Areas of Work

Credit Hire

1 Temple Gardens has been active in credit hire litigation for over a decade.  Chambers has a strong credit hire team and is regarded as one of the top sets in this field.  Members of Chambers act for both Claimants and Defendants in all areas of credit hire disputes including:

• Exempt/Non-exempt agreements
• Impecuniosity
• Mitigation of Loss
• Duration of Hire
• Spot Hire Rates
• Credit Hire claims where fraud is alleged
• Storage and Recovery Charges
• Credit Repair

Members of Chambers are involved at all stages of credit hire litigation including:

• Advising on all matters both pre and post-issue
• Drafting of pleadings
• Drafting of Part 18 requests/replies
• Drafting of and appearing in interim applications
• Appearing at trial in all types of credit hire claims from small claims track matters to very substantial multi-track cases

1 Temple Gardens is frequently involved in providing seminars and training sessions on credit hire to clients and members of Chambers are co-authors of the popular text book ‘Kevan and Ellis on Credit Hire (XPL 2008)'.

Members of Chambers have acted in the vast majority of reported or leading authority in this area including:

Bee v Jenson [2007] 4 All ER 791.  Where a replacement hire vehicle had been supplied to an insured driver through a company nominated by his insurers whether the insured can recover what is accepted to be a reasonable hire charge reasonably incurred from the defendant or whether the defendant is only liable for the true cost to the insurers.

Evans v TNT Logistics Ltd  LTL 12/3/2007.  Where a driver had acted unreasonably after a road traffic accident and had failed to mitigate his losses in not accepting the free replacement vehicle offered to him by the defendant's insurer whether his damages should be limited to what it would have cost the defendant's insurer to provide him with the replacement vehicle.

Bee v Jenson [2006] EWH 2534 (Comm).  Whether a claimant had failed to mitigate his losses in circumstances where he was contractually obliged to accept the hire car provided by his insurer and where there had been no specific offer of a free alternative vehicle from the defendant's insurers.

Rose v Co-operative Insurance Society LTL 7/2/2005. Whether a defendant was entitled to argue that the claimant had failed to mitigate his losses in not exercising his entitlement to a courtesy car under the terms of his own insurance policy.

Lagden v O'Connor [2004] 1 AC 1067.  Whether a claimant is entitled to recover the full credit hire rate where he establishes a need for a replacement vehicle but is impecunious and has no choice but to hire on credit.

King v Daltry (CA) (2004) RTR 25.  Whether credit hire agreements were exempt from the Consumer Credit Act 1974 where the hire charges were required to be paid within a period not exceeding twelve months beginning with the date of the agreement.

Clark v Ardington [2003] QB 36.  Test case concerning a wide range of issues including sham agreements, exempt agreements, rate and period of hire, like for like, credit repair and claims for interest on credit hire and credit repair charges.

Ketley v Gilbert [2001] 1 WLR 986 (CA).  Whether an agreement was exempt from the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 by virtue of a term which required payment to be made ‘on the expiry of 12 months'.

Zoan v Rouamba [2000] 1 WLR 1509.  Construction of a term intended to exempt the agreement from the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

Seddon v Tekin LTL 25/8/2000.  Early test case before HHJ Harris QC on a wide range of credit hire issues.