Dimond v Lovell
Court of Appeal  28 April 1999 (3 All England Law Reports 1)

Mr Lovell drove his car into the back of Mrs Dimond ‘s car, as a result of which she sued Mr Lovell for negligence. Her car was still capable of being driven so she drove it for about three weeks and it then had to go into a garage for repairs. She needed the car for her work, so she had to make arrangements for a replacement vehicle. She hired a car from 1^st Automotive Limited under an agreement which provided that “the Lessor will allow the Hirer credit on the hire charges until such time as a claim for damages has been concluded against the party …. that the Hirer alleges is liable for damages”.

Mrs Dimond actually hired the vehicle for 8 days, making no payment. 1^st Automotive pursued Co-operative Insurance (CIS), Mr Lovell’s insurers for payment, and CIS paid the repair cost within days, but did not pay the hire charge. 1^st Automotive then sued Mr Lovell in Mrs Dimond’s name, for the hire charge.

The hire agreement was issued for a maximum of 28 days so was an exempt consumer hire agreement.

It was held that the failure to require payment within a reasonable time meant that this was also a consumer credit agreement which would be regulated since it fulfilled none of the exemptions. Because it was not documented, it was unenforceable against Mrs Dimond. Consequently she could not claim against Mr Lovell because she had experienced no loss.