Turley (Gerard) v Black (John) and PSNI
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McCloskey J |
| Judgment Date | 2010 |
| Neutral Citation | [2010] NIQB 1 |
| Date | 07 January 2010 |
| Court | Queen's Bench Division (Northern Ireland) |
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Neutral Citation No. [2010] NIQB 1 Ref:
McCL7702
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down Delivered:
07/01/10
(subject to editorial corrections)*
2009 No. 22936/A01
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
________
QUEEN'S BENCH DIVISION
________
ON APPEAL FROM A DECISION OF THE DISTRICT JUDGE
IN THE COUNTY COURT FOR THE DIVISION OF BELFAST
________
BETWEEN:
GERARD TURLEY
Plaintiff:
-and-
JOHN BLACK
AND
POLICE SERVICE OF NORTHERN IRELAND
Defendants:
________
McCLOSKEY J
I INTRODUCTION
[1] This is a so-called “credit hire” case, one of a progressively increasing number
of cases of this genre coming before the High Court.
[2] Cases belonging to this group typically have the following features:
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(a) The Plaintiff claims damages against the Defendant tortfeasor arising
out of a road traffic accident, in which the Plaintiff’s vehicle is
damaged.
(b) An element of the Plaintiff’s claim relates to the hire of a substitute
vehicle following the accident in question.
(c) There is a commercial supplier of vehicles, who provides the vehicle in
question to the Plaintiff during the relevant period.
(d) The supply arrangement has a financing dimension, involving a credit
hire company, with whom the Plaintiff contracts.
(e) There is usually a commercial relationship between the vehicle
supplier and the credit hire company.
(f) The Plaintiff normally obtains, pursuant to his contract with the credit
hire company, benefits over and above the basic use and enjoyment of
the substitute vehicle –to be contrasted with a simple hire arrangement.
(g) In most cases, the Plaintiff’s claim in respect of the substitute vehicle is
not one for out of pocket losses actually sustained as a result of making
payments for the service. This is the normal scenario. In such cases, if
the court determines to make any award to the Plaintiff in respect of
the vehicle hire, the ultimate beneficiary of such award will be the
credit hire company, by virtue of the agreement which it has struck
with the Plaintiff. Sometimes the credit hire company itself can pursue
the claim, by virtue of subrogation rights acquired under the financing
contract.
(h) In virtually every case, the amount claimed by the Plaintiff in respect of
vehicle hire is strongly contested by the Defendant, on the ground that
it is excessive and unreasonable.
As will be readily apparent, the agencies who are really doing battle in these cases
are the credit hire company and the Defendant’s insurers, rather than the Plaintiff
and the Defendant.
[3] Based on an informal survey which I have conducted of a substantial number
of pending appeals, it is apparent that credit hire cases come before the High Court
under one of the following guises:
(a) A substantive appeal. In this category, the High Court becomes
seiszed of an appeal by a dissatisfied Plaintiff or Defendant against the
decree of the District Judge or County Court Judge. In most of these
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7 cases
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Clarke (Colin) and Lyndsay McCullough
...of the Plaintiff, which joined issue with the Defendant’s amended pleading. (v) GOVERNING LEGAL PRINCIPLES [18] In Turley - v - Black [2010] NIQB 1, I outlined the normal framework of cases belonging to the stable of credit hire litigation. In summary: (a) The Plaintiff claims damages again......
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Karen McKibbin and UK Insurance Limited
...The Crash Contract has most or all of the common hallmarks of a credit hire arrangement described by McCloskey J in Turley v Black [2010] NIQB 1 at paragraph [2]: 22 (i) The agreement is for the hire of an Audi A3 or similar vehicle at a daily rate of £129.94. It also addresses the issue of......
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Smyth (Thomas James) v Diamond (Lawerence); Phillips (Neville) v Ritchie (Elsie); Torrens (Henry James) v Tally (Majella); McCabe (Kathleen Teresa) v Moffett (Richard)
...of litigation. The general backcloth to these appeals is understood by reference to the following passage in Turley –v- Black and Another [2010] NIQB 1: “[2] Cases belonging to this group typically have the following features: (a) The Plaintiff claims damages against the Defendant tortfeaso......
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McAteer (William) v Kirkpatrick (Stuart)
...Credit Hire Litigation [10] The basic framework of most cases belonging to this field is both familiar and recurring. In Turley –v- Black [2010] NIQB 1, it is described in the following way: “[2] Cases belonging to this group typically have the following features: (a) The Plaintiff claims d......
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