In the first article in a series addressing insurance pain points, Shirley Denyer reflects on a tough year for credit hire
Credit hire is having a tough time. In December the Competition Commission (now the Competition and Markets Authority) was critical of the market for replacement vehicles, usually provided through credit hire, finding that the current arrangements within the market have an adverse effect on competition and add between £5 and £6 to the average premium.
The authority is still to complete its work but it is not the only voice to have expressed concern at the impact of credit hire claims on motorists. In Singh v Yaqubi [2013] EWCA Civ 23, [2013] All ER (D) 225 (Jan), HH Judge Cowell considered that the use of the premiums of ordinary motorists to support replacement vehicle claims by the rich was a “moral question”. Decisions over recent months show that the judicial attitude to hire claims in general is hardening, including claims involving impecunious claimants.
The effect of impecuniosity
In the case of Umerji v Zurich Insurance plc [2014] EWCA Civ 357,
