You are strongly encouraged to seek independent legal and financial advice before signing the documents associated with membership of the FIPO Fair Pay Action Group, particularly regarding:
FIPO makes no guarantee or representation regarding
You should ensure your professional indemnity insurance is not affected by participation in litigation against insurers. Notify your insurer if required by your policy terms.
Complex commercial litigation typically takes 2-5 years. Be prepared for a long process with no guaranteed outcome. However, settlement short of final judgment is a possibility
FIPO takes competition law seriously — it is, after all, at the heart of this Claim. Before proceeding, please note the following.
Joining the Fair Pay Action Group is an individual decision. It does not involve, and must not involve, any agreement, understanding or coordination between practitioners regarding their own fees, the terms on which they accept or decline patients, or any other aspect of their commercial conduct. The decision of a practitioner on whether to join the action should be taken independently, based on their own assessment of their own circumstances.
FIPO's role is limited to running the collective legal claim on claimants' behalf, as described in this site. It does not coordinate, advise on, or facilitate any commercial arrangements between claimants, and those considering or joining the action should not treat their participation in this action as a basis for discussing or aligning their pricing or commercial practices with one another.
If you have any concerns about how competition law applies to your own practice, you should seek independent legal advice.
In order to join the Action Group, you must:
Pay a Subscription of either £250 or £500. If you pay £250, then the fee which will be deducted from any damages associated with your claim will be 32.5% + VAT; and if you pay £500 then the fee deducted from any damages associated with your claim will be 30% + VAT.
Approve the terms of FIPO's engagement with Harcus Parker and Counsel on its and your behalf. This is very important, as the intention is that FIPO will execute the engagement on your behalf. It will take up the administrative burden of running the litigation for you, but the litigation will in substance remain yours, and Harcus Parker will be acting for you, so you should ensure that you are happy with the terms, which will be contracted on your behalf. In particular, you should note that the DBA with Harcus Parker will operate as though it were agreed with each member of the group. The key financial term of the DA is that if your claim succeeds, the damages associated with your claim will be reduced by a fee of 32.5% if you paid a subscription of £250 and of 30% if you paid a subscription of £500.
Execute a Power of Attorney in FIPO's favour authorising FIPO to bring proceedings against the PMIs on your behalf and to agree to Harcus Parker's and Counsel's retainers, and in particular to enter into a DBA with Harcus Parker on your behalf, as a result of which the damages associated with your claim will be reduced by a fee of 32.5% if you paid a subscription of £250 and of 30% if you paid a subscription of £500.
Sign a “Litigation Management Agreement” which regulates the relationship between you, FIPO, the solicitors who will be acting on your behalf and other members of the FIPO Fair Pay Action Group.
Sign a declaration which records your understanding of the main features of the arrangements.
Any litigation carries the risk of an adverse costs order — meaning that if the Claim fails, you might be ordered to pay the defendants' legal costs. This is a real risk that we take seriously. Here is how the structure protects you:
After-the-Event (ATE) Insurance: FIPO will not issue proceedings until it has arranged a suitable ATE insurance policy. This policy will cover the risk of an adverse costs order. You will not be liable for any premium unless and until the case proceeds.
FIPO's Primary Liability: FIPO accepts that it has primary responsibility for any adverse costs that are not covered by insurance.
Third-Party Funder: Any third-party funder of the Claim also accepts responsibility for adverse costs and — as an institution — is a more accessible target than thousands of individual practitioners.
Proportionate Several Liability: Even in the unlikely worst-case scenario in which all of the above protections failed, your individual liability would be limited to your proportionate share of any adverse costs. The more practitioners who join, the smaller that share would be.
The structure has been designed so that it is highly unlikely that you will face any personal financial liability, even if the claim is unsuccessful.
FIPO will hold your subscriptions on trust for the sole agreed purpose of funding the pre-action phase of the litigation and / or to pay towards the cost of ATE insurance. Specifically:
FIPO will hold your subscriptions on trust for the sole agreed purpose of funding the pre-action phase of the litigation and / or to pay towards the cost of ATE insurance. Specifically:
If the case succeeds at trial, a specific amount will be allocated to each practitioner's claim (or a formula will be set out which leads to a specific amount). Settlement, however, provides for more flexibility, and the text below describes what is likely to happen. The following example uses illustrative figures only and does not represent any estimate of the value of the Claims.
Funds are received from defendants into Harcus Parker's client account. A specialist class action administrator such as GC Partners or Shield Pay is likely to be used to distribute the funds.
Illustrative example: if £50 million is received and total costs are £8 million, the net fund available for distribution is £42 million.
If the court has awarded specific amounts to specific practitioners, or if specific amounts have been negotiated, those amounts are paid. If a global sum has been agreed for distribution among all members (which is a common feature of group action settlements), Step 4 applies.
Expert economists will calculate each member's Proportionate Share based on:
The DBA fee (32.5% or 30% + VAT, depending on your subscription level) is deducted from your Proportionate Share, and the net amount is paid to you.
Worked Example (illustrative figures only)
Total damages after costs: £42 million
Total members: 500
Your individual documented losses: £300,000
Total documented losses (all members): £150 million
Your Proportionate Share: (£300,000 / £150 million) × £42 million = £84,000
Less DBA fee (32.5% + VAT, standard member): approx. £32,760
Damages received in compensation for lost income are generally treated as taxable income by HMRC. You should be aware of the following:
FIPO will enter into this agreement on your behalf, exercising the authority you give it under the Power of Attorney. The DBA means that if your claim succeeds, Harcus Parker’s fees will be deducted from your damages (at the rate of 32.5% or 30% + VAT depending on your subscription level). If your claim does not succeed, you will owe Harcus Parker nothing.
This is the key document. By signing it, you authorise FIPO to bring your claim on your behalf, to instruct lawyers on your behalf, and to make all decisions in relation to your claim — including whether and when to settle. You should read it carefully.
The Power of Attorney becomes irrevocable after a 14-day cooling-off period. If you die or become incapacitated while the Claim is ongoing, the Power of Attorney will be automatically revoked and your personal representatives will need to execute a new one to continue your claim.
The LMA is the agreement between you, FIPO and Harcus Parker that governs how the Claim is run. It covers: decision-making, your obligations to cooperate (including providing disclosure and potentially giving evidence), how costs are shared, and how damages are distributed.
The LMA is the agreement between you, FIPO and Harcus Parker that governs how the Claim is run. It covers: decision-making, your obligations to cooperate (including providing disclosure and potentially giving evidence), how costs are shared, and how damages are distributed.
Fipo’s Engagement With Harcus Parker and Counsel, Including the DBA It Will Execute on Your Behalf With Your Approval
This sets out the terms on which Harcus Parker will act for FIPO in the prosecution of your claim. It will enter the agreement with Harcus Parker for you and as you. You should read the entire document, but note:
After completing the sign-up process, you will be asked to upload documents evidencing your relationship with Bupa and/or AXA PPP. This is important: your share of any damages will be calculated by reference to the fees you received from the insurers, so the more complete your evidence, the better.
Documents can be uploaded as PDFs, Word documents, images (JPG or PNG), or Excel spreadsheets. Please label them clearly (e.g. 'Bupa fee schedule 2022', 'AXA correspondence March 2024').
Don't worry — join the Claim anyway. Harcus Parker will work with you to reconstruct your fee history, including by requesting information directly from the insurers on your behalf. The more members who join, the stronger the overall evidential picture.
DOCUMENT HOLD NOTICE: By joining the Action Group, you are required from the date of your membership to preserve all documents and data in your possession, custody or control that may be relevant to the Claims. This includes emails, letters, fee schedules, payment records and any other communications with or about Bupa or AXA PPP. Do not delete, destroy or overwrite any such documents. This obligation applies even if the documents would otherwise be subject to routine deletion under your data retention policy.
