Right2Drive won a high court appeal on 8 December against IAG in which the court found that it was reasonable for not-at-fault drivers to hire a ‘like for like’ car. The dispute began in 2017 when two Right2Drive customers who drove prestige vehicles suffered accidents that were not their fault and were provided with comparable vehicles while their cars were being repaired.
IAG refused to meet the costs of the hire and maintained that the customers had no entitlement under Australian law to a comparable vehicle. Right2Drive began litigation against IAG to recover the costs of hire.
The proceedings started in the small claims court of NSW and became lengthy appeals through the NSW court hierarchy over a period of four years. The appeal was eventually pushed through to the High Court. The High Court found in favour of Right2Drive and their customers and dismissed IAG’s appeal.
“We are thrilled with the outcome of the high court hearing. This decision supports Right2Drive’s customer service objective that our customers should not be inconvenienced as a result of another person’s wrongdoing," James Tonna, CEO Right2Drive said.
“When Right2Drive brought this to the attention of the High Court; the Full Bench promptly, unanimously and clearly declared that a motorist is entitled to be put back in the same position as he or she would have been in, had the collision not occurred. This benefits the entire industry and all Australian drivers”.
An IAG spokesperson said: "At IAG, we are committed to working across the industry to ensure we collectively provide hire car benefits and entitlements for customers. We acknowledge the High Court decision and are pleased that this decision will provide greater consistency and alignment across the industry."