Davies v Taylor (No 2): HL 2 Jan 1974

The plaintiff argued that no costs had been incurred by the successful defendant, as he was insured, and the insurance company was bound to pay his costs.
Held: ‘In this case the solicitors, no doubt first instructed by the insurance company, were the solicitors on the record as the solicitors for the respondent. They acted for him and, in the absence of proof of an agreement between him and them or between them and the insurance company that he would not pay their costs, they could look to him for payment for the work done and his liability would not be excluded by the fact that the insurance company had itself agreed to pay their costs. In my opinion the costs incurred were incurred by the respondent in the sense in which those words are used in the Legal Aid Act 1964.’

Judges:

Viscount Dilhorne

Citations:

[1974] AC 225

Statutes:

Legal Aid Act 1964 1(1)

Jurisdiction:

England and Wales

Citing:

See AlsoDavies v Taylor HL 1974
The plaintiff’s husband was killed in a road accident caused by the defendant’s negligence. They were childless. She had deserted him five weeks before his death and thereafter, he learned about her adultery with a fellow employee. He tried to . .

Cited by:

CitedMiskin, Miskin v St John Vaughan SCCO 18-Sep-2002
The claimants resisted an order to pay the VAT element awarded on the defendant’s legal costs. The revenue had been unable to state clearly whether the defendant would be able to recover VAT, in which case it would not be payable, or the reverse. It . .
See AlsoDavies v Taylor HL 1974
The plaintiff’s husband was killed in a road accident caused by the defendant’s negligence. They were childless. She had deserted him five weeks before his death and thereafter, he learned about her adultery with a fellow employee. He tried to . .
CitedBee v Jenson ComC 21-Dec-2006
The defendant objected to paying the plaintiff the costs of a replacement hire car after the accident for which he was liable. He said that the plaintiff was in any event insured to recover that cost, and the insurance company were subrogated to the . .
CitedRadford and Another v Frade and Others QBD 8-Jul-2016
The court was asked as to the terms on which solicitors and Counsel were retained to act for the defendants. The appeals did not raise any issues concerning costs practice, and were by way of review of the Costs Judge’s rulings, and not by way of . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.

Damages, Legal Aid, Costs

Updated: 12 May 2022; Ref: scu.183450