Credit hire (again)
Posted: August 11th, 2023, 12:36 pm
I must apologise for banging my drum yet again about the institutionalised fraud that is credit hire, but it really does infuriate me.
The latest case popped into my inbox earlier, though it wasn't even specifically about credit hire. It concerned fraud in personal injury claims, which is also institutionalised, and the only question was whether the fraud was sufficient for the court to deny the claim in its entirety (the concept of `fundamental dishonesty').
In this case the original judge decided it was, and dismissed the claim, but on appeal the judge decided it was only a bit fraudulent, so reversed the decision, minor fraud apparently being considered perfectly acceptable - https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/2077.html
But what caught my eye was, yet again, the claim for credit hire charges. The damaged car was a clapped out Skoda, valued at £3,700, but the claim for credit hire, for a period of 305 days (why?) was £47,580!
And even more astonishing, this claim was found by the judge to be reasonable, so he allowed it in full.
One other aspect that I noticed was the claim for storing the car, no doubt in some back street garage - £7,200. Although the judge reduced this to £672 even that works out at £24 a day, or £168 a week.
The Government has made great play about how it has (albeit about 20 years too late) clamped down on whiplash claims, but people can't understand why this hasn't been reflected in lower premiums. Perhaps this is the answer.
The latest case popped into my inbox earlier, though it wasn't even specifically about credit hire. It concerned fraud in personal injury claims, which is also institutionalised, and the only question was whether the fraud was sufficient for the court to deny the claim in its entirety (the concept of `fundamental dishonesty').
In this case the original judge decided it was, and dismissed the claim, but on appeal the judge decided it was only a bit fraudulent, so reversed the decision, minor fraud apparently being considered perfectly acceptable - https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/KB/2023/2077.html
But what caught my eye was, yet again, the claim for credit hire charges. The damaged car was a clapped out Skoda, valued at £3,700, but the claim for credit hire, for a period of 305 days (why?) was £47,580!
And even more astonishing, this claim was found by the judge to be reasonable, so he allowed it in full.
One other aspect that I noticed was the claim for storing the car, no doubt in some back street garage - £7,200. Although the judge reduced this to £672 even that works out at £24 a day, or £168 a week.
The Government has made great play about how it has (albeit about 20 years too late) clamped down on whiplash claims, but people can't understand why this hasn't been reflected in lower premiums. Perhaps this is the answer.