The claimant owned a very vauable vintage Porsche racing car. It was hired to the defendant. The car suffered severe mechanical damage whilst being driven, and the insurers declined liability.
Held: The Defendant as hirer was under an obligation to: ‘take reasonable care of the chattel and . . use reasonable skill in its management and use reasonable skill in its management and use’. The defendant claimed a custom that a driver should not beliable for mechanical failure. The court found no sufficiently clear custom.
The evidence overwhelmingly pointed to the cause of the engine damage being the Defendant’s failure to properly engage gear and over run the engine.
Judges:
Simon Brown QC
Citations:
[2013] EWHC B1 (QB)
Links:
Citing:
Cited – Morris v CW Martin Ltd CA 1966
Diplock LJ said: ‘The legal relationship of bailor and bailee of a chattel can exist independently of any contract.’ Where goods are lost or damaged, the burden is on the bailee (or sub-bailee) to ‘show – that the loss or damage caused without any . .
Cited – Onassis and Calogeropoulos v Vergottis HL 1968
Lord Pearce (dissenting) discussed the assessment of a witness’ oral evidence: ‘Credibility involves wider problems than mere demeanour which is mostly concerned with whether the witness appears to be telling the truth as he now believes it to be. . .
Cited – Rhesa Shipping Co SA v Edmonds (The Popi M) HL 16-May-1985
The Popi M sank in calm seas and fair weather as a result of a large and sudden entry of water into her engine room through her shell plating. The vessel’s owners claimed against her hull and machinery underwriters, contending that the loss was . .
Cited – Ide v ATB Sales Ltd and Another CA 28-Apr-2008
Each appellant challenged how the judge had decided between alternative proofs of causation of the respective loss. In Ide, the claimant asserted a fault in a cycle handlebar, and in Lexus, the claimant asserted that it caught fire whilst . .
Cited – Grace Shipping v CF Sharp and Co (Malaya) Pte Ltd PC 10-Dec-1986
(Singapore) When a court has to weigh the various and varying recollections of witnesses about what was said at meetings which occurred in the distant past, the surest guides are the contemporaneous documents and the overall probabilities.
Lord . .
Cited – The Owners of the Steamship Mediana v The Owners, Master and Crew of the Lightship Comet HL 1900
A lightship was damaged by negligence. The plaintiff harbour board kept a ship ready for emergencies, and consequently the damaged ship was replaced with the spare while she was being repaired. The question was whether the claimant could recover . .
Cited – Beechwood Birmingham Ltd v Hoyer Group UK Ltd CA 10-Jun-2010
The defendant appealed against an award of damages for the results of an accident involving vehicles driven by the respective parties employees.
Held: The court extended the proposition that general damages are recoverable for loss of use to . .
Cited – In re Mumtaz Properties Ltd; Wetton v Ahmed CA 24-May-2011
Former directors appealed against finding as to their personal liability for directors’ and other loans.
Arden LJ discussed the task of a judge in fact finding: ‘By the end of the judgment, it is clear that what has impressed the judge most in . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Contract, Agency
Updated: 13 November 2022; Ref: scu.470494
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