This week I made the trip to Birmingham to defend a High Court credit hire appeal.
The trial had taken place on 30th June 2023, and it had taken 2.5 years for the case to grind through the court system, to reach an appeal hearing on the 2nd December 2025.
The judgment was essentially an appeal on a question of fact: the trial judge’s decision to allow the full period of hire, and the reasons why she made that finding. Such appeals are notoriously hard to win for an appellant, as provided there is some evidence to justify a trial judge’s findings, they will not be perverse, and such decisions are regarded as matters peculiarly in the remit of the court, which had the benefit of seeing and hearing witnesses.
After hearing argument, Cavanagh J, dismissed the appeal.
I was pleased to be instructed by the redoubtable Philip Armstrong of Express Solicitors. A link to the judgment can be found here: Motor Insurers Bureau v Drewy Houston-[2025] EWHC 3178 (KB)