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If you paid for the installation, maintenance or modernisation of an elevator, escalator or travelator in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg or the Netherlands in the calendar years 1995 to 2004 inclusive then you may be entitled to a refund for the amount overcharged as a consequence of alleged price-fixing by elevator, escalator and travelator companies.

Omni Bridgeway is offering to purchase your claim and subsequently recover your damages arising out of the price-fixing cartel.

What happened?

The European Commission has found that between 1995 and 2004 the main elevator, escalator and travelator companies in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands formed a price-fixing cartel.

These cartelists illegally allocated clients and projects, illegally agreed not to compete with each other and illegally went to great lengths to conceal their conspiracy. For example, they used false names on expense reports, used pre-paid mobile phones, and made fake bids to give the false impression of genuine competition. The anti-competitive conduct inflated the costs of maintenance, modernisation, and installation of elevators and escalators, causing an artificial "overcharge".

"…it is outrageous that the construction and maintenance costs of buildings, including hospitals, have been artificially bloated by these cartels. The national management of these companies knew what they were doing was wrong, but they tried to conceal their action …. The damage … will last for many years because it covered not only the initial supply but also the subsequent maintenance…. "

(The then EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes)

The European Commission fined the cartelists in total €992 million. These fines are paid to the Community budget, not to the customers who suffered the damage. Those business need to seek compensation in civil proceedings themselves.

What is your claim?

Companies who paid for the installation, maintenance and/or modernization of an elevator, escalator and/or travelator in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg or the Netherlands in the calendar years 1995 to 2004 inclusive, may be entitled to recover the sums paid to the cartelists for elevator, escalator and travelator services which were inflated as a consequence of price-fixing agreements.

Based on the findings reached by the European Commission, we consider claims against these companies to be very strong.

The preliminary estimate of your claim is between 10% and 33% of the total amount paid to the cartelists. These cartelists include Otis, Kone, Schindler and ThyssenKrupp. Interest may also be claimable. This estimate is subject to expert assessment.

Should you wish to estimate the sums you have paid for the installation, maintenance or modernization of your elevators, escalators and/or travelators between 1995 and 2004 and consequently calculate your potential claim value, please access our Claim Estimation Calculator here.

How can you recover your claim?

Omni Bridgeway is assisting companies to recover from the elevator, escalator and travelator companies the losses suffered as a consequence of price-fixing agreements, by paying for and managing the recovery process in exchange for a fee which only needs to be paid out of the proceeds of the recovery of the claim.

This recovery process is likely to involve litigation, which may not be viable for an individual company, given the high costs (millions of Euros), unpredictability, risks of 'loser pays' cost rules, lack of familiarity with claim processes, and defence tactics.

With Omni Bridgeway purchasing their claims, buyers and/or users of elevators, escalators or travelators gain access to justice. Because Omni Bridgeway's remuneration is 30% of any recovery and the purchase price paid to buyers and/or users is the remaining 70%, Omni Bridgeway's motivation to maximise a recovery is therefore wholly aligned with the interests of the buyers and/or users of elevators, escalators and/or travelators. Additionally, bringing multiple parties' claims in a single process by one claimant generates more anonymity for the original claimants and economies of scale which minimise expense and maximise recovery.

Omni Bridgeway is based in The Hague, has offices and staff throughout the world, and has been managing complex multi-national claims for nearly three decades. For more information about our services in collective redress, please click here.

What do you need to do?

If you consider participating in Omni Bridgeway's recovery process, please read our outline of our recovery proposal. Alternatively, please contact Omni Bridgeway for more information at elevators@omnibridgeway.com or telephone us on + 31(0)70 338 4343 and ask for any of:

• Babet Reinders
• Fabienne Kasteel