Court rules uninsured credit hire claim should fail

Smyly Agheampong v Allied Manufacturing (London) (Central London County Court - 30 June 2008)

The claimant was seeking damages from the defendant following a road traffic accident. The claimant's vehicle had been hit, whilst parked and unoccupied, by a lorry driven by the defendant's employee. The claimant did not have compulsory third party motor insurance. Although liability was admitted and damages paid to the claimant representing the pre-accident value of the vehicle, the claimant sought to recover credit hire charges totalling £34,067 together with storage and recovery charges of £765.

The court was asked to determine whether the claim for damages was a claim founded on illegality in which case the principle ex turpi causa non oritur actio (the law ought not to compensate people who have suffered loss in the course of their own wrongful actions, even where the primary cause is attributable to someone else) applied. The claimant argued that the lack of insurance was not a causative factor. However, the court found that the claimant was an unsatisfactory witness who had intended to drive without insurance throughout the 341-day hire period. Accordingly the claimant's claim failed as it fell squarely within the ambit of the ex turpi causa principle.