Pattni v First Leicester Buses [2011]: What It Settled
Pattni v First Leicester Buses (heard with Bent v Highways & Utilities Construction) is the Court of Appeal's working guide to the basic hire rate: how it is assessed, what evidence proves it, and how the irrecoverable extras inside a credit hire rate are stripped out. It also settled how interest bundled into credit hire charges is treated.
§ 01What was the case about?
Two appeals raising the recurring quantum questions left open after Dimond and Lagden: for a non-impecunious claimant, how does a court actually find the basic hire rate (BHR) against which recovery is measured — and can the credit hire company's charges for credit and interest form part of the recoverable loss?
§ 02What did the court decide?
Aikens LJ's judgment set the method. The BHR is a question of fact, to be found on evidence of what it would have cost the claimant to hire an equivalent vehicle, in their locality, at the time — with the credit hire rate's additional elements (credit, claims handling, recovery risk) identified and removed rather than assumed away. Comparator evidence should reflect the claimant's actual circumstances, including the hire terms. On interest: charges representing the cost of credit are not recoverable as damages dressed in another name.
§ 03What did it change in practice?
It professionalised rates evidence. After Pattni, defendants' BHR reports — exhibiting real quotes for comparable vehicles, matched to locality and dates — became the standard weapon in credit hire litigation, and the quality of comparators became the standard fight. The case turned Dimond's principle into a courtroom procedure; the consumer-facing version of the rates question is described in how much credit hire costs.
§ 04Which later cases applied it?
Stevens v Equity (2015) refined Pattni's method into a single working rule — the lowest reasonable rate from a mainstream or reputable local supplier. McBride v UK Insurance (2017) extended the framework to nil-excess terms and prestige vehicles.
§ 05Related reading on this site
How much does credit hire cost?
New judgments, summarised as they land
The Case Digest is a planned email briefing covering significant new credit hire judgments, drawn from this tracker. Subscription is not open yet; the page explains what it will carry and how it is written.