The credit hire legal wrangle involving Aston Villa footballer Darren Bent is set to continue after permission to refer the case back to the Court of Appeal was granted last week.
Lord Justice Aikens has given the go-ahead for the case to be brought before the Court of Appeal as it “raises important issues” on how spot rates should be assessed when the claimant can afford the cost of repair.
Steve Evans, chief executive of Accident Exchange, claimed that the original Court of Appeal judgmen contradicted previous case law. He told Post: “Based on the judgment in the recent re-trial of this matter it was probably inevitable that the Court of Appeal would give leave to appeal.
“There is an unresolved tension between what the Court of Appeal previously said in this case and the earlier guidance to the recoverable rate of hire in the Court of Appeal judgment of Clark v Ardington and that needs to be resolved.”
Clark v Ardington, heard in 2002, found that the costs incurred in credit hire was recoverable “whether or not the charge is at the top of the range of car hire rates” but stressed that there was a duty to act reasonably depending on the circumstances.
Bent v Highways and Utilities Construction & Another, was first heard in the Court of Appeal in March 2010 and reheard at Cambridge County Court in February 2011
The date for the hearing is yet to be set but is expected to take place during the summer.
Allianz was unavailable for comment.
Source: PostOnline
