Here you will find a list of frequently asked questions relating to Consumer Claim. If you have any questions that may not be covered, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
Ius Omnibus is a European consumer organisation based in Portugal, devoted to the protection of consumers in Portugal and in the other European Union Member States. Ius is legally empowered to represent Portuguese consumers affected by anticompetitive or unlawful practices before the Portuguese courts.
To view Ius’ website, click here for more information.
This website has been created to inform members of the public, including injured persons, about representative actions brought by Ius Omnibus in Europe. The website is primarily designed for distributing information, updates and tracking the progress of specific representative actions whilst acting as the main place to register your interest.
Mechanisms to provide compensation to large numbers of consumers are permitted in Portugal, and across other European countries, under rules related to representative actions. However, these rules have not yet been tested in practice. According to the law, the following will happen if the court finds in favour of Ius Omnibus:
i) the Court will set the overall amount of damages to be paid to consumers, to be deposited in a compensation fund;
ii) the Court will designate an entity responsible for managing the compensation fund, including the receipt, management and payment of compensation to injured consumers;
iii) the Court will set a deadline for consumers to claim their share of the compensation and this information will be publicized in various ways;
iv) consumers will have to contact the entity that manages the compensation fund, as well as submit the court-decided evidence and the respective payment instructions, in order to receive their share of the compensation;
v) at the end of the legally established period, if a part remains of the global compensation that was not requested by consumers:
No – representative actions can be filed in the administrative or civil courts in Portugal, depending on the nature of the claim and the parties involved. The only exception is the Competition Court which has authority to deal with representative actions relating to alleged infringement of competition laws. These actions have been filed at the Competition Court.
In “opt-out” representative actions such as this, the claims are brought on behalf of a defined group of people, but those people do not have to be personally identified.
People within the class who are within the jurisdiction are automatically included in the collective claim unless they take steps to opt-out.
Consumers represented in the action are given the chance to intervene alongside the consumer association, in support of its position, within a deadline set by the Court.
If you would like to receive updates on the progress of the claim, and make sure not to lose your opportunity to receive compensation, please register your interest to stay up to date.
You can also revisit this website to check for new information from time to time as it will be updated periodically.
If you have any further questions or would like any additional information, please contact us.
If you have any questions please feel free to use our contact form if you need more information, or email us at info@theconsumerclaim.com.
Ius Omnibus is a consumer association registered with the Portuguese Directorate General for Consumers and appointed by the Government to the Portuguese Advisory Council on Consumers and is a qualified entity listed by the European Commission under the Representative Actions Directive.
