This guide is written for solicitors, trainees and law students in England and Wales.
The Law Commission is examining whether England and Wales should introduce a consumer class actions regime, a project announced on 20 April 2026 and sponsored by the Department for Business and Trade. This tracker records the project’s milestones, the questions on the table, and how it interacts with the parallel review of the existing opt-out regime at the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
Who is this tracker for?
Litigators and in-house counsel on either side of mass claims, funders and insurers pricing the future pipeline, and consumer-facing businesses deciding whether to respond to the scoping exercise. Anyone advising on group redress should hold the dates below, because the design choices made in this project will determine whether the CAT’s opt-out model spreads to consumer law generally or remains a competition law island.
What is the Law Commission examining?
The terms of reference set two objectives: to identify the benefits and risks of introducing a consumer class actions regime, having regard to the mechanisms that already exist, including public enforcement and alternative dispute resolution, and to recommend how such a regime should be designed if one were introduced. The Initial Scoping Questionnaire poses five questions covering the benefits and risks of an opt-out model, the design features that would improve access to redress and ensure damages actually reach class members, the efficient and proportionate conduct of litigation, and the safeguards needed against speculative and unmeritorious claims. It also asks whether any regime should provide for opt-in as well as opt-out proceedings. Commissioner Professor Solène Rowan leads the work, which formally begins in autumn 2026, with stakeholder meetings to follow and a consultation paper of provisional proposals after that, on some estimates before the end of 2027.
Milestones and status
| Date | Milestone | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 October 2015 | Existing opt-out collective regime for competition claims begins at the CAT under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 | In force |
| 2025 | Civil Justice Council review of third party litigation funding, the financing layer beneath most mass claims | Reported; legislation expected |
| 20 April 2026 | Law Commission project announced; terms of reference and Initial Scoping Questionnaire published | Done |
| 30 October 2026 | Deadline for returning the Initial Scoping Questionnaire | Open |
| Autumn 2026 | Substantive work begins; DBT’s review of the CAT opt-out regime also expected to report | Pending |
| 2027 (estimated) | Consultation paper with provisional proposals | Pending |
How does this interact with the CAT regime and funding reform?
Sequencing is the striking feature. The Commission’s project has been launched before its sponsoring department has published the conclusions of its own review of the existing CAT opt-out regime, and before the government responds legislatively to the Civil Justice Council’s funding review, yet both will shape what any consumer regime can look like in practice. The current position leaves mass consumer harms outside competition law, such as data breaches and product failures, without an opt-out route at all, a gap visible in the funding and distribution fights we covered around the Mastercard distribution and SSB funding claim, and in enforcement-side pressure such as the ICO’s motor finance raids over 170 million claims texts. Whether the answer is a general regime, a widened CAT, or nothing, is precisely what the scoping exercise will surface.
An opt-out consumer regime would be the largest structural change to English civil litigation since the CAT reforms of 2015, redrawing exposure for every consumer-facing business and the pipeline for every funder. The questionnaire closing on 30 October 2026 is the moment to influence its shape, and firms that wait for the consultation paper will be responding to choices already half-made.
Official sources
The terms of reference and questionnaire are on the Law Commission’s project page, with the launch announcement in its news release of 20 April 2026. Responses go to consumerclassactions@lawcommission.gov.uk.
Date last updated: 14 August 2026. Next scheduled review: 1 November 2026, after the questionnaire closes.