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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The tightening of the screw
Yesterday the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in a case I successfully argued for the appellant on appeal, representing the latest chapter in the Mitchell/Denton saga. The judgment in Gentry v Miller and UK Insurance [2016] EWCA Civ 141 contains an interesting discussion by the Court of Appeal on the correct approach to applications to set aside judgments…
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Credit hire companies and non party costs Orders
I have been asked on many occasions by insurance companies and their instructed solicitors how one “gets round” QUOCS. The answer for the most part, is “you can’t.” QUOCS represents part of the post LASPO 2012 settlement in personal injury and clinical negligence claims, where as part of the package which included the abolition of…
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Comprehensive insurance and credit hire
Some years ago, prior to the decision of the Court of Appeal in Zurich v Umerji [2014] EWCA Civ 357 I published a paper on whether a failure to claim on a comprehensive insurance policy, and instead to utilise a credit hire car could constitute a failure to mitigate. There has been (to my knowledge)…
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Musical accompaniment 2
It is now just over two weeks since this website went “live” and in that time, I have covered some of the basic principles of credit hire. Much praise has been lavished on my initial choice of music to accompany your perusal of the site, but all good things must come to an end. Hence…
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A restatement of principle
There is one case that invariably accompanies me to court, when I conduct a credit hire trial: Pattni v First Leicester Buses [2011] EWCA Civ 1384. A copy of the judgment can be downloaded here: Pattni v First Leicester Buses [2011] EWCA Civ 1384 Perhaps the most important case of recent years, it was the opportunity…
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Born to run
Every once and a while, I come across a claim where a precocious minor, whose modest motor vehicle (usually a motor scooter) is written off in an accident hires a replacement on a credit hire basis. Usually the destroyed vehicle was bought at great sacrifice: purchased with years of hoarded earnings from Saturday jobs, Christmas…
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Making amends
In the case of Copley.v.Lawn [2009] EWCA Civ 580 a powerful weapon was provided to the insurance industry, to enable them to curtail claims for credit hire, by sanctioning the right of insurers to intervene in credit hire claims, by offering a replacement vehicle sourced by the insurance company to make amends to the motorist, and…
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Extras and excess
One of the issues that often arises is the question of additional daily charges to waive an excess that might apply in the result that the car is damaged, which are charged by credit hire companies in addition to a daily rate of hire. These elements have always proved recoverable. Some 30 years ago in…
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.