Armstead v Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Company Limited (2024)
Armstead v Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Company Limited (2024)
Background
The claimant, Ms Armstead, hired a car on credit terms from Helphire after her own vehicle was damaged in a non-fault accident in 2015.
Whilst driving the hire car, Ms Armstead was involved in a further accident. The terms of the hire included a liability to pay the daily hire charge for any days where the hire car was rendered unavailable as a result of damage whilst in possession of the hirer. Liability was admitted by RSA, the insurers of the person who caused the second accident, and therefore the claimant sought to recover the daily contractual charge from RSA.
The Issues
The issue for the Supreme Court was whether the contractual charge was an irrecoverable loss either because it could be classed as “pure economic loss” or because it was considered too remote.
Held
It was held that the loss was not irrecoverable as pure economic loss as it arose from the damage to property in the claimant’s possession, and the fact that the damage arose whilst under a contract between the claimant and hire company did not mean that the claimant could not recover the loss, provided it was consequent on the physical damages which was caused to the property.
The road accident was not the Claimant’s fault and therefore the Supreme Court held that the Claimant was entitled to recover damages from the third party driver’s insurers to cover her contractual liability to pay the hire company for loss of use of the car whilst it was repaired.
See copy of the Judgment here:
https://www.supremecourt.uk/cases/uksc-2022-0100.html
