Robert Weir QC in Court of Appeal case on allocation to appropriate track
In Akhtar v Boland [2014] EWCA Civ 872, the Court of Appeal held that a defendant which makes a partial admission of a head of loss can thereby reduce the “financial value” of the claim within the terms of CPR 26.8.
In this way, claims which would otherwise merit allocation to the fast track can be allocated to the small claims track, where parties bear their own costs. The price for defendants taking this step is that they are then precluded from raising any allegations inconsistent with the terms of the partial admission. It remains to be seen whether defendants continue to use this device to drive credit hire claims out of the fast track when they will thereby be forced to accept that the claimant reasonably needed to hire a replacement vehicle for a reasonable time and at a reasonable hire charge.
Robert Weir QC was instructed with Justin Valentine by AA Law.
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