what have you got to lose and why would you have any reason to wait?