Compensation
Ali v HSF Logistics Polska Sp ZOO [2024] EWCA Civ 1479
This was an appeal regarding a claim for hire charges following a road traffic accident where the claimant’s car did not have a valid MOT certificate at the time of the accident. The court determined that the defendant’s ‘causation defence’—arguing that the claimant could not recover hire charges because the use of their car without a valid MOT certificate would have been illegal—was misconceived and effectively an application of the ex turpi causa doctrine without the required assessment of proportionality. The court held that the absence of a valid MOT certificate did not alter the fact that the claimant suffered inconvenience and a need for transport due to the defendant’s tort, which could be compensated through hire charges. The court ruled that denying hire charges based solely on the lack of a valid MOT would be a disproportionate response to the relatively minor nature of that offence.
Costs
Chaudry v AXA Insurance Plc [2024] Lexis Citation 3787
This judgment dealt with an application made by the defendant
