Mastercard compensation payouts move a step closer as £63m dispute with funder is resolved
Around 47 million people could be owed up to £70 each, after Walter Merricks confirmed a long-running dispute with his litigation funder has been settled.
People who could be owed compensation from the £200 million Mastercard settlement have been given a clearer indication of when payouts could begin, after a judicial review brought by the case’s litigation funder was defeated and a separate dispute with the funder was settled.
The Tribunal approved the £200 million settlement in May 2025, paving the way for payouts of between £45 and £70.
Walter Merricks, the former financial ombudsman and class representative who brought the decade-long case, said he had successfully defeated a judicial review brought by litigation funder Innsworth. The funder had sought to overturn the Competition Appeal Tribunal’s (CAT) decision on how the £200 million settlement should be divided between consumers and the funder.
Separately, Innsworth had also been pursuing arbitration proceedings against Merricks over the same dispute, but has now agreed to drop them as part of the settlement between the two sides. Following this, the CAT has ordered that just over £63 million be paid to Innsworth from the settlement.
Merricks said:
“After almost 10 years of litigating first with Mastercard and then with Innsworth to get compensation for British consumers, this finally opens the way for me to prepare for distribution of at least £100m to consumers.”
Alex Neill, co-founder of Consumer Voice, said the update was “great news for millions of hard-pressed consumers,” and urged people to make sure they don’t miss out when the claims process opens.
Sign up to Consumer Voice to get an alert as soon as you can register your Mastercard claim.
Who can claim Mastercard compensation
The case relates to fees Mastercard charged retailers between May 1992 and June 2008, which Merricks argued were unlawfully high and were ultimately passed on to shoppers through higher prices on everyday purchases. Around 47 million people could be eligible.
You don’t need to have ever held a Mastercard to claim. Merricks says most people who are now over 34 and shopped in UK supermarkets during that 16-year period are likely to qualify.
How much compensation could you get from Mastercard
The £100 million pot will be divided equally between everyone who claims, so the exact amount per person won’t be confirmed until the claims window closes. Merricks says the minimum payout is expected to be £45, potentially rising to as much as £70 depending on how many people come forward – meaning a couple could receive between £90 and £140 if they are both eligible and make a claim.
Payouts will be made either directly into a bank account or as an emailed gift voucher. Merricks is also exploring an option allowing consumers to donate their compensation to a small number of national charities.
What happens next in the Mastercard claim
The claims process is expected to launch “in the coming months,” backed by a nationwide publicity campaign to alert people who may be eligible. Once it opens, people will have six months to register a claim, with payments expected to follow in the first half of 2027, once the final per-person amount has been calculated.
You can check whether you might be eligible and find out how to claim on our Mastercard compensation page, and we’ll alert everyone who has signed up with us as soon as the claims window opens.
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