Uber won a High Court ruling Oct. 19 against about £340 million in claims brought by London black cab drivers and a claimant holding claims from two private hire businesses after a judge found the lawsuits were filed too late.
The case covered nearly 13,300 drivers and a separate claim by Justin Peters, who held claims assigned by Kabbee Exchange Limited and Iride London Limited. A 2025 court ruling listed estimated losses of £199,395,000 for the drivers and £141 million for Peters’ assigned claim. Those were claimed losses, not damages awarded by the court.
High Court Judge Simon Birt found that the claimants could have gathered enough information to bring their cases by February 2018 at the latest. The lawsuits were filed on May 2 and June 24, 2024, after the ordinary six-year filing period had expired. The parties had agreed that a ruling against the claimants on the deadline would end both cases.
The claimants argued that alleged fraud or deliberate concealment postponed the start of the six-year period. They said they could not reasonably have discovered the basis for their cases until evidence and a judgment became public on June 25 or 26, 2018. Birt rejected that timing, finding that an earlier investigation could have uncovered what they needed to file.
The underlying accusation concerned a private hire vehicle operator licence held by Uber London Limited. The claimants alleged that Uber obtained the licence in 2012 by misleading Transport for London about its booking and operating system, allowing it to compete for journeys at their expense. Uber denied the allegations. Birt decided when the claims could have been brought, without ruling on whether the alleged misconduct occurred.
Reuters reported that an Uber spokesperson welcomed the ruling. RGL Management, which managed the claims, told the news agency it was disappointed and was considering the claimant cab drivers’ available options with the legal team.
