Litigation Radar: Booking.com faces £1bn+ collective action, Pogust Goodhead challenge & Paraquat coverage dispute
The latest litigation developments include a £1bn+ collective action against Booking.com, mounting pressure around Pogust Goodhead’s client relationships and 37 insurers seeking to exclude liability for over 10,000 Paraquat-related personal injury claims.
Published fortnightly, our Litigation Radar explores the latest court proceedings and claims shaping the litigation landscape. This edition showcases a selection of recent notable activity that occurred over the summer period.
Law firms featured
Stephenson Harwood LLP • Simmons & Simmons LLP • Mishcon de Reya LLP • Humphries Kerstetter LLP • Fieldfisher LLP • DAC Beachcroft LLP • Grosvenor Law LLP
1788/7/7/26: Bed and Breakfast Association Limited v Booking Holdings Inc., Booking.com BV and Booking.com Limited
New collective proceedings have been brought against Booking.com, with damages estimated at between £1 billion and £1.7 billion. The claim targets Booking.com's pricing practices on behalf of UK accommodation providers. Given the scale of the claim, this is one to watch closely as it progresses through the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
HT-2026-000299: Krenak v PGMBM Law Ltd
An indigenous leader representing a "client committee" of victims from the 2015 Mariana dam disaster has filed proceedings to terminate the committee's contract with Pogust Goodhead and transfer the underlying case to a rival firm. The claim marks a significant rupture in one of the highest-profile group actions currently before the English courts.
CL-2026-000414: Vinci SPS Capital Gestão de Recursos Ltd v PGMBM Law Ltd and another
A Brazilian asset manager is seeking at least £84.3 million, arguing repayment was triggered after Pogust Goodhead received an initial £42.7 million costs award from the High Court. Vinci SPS alleges the law firm breached its obligations by agreeing to disburse litigation proceeds to barristers and after-the-event (ATE) insurers without required lender consent and that it delayed opening a receivables account for over four and a half years.
CL-2026-000310: Granite State Insurance Company and others v Syngenta AG and others
Thirty-seven insurers and underwriters are seeking to exclude liability in relation to more than 10,000 personal injury claims in the United States and Canada arising from exposure to the agricultural product Paraquat, which is alleged to have caused Parkinson's disease and kidney disease. The scale of the underlying claims makes this coverage dispute significant for the insurance market.
KB-2026-002921: Farage v National Crime Agency
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has brought a claim alleging that the National Crime Agency supplied details about party donations to the media. The dispute puts data-handling practices at a major law enforcement agency under scrutiny in a politically high-profile setting.
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