Five years after the introduction of a law intended to make it easier for groups of people to seek compensation through the courts, not a single cent has been paid out in compensation, the Financieele Dagblad reported on Tuesday.

The law on resolving mass damages in collective actions, known as Wamca, came into force in 2020 with the aim of improving access to justice. It allows people who have suffered similar harm—from privacy breaches to product defects—to take legal action collectively.

Despite early fears that the Netherlands would become a magnet for American-style litigation, Wamca has not led to an explosion of claims, the paper said. In fact, the number of new collective actions has fallen sharply, from 30 in 2021 to just three so far this year, according to the central register for mass claims.

Legal experts say the process is simply taking too long. Femke Hendriks, a legal adviser involved in shaping the law, pointed out that even the preliminary admissibility phase—before any discussion of the substance of a claim—can drag on for years. “In some cases, that phase alone has already lasted five years,” she told the paper.

Ianika Tzankova, professor and lawyer at Rubicon Impact & Litigation, said the law has failed to fulfill its core purpose. “The idea was that parties would be encouraged to settle. But now, after five or six years, there hasn’t even been a single substantive discussion in many of these cases,” she told the FD.

To date, only one damages claim under the law has resulted in a court ruling. In October 2024, the court rejected a claim brought by the Nuon Claim foundation, which accused energy firm Vattenfall of misleading business customers. The judge dismissed the foundation’s case on all counts.

Legal delays are also linked to the high sums of money involved. Jasper Leedekerken, a lawyer who represents companies targeted by mass claims, told the FD firms often go into full defence mode when they see claims that could threaten their survival. “It makes reaching a settlement much more difficult,” he said.

Investors who finance these cases are growing impatient. While litigation funders such as the British firm Burford Capital remain optimistic about the market’s long-term prospects, others such as Dutch investor Redbreast say the model does not work for smaller claims.

“The focus on the financier and how much they might earn is completely misplaced,” founder Rein Philips told the FD. “That’s the last thing the victims are thinking about.”

Review

Around 20 claim foundations have now joined forces to form the Association of Dutch Collective Interest Representatives (ANCB). Chairwoman Femke Hendriks said the group hopes to open talks with politicians as Wamca comes up for review this year.

“This is a crucial moment,” she said. “We need to make sure the law is improved so it actually does what it was meant to do.”