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
-
You just can’t get the parts
One of the more frustrating issues for insurance companies facing credit hire claims, has always been how the period of hire can seem to vary, depending on the whim of the garage or bodyshop tasked with repairing a claimant’s damaged vehicle. Delays in the world of automotive repairs appear to be inevitable. Esoteric parts may…
-
Credit hire past and credit hire yet to come
Each year, for longer than I care to remember (a further sign of old age) I prepare and write a paper on issues in costs which are likely to affect personal injury lawyers. When I was a member of Ropewalk Chambers, I used to deliver the paper as part of their annual personal injury conference.…
-
Credit hire for tigers
If you want to become a Tiger, you must forget about playing the best moves and concentrate on winning. Simon Web-Chess for Tigers One development in the last 25 years of litigation which has been problematic for those who bring and defend credit hire claims, has been the growth of insurance fraud and the way…
-
Barrister of the Year 2020
Completely out of the blue, and a very pleasant surprise for the end of the year, I found that I had been nominated for, and won, the award of Barrister of the Year 2020, presented by the Nottinghamshire Law Society last night. I am grateful to my former chambers, my former heads of chambers and…
-
Cab rank principles
Decisions of the Court of Appeal on aspects of credit hire litigation have proved rare recently, and so I was interested to read the recent decision of Diriye v Bojaj and Quick Sure Insurance Limited. The case itself largely concerns a second appeal from a refusal to grant relief from sanction, and an uninteresting discursive…
-
Illegality again
Slowly, with the pace of a timorous snail, England approaches Lock Down again. The notion that this will be a 4 week, short, sharp, shock seems unreal. The prospect of a return to substantial numbers of face-to-face trials seems unlikely before the spring of 2021. Not that there will be any shortage of reading material…
-
The Mountains of Instead
Clear, unscalable ahead Rise the Mountains of Instead, From whose cold, cascading streams None may drink except in dreams Autumn Song-W H Auden This year I have undertaken precisely two credit hire trials, both in person, in one representing an insurance company, and in the other representing a claimant. A pleasing symmetry has been maintained.…
-
Under the bonnet
Autumn has arrived, the season of changes. One change orchestrated by me has already taken place. This week, fed up of this website taking more than 10 seconds to load, and regularly being off line I sacked the webhosting service I formerly used and have migrated the site across to Kinsta. It has been a…
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.