Articles
This site contains a substantial collection of writing on credit hire law and practice, developed over the past decade. The emphasis is practical: what the authorities mean, how the rules operate and where the real risks lie.
The latest specialist analysis appears below. If you are looking for a particular issue, the four gateways provide a quicker route into the archive.
Older articles should be read in the context of the law at the date of publication.
Damages
Impecuniosity, basic hire rates, need, period, mitigation and the recoverable measure of loss.
Agreements & Regulation
Enforceability, contractual liability, misrepresentation, credit hire and credit repair agreements, illegality and regulatory issues.
Evidence & Commercial Vehicles
Witness and documentary evidence, procedure, dishonesty, taxis, private hire vehicles, fleets and profit-earning chattels.
Evidence & procedure · Dishonesty & fraud · Taxi, fleet & commercial
Appeals & Costs
Appellate principles, QOCS, non-party costs orders and the procedural and costs consequences of credit hire litigation.
Recent analysis
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QOCS and the man
In terms of recent trips to the Court of Appeal, I am winning 4-0. I do not wish to go back any further, as earlier disasters might upset that happy batting average. My last visit was in February in the case of Corstorphine v Liverpool City Council [2018] EWCA Civ 270. The case concerned Qualified One…
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The road not taken
It has been rightly observed, that all good things must come to an end, but credit hire cases just go on and on. Some firms have so much work, so many claims to process and so few bodies to do them, that from time to time, procedural default occurs and a claim is struck out.…
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C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre
For many years there have been a large number of issues floating about in the legal ether about the compatibility of domestic law including provisions which govern compulsory insurance for motor vehicles and make provision for the payment of compensation in respect of injury and damage caused by uninsured and unidentified drivers with European Union…
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The North remembers
We are now 2 weeks into the New Year and I have emerged from my burrow, blinking into the light with trips across the country including so far this year Portsmouth, Uxbridge and Middlesbrough. I am also about to embark on a series of speaking engagements principally in the North of England (or at least,…
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Flying low
These are the dog days of the year, where phones do not ring, and emails are met by out-of-office-replies, so it is surprising that on 27th December the Ministry of Justice published a consultation paper on reforming the process relating to default judgments. A copy of the document can be found here: Default County Court…
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The BHR and “alternative credit hire rates” evidence
There is a lucrative cottage industry in the generation and submission of BHR evidence for use in credit hire claims. But sometimes a rates witness will struggle to find BHRs for alternative vehicles. This can be for a number of reasons, including the vehicle that was damaged or destroyed being a plated taxi or private…
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Comprehensive insurance, mitigation and credit hire
There is a tendency in litigation for each new legal generation to re-invent the wheel and recently I have found myself arguing again, after a gap of some 15 years what I term the “comprehensive insurance point”. In brief, it is the argument run by some insurance companies that a credit hire claimant with the…
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Spring Lecture Tour
Already the diary is filling up for the first few months of next year, and so, precipitate as it may seem, I have had to bring forward my booking arrangements for my spring lecture tour in 2018. If you would like me to come and give a talk to your firm, please do drop me…
Researching an issue in a current case?
If the point arises in substantial litigation or an appeal and you would like specialist advice, please contact my clerks at Hailsham Chambers.