A charity has announced the launch of a £3.9m grants programme using funds it received in a class action legal case about overcharged rail passengers.
Today, the Access to Justice Foundation (ATJF) announced the Improving Lives Through Advice 2026 programme, a three-year unrestricted grants programme launching next month to support legal advice organisations.
The programme claims to be the first ever to redistribute unclaimed class action funds, using money awarded to the ATJF from the Justin Gutmann v First MTR South Western Trains Limited and Another, known as the “boundary fares class action”.
In February 2019, Gutmann brought the first stand-alone collective action in the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) on behalf of millions of rail passengers who had been overcharged due to the limited availability of boundary fares.
In a judgment published in November 2025, the CAT directed that a payment of £4m, less £217,000 that had been claimed by class members, should go to the ATFJ.
The judgment reads: “In summary, the tribunal is of the clear view that it’s sensible and just, in the circumstances of this case, that the parties have agreed that the payment to charity should be made.
“This’ll go some way towards mitigating the extremely disappointing distribution rates achieved in this case.
“Further, the payment could make a huge difference in facilitating access to justice for the needy and vulnerable.”
‘Significant opportunity to strengthen access to justice’
The Improving Lives Through Advice 2026 programme was designed to provide longer-term, unrestricted funding “in recognition of the financial pressures facing advice organisations and the importance of stability in sustaining frontline services”, the ATJF said.
Funding will support organisations delivering services in London, the southeast of England, Scotland and Wales.
These regions were selected “according to where class members from the boundary fare case are based, areas that face the most persistent gaps in access to free legal advice, and where ATJF have no, or very few, grants currently distributed”.
Applications for grants will open on 16 February and close on 16 March, with grants set to commence in June.
Clare Carter, chief executive of the ATJF, said: “Unclaimed damages from collective actions represent a significant opportunity to strengthen access to justice.
“This programme allows us to channel unclaimed funds into frontline advice organisations, helping to ensure that the outcomes of collective redress are felt by the communities most in need.
“As this programme is distributing funds from collective actions, we’ll be expecting funded partners to work with us to demonstrate the impact of this funding.”
