Terms and conditions of participation: Collective action, Foundation CJF v Energy Suppliers  

In this document, you will find all the terms and conditions of participation that apply if you take part in the collective action (as a Participant) we are conducting against various Energy Suppliers, including energy suppliers, including Vattenfall, Eneco, Essent, Budget Energie, Energiedirect and Greenchoice (for consumers), CJF also names Greenchoice (for small businesses), Engie, Oxxio, and Vandebron along with related entities such as subsidiaries and group companies, as well as affiliated entities such as subsidiaries and group companies (the Energy Suppliers) regarding unfair price changes related to the supply of gas and/or electricity in the Netherlands at a variable rate.  

The District Court and the Amsterdam Court of Appeal have found that the conditions used by energy suppliers to adjust their prices are not transparent or understandable for consumers. Because of this, these terms are considered unfair. Essentially, these terms and conditions are regarded as never having been valid. As a result, energy suppliers were not authorized to change prices. Therefore, all price adjustments are invalid, and any difference between your original gas and electricity rates and the higher rates paid afterward must be refunded by your energy supplier.  

Below is a legal description of what the collective action involves. This is followed by the terms and conditions for participation. By submitting your (electronic) registration, you confirm that you have read and accepted these terms and conditions.  

Description of the collective action

These are the terms of participation for the Consumer Justice Foundation, a foundation incorporated under Dutch law with its registered office in Amsterdam at De Entrée 201, 1101 HG, Amsterdam, registered in the trade register of the Chamber of Commerce under number 82763828. This relates to a collective action (the Procedure) that CJF intends to initiate or has already initiated against various energy suppliers, including Vattenfall, Eneco, Essent, Budget Energie, Energiedirect and Greenchoice (for consumers), CJF also names Greenchoice (for small businesses), Engie, Oxxio, and Vandebron along with related entities such as subsidiaries and group companies (the “Claim”). The Claim pertains to unfair price increases related to the supply of gas and/or electricity in the Netherlands at a variable rate.  

The Proceedings are carried out on your behalf to seek compensation for unfair price increases and the resulting excessive invoices for energy supplied. The compensation CJF claims for you is hereafter referred to as the Compensation.  

Support of the Claim and Assignment and power of attorney

The Participant supports CJF's objective and the collective action initiated or to be initiated in the Netherlands.

By registering and participating, you authorize CJF to act on your behalf and represent your interests broadly in the class action against the Energy Suppliers and in any subsequent proceedings, as necessary to secure the Compensation. This power of attorney is exclusive (with the right of substitution). It authorizes CJF to do all that CJF deems necessary to collect the Compensation, including but not limited to conducting proceedings, including class actions, reaching a settlement, filing an opt-out or opt-in statement if a settlement is reached, and/or the right to obtain any information from third parties on your behalf that CJF considers relevant in the context of the Procedure.

CJF can decide whether it acts on your behalf or on its own. 'Exclusive' in the first sentence of the previous paragraph means that you may not also give permission to another representative organization to claim the Compensation from Energy Suppliers or to represent your interests in that context.  

Costs and compensation

There is no charge for your registration and participation in the Procedure unless and until you achieve success. "Success" means any compensation you receive in the future, regardless of who pays it or on what basis (court judgment, settlement in the Proceeding, or any other proceeding).

You agree that at any time any Compensation or payment under the Procedure becomes available to you, a portion of it will be used by CJF to cover the costs of the Procedure, including a profit mark-up (see "Success Fee" below). CJF will strive to secure a Compensation amount for you and all other class action participants that is equal to, or as close as possible to, the actual damages you have incurred.

Guarantee

By registering and accepting these terms and conditions, you confirm that you are 18 years or older and that you have entered into a gas and/or electricity supply agreement in the Netherlands at a variable rate with one or more energy providers based on a variable or the so-called model contract at any time between April 1, 2017, and now.  

Success fee

There are no costs associated with registration and participation. We can only offer this Procedure free of charge because external parties have committed to CJF to cover the costs. If no proceeds are obtained in the Proceedings, for example, if the claims are rejected, these parties will lose their investment. In that case, you won't have to pay anything. The parties are willing to take this risk on the condition that they receive a percentage of the proceeds as a Success Fee if they are successful. CJF will allocate a percentage of the proceeds to pay the Success Fee upon success. The Success Fee includes a fee for the costs of the Proceedings and a profit surcharge. In this Procedure, the percentage you must pay of any Compensation depends on the total Compensation obtained from the Energy Suppliers.  

If and to the extent that success is achieved, as described above, CJF will deduct a fee that will likely range between 10% and 25% of the success amount (the Success Fee). This percentage will not exceed 25% and will decrease as the total Compensation increases, possibly to 10% or less.  

CJF will use the Success Fee to reimburse the costs of the Procedure to those who incurred them and to pay the profit surcharge agreed with them. CJF will attempt, without guaranteeing, to ensure that the Energy Suppliers also reimburse the Success Fee that you will pay.  

Further provisions

CJF will perform the assignment to the best of its ability and with care. It makes no guarantees, does not promise any specific results, and is not liable for damages in this regard.

CJF may decide how to carry out the assignment at its own discretion. It has the right to terminate the assignment at any time, even if no results have been achieved yet. In that case, you obviously do not owe anything to CJF. CJF and/or its directors are not liable for any damages resulting from the decision to terminate the assignment.  

The Participant acknowledges that the Foundation may reject a (proposed) settlement on the grounds that it does not sufficiently serve the interests of the Participant. In that case, the Foundation may initiate further negotiations, (continue) legal proceedings, or pursue other actions as described in the Foundation's articles of association. However, if the Foundation succeeds in reaching agreement on a settlement for all or some of the Participants, the Participant shall support any request by the Foundation to any court for a declaration of general binding force of a settlement agreement. This approval also includes the compensation for representatives included in that agreement.  

You agree that CJF can deduct the Success Fee from any amounts it receives on your behalf. This means CJF may subtract the Success Fee from the proceeds without it being paid to you first as part of those proceeds. If you receive funds directly from an Energy Supplier as compensation for excessive energy bills due to unfair price changes, you are required to report this to CJF. In this case, you must pay the Success Fee to CJF upon first request.  

Your claim may be paid fully or partially in a way that cannot be determined to be (partly) due to the efforts of CJF. Therefore, if you receive compensation, the Success Fee is always owed by you to CJF, regardless of whether it can be shown that the payment is related to CJF's efforts. This also applies, for example, if you receive compensation from a claim initiative you registered for in violation of these Terms and Conditions of Participation, or if you are registered at the time of your registration with CJF, or if you reach a settlement with the Energy Suppliers on your own initiative, or if you obtain compensation as a result of a follow-up process you initiated.  

The Participant acknowledges that:

— entering into this participation agreement does not interrupt the limitation period for the Participant's claims and that the responsibility for timely interruption of the limitation period under applicable law rests solely with him/her. The Foundation may take available suspension measures on behalf of the Participant to the extent that this is possible on a collective basis in the relevant jurisdiction. The Participant nevertheless agrees that the foregoing does not relieve the Participant of his/her own responsibility to take all necessary steps to ensure the validity of his/her claim;

— the activities of the Foundation on behalf of the Participant in order to obtain this compensation do not constitute an attorney-client relationship with the Participant; it shall not be regarded as legal advice and shall not be a substitute for obtaining independent legal advice from a qualified lawyer. The Participant shall consult his/her own lawyer with regard to any specific legal issue.  

Information

You must immediately notify CJF of facts and circumstances that could be important regarding the execution of the agreement.  

Exclusion of liability and indemnification

CJF and/or its directors are only liable to you or others for a breach in the execution of the assignment if there is intent or deliberate recklessness on their part. Any other form of compensation is entirely excluded. The directors of CJF may invoke these liability limitations. They were partly written for their benefit.

A claim for compensation must be submitted in writing to CJF within two months of discovering or reasonably should have discovered the damage, or you will forfeit this right.  

Validity and changes

If one or more provisions of these terms and conditions are wholly or partially void or are annulled, the remaining provisions will stay fully in effect. CJF is authorized to modify these terms and conditions. These modifications will take effect on the announced date. If no date is specified, the change will take effect as soon as CJF has communicated it to you.  

Transfer

CJF is free to transfer its rights and obligations under this Agreement to a third party. CJF is also authorized to have the assignment performed in whole or in part by a third party.  

Complaints

If you have a complaint about CJF's services, you can submit it in writing or electronically to the CJF board via info@rightoconsumerjustice.nl. CJF will then arrange for you to be contacted within a reasonable timeframe to discuss the complaint and will try to address the issues if they are justified.  

Choice of law and forum

All agreements between you and CJF, including its directors, are exclusively governed by Dutch law. Any disputes that may arise between you and CJF or its directors as a result of this agreement or related agreements and actions will be settled solely by the District Court of Amsterdam.  

Declaration  

I agree with this agreement and the privacy statement of the Consumer Justice Foundation, which I can review by clicking on this link, and I confirm the assignment of the Consumer Justice Foundation to represent my interests in the proceedings against the energy suppliers.

The Participant may withdraw from this agreement without giving reasons, subject to a notice period of fourteen (14) days from the date of signing the agreement. The Participant must inform the Foundation of the exercise of that right by email (info@mijnenergieclaim.nl) and the Foundation will confirm receipt of this in writing within thirty (30) days. The Participant may also withdraw from this agreement at any time without giving reasons by means of a written statement, subject to a notice period of thirty (30) days (email to info@mijnenergieclaim.nl).  However, the Participant shall owe the Fee to the Foundation or, ultimately, the Financier, in the event that the Participant withdraws (i) after the date on which a settlement agreement with the Defendants has been announced or (ii) after a positive court ruling on the merits of the case has been issued in proceedings brought by the Foundation.

For the purpose of executing this agreement, the Foundation will process the participant's personal data in the manner described in the Privacy Policy, available at https://www.mijnenergieclaim.nl/privacybeleid.

If at any time any provision of this agreement is found to be unlawful, invalid, or unenforceable, this shall not affect the legality, validity, or enforceability of the remaining provisions, nor shall it affect the legality, validity, or enforceability of that provision under the laws of any other jurisdiction. In such a case, the relevant provision shall be replaced with a valid provision that deviates as little as possible from the original provision.

This participation agreement also binds the Consumer Justice Foundation once my application is confirmed.