New poll - Scots firmly back moves to broaden consumer access to justice

New polling conducted across Scotland demonstrates wide support for opt-out collective legal claims, with two-thirds of respondents backing their introduction in Scotland. The polling comes as Scotland assesses the introduction of opt-out claims, with the Scottish Civil Justice Council (SCJC) set to publish proposals in the coming weeks.

Opt-out claims currently exist in the UK but are limited to breaches of competition law in the Competition Appeal Tribunal. The SCJC proposals, however, could see opt-out claims introduced across all areas of the law in Scotland, allowing for claims to be brought on behalf of Scottish consumers for a much wider variety of alleged harms such as defective products, consumer protection and data privacy claims.

Opt-out claims are group legal claims in which eligible claimants are automatically included in the claim, unless they actively remove themselves. They are distinct from opt-in claims, where individual claimants must actively sign up to the claim themselves and instruct lawyers/arrange cost funding, which present a much higher bar for entry for the average consumer.

A nationally representative sample of 1130 Scots showed that over two-thirds of respondents would prefer to seek compensation through an opt-out, over an opt-in, claim and nearly two-thirds thought Scotland should allow opt-out claims. Respondents also strongly agreed that legal claims help ensure companies follow the rules and provide a more direct, and, in the case of opt-out claims, fairer route to compensation.

Clear public support for opt-out claims

Polling shows:

With the difference explained, 71% of the Scottish public would prefer to receive compensation automatically through an opt-out collective legal claim, rather than an opt-in claim.
If included automatically in an opt-out claim, 72% of respondents said they would remain part of the claim, compared to only 3% who said they would not.
65% think Scotland should allow the introduction of opt-out claims, with only 8% opposed.
However, 38% had not heard of collective legal claims and only 34% said they understood well how such claims work, suggesting any introduction of opt-out claims in Scotland would need to be properly communicated to the public.

These findings are the result of a poll which represents every region, age group and socio-economic category in Scotland, highlighting robust support for opt-out collective claims.

Scott Campbell, Head of Competition Disputes and Partner at Hausfeld, said:

“The Scottish public has made it clear that it wants greater and fairer access to collective redress, improved corporate compliance, and recognises that an opt-out collective actions regime can help deliver both.”

“For the Scottish Civil Justice Council, this is a strong endorsement of their intention to introduce opt-out claims, and of the need for an opt-out regime catering to all types of consumer harm, from environmental claims to data breaches.”

A vital tool for fairness

Those polled expressed wide support for the idea that collective actions can improve fairness, compliance and compensation. The UK-wide competition collective actions regime is very much in its early years and still developing. Nonetheless, it is increasingly beginning to demonstrate the ability of opt-out claims to secure redress for consumers and businesses and hold rule-breaking companies to account.

In October last year, Kent v Apple saw Dr Rachel Kent successfully pursue Apple for its overcharging of users on the App Store, making it the first opt-out claim in the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal to deliver a successful judgment at trial. Without opt-out proceedings, consumers would have had no practical recourse to redress and Apple would have retained their unlawfully-gained profits. Apple is now in line to pay up to £1.5 billion to 36 million UK iPhone and iPad users, which includes both consumers and small businesses.

The regime has also recently seen settlements approved in the Merricks v Mastercard and McLaren v MOL cases, with up to £55.87m and £155m, respectively, earmarked for each group of claimants. Crucially, this is money that, when returned, will then be reinvested into the domestic economy.

These judgments and settlements represent some of the first conclusions to claims under the regime and, with the regime still bedding in, distributing redress successfully to consumers and businesses remains key to the success of the regime.

This is a particular challenge whilst, as the polling demonstrates, there is a lack of familiarity with collective actions amongst a notable minority of the public. This is a point that will need to be addressed in the introduction of the opt-out regime in Scotland, as well as for the current competition regime, As the polling also shows, communicating details of collective claims to the public will require the use of multiple types of media.

The CAT, though, is already working to improve the regime and is currently overseeing the formation of a detailed distribution plan in the McLaren claim in which a settlement was reached to compensate consumers and businesses who had been overcharged for the delivery of new cars As such, there is already a growing wealth of experience for Scotland to draw from the competition regime in the implementation of its own opt-out framework.

For more information

The national poll was conducted by find out now between 1 July and 6 July 2026. The poll surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1130 Scottish adults, filtered to be nationally representative by gender, age and Scottish region. Find out now are members of the British Polling Council and Market Research Society and abide by their rules.

The full report