Uber wins dismissal of claims worth about 340 million pounds in London on limitation grounds
Key Facts
London's High Court dismissed damages claims against Uber in a ruling issued on 19 October 2026, according to HSF Kramer, which represented the company. Total damages sought in the two related lawsuits amounted to about 340 million pounds, according to Reuters. The claims were equivalent to 453 million dollars, based on the value reported by the news agency. The dispute included claims by black-cab drivers, alongside claims brought on behalf of two former private-hire companies. The claims were dismissed as time-barred, ending the damages claims in these two lawsuits without determining the merits of the allegations of unlawful conduct.
The black-cab drivers' case involved about 13,000 drivers, according to Reuters, challenging the company's operations in the British capital. They sought damages of nearly 200 million pounds in the dispute that ended with the ruling in Uber's favour. The claim brought on behalf of Cabbi and iRide amounted to about 140 million pounds. Both companies had ceased trading, according to Reuters' account of the parties to the two related lawsuits. The lawsuit concerned Uber's London operations from mid-2012 to March 2018, according to LBC radio.
The preliminary trial on limitation ran from 29 June to 6 July 2026, according to the chronology published by Uber's lawyers. The trial did not determine whether the alleged conspiracy underpinning the accusations against the company had been established. The claimants sought to overcome the expiry of the original deadline for bringing proceedings by relying on section 32 of the Limitation Act 1980, according to British court summaries. During disclosure proceedings before the ruling, the court found that the litigation funding correspondence in dispute was not covered by litigation privilege. It ordered the disclosure of unprotected documents relating to the drivers' knowledge as part of the proceedings preceding the determination of the limitation issue.
The earlier course of the litigation dates back to July 2019, when a letter was sent on behalf of the taxi drivers, according to the law firm representing Uber. The letter was addressed to the defendants as part of the pre-action process. In November 2019, litigation funder Harbour withdrew from the case, according to the same chronology. The matter then remained dormant for years, according to the company's lawyers' account of how the dispute developed before reaching court. Claim forms were issued in May 2024, moving the claims into the court proceedings that ended with the limitation ruling.
The allegations against Uber included failing to disclose material information to Transport for London, according to HSF Kramer's account of the case. That information concerned the Greyball and Ripley technologies used to block access, which featured in the conduct challenged by the claimants. On licensing, Transport for London granted Uber a new operating licence, according to the authority's report. The licence ran for 30 months from 27 September 2024, according to its published report on its activities. The authority attached a number of conditions to the licence as part of its decision to allow the company to continue operating in the capital.
Uber also faces a dispute with Britain's tax authority worth more than 1 billion pounds, according to Reuters. That tax dispute remains separate from the damages claims dismissed by the court in the case involving the taxi drivers and the two private-hire companies. Commenting on the ruling of 19 October 2026, an Uber spokesperson told LBC radio: "We are pleased that the court has dismissed all of these claims in their entirety." On the claimants' side, RGL Management managed the lawsuits on behalf of those bringing the claims, according to Reuters. The firm said it was considering "all available options" with its legal team following the ruling.