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Recovery firms owed £500,000

5th December 2002
Page 8
Page 8, 5th December 2002 — Recovery firms owed £500,000
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kW Six vehicle recovery operators from Staffordshire have lost the latest round in their battle to recoup some 1500,000 in unpaid bills. They claim the enormous debt built up while they were recovering vehicles at the request of Staffordshire police, but a judge has ruled that the force has no contract with the garages.

As a result, the garages have been ordered to pay £35,000 as an advance to cover the police force's legal bill.

But Peter Beckerley, the lawyer acting for the operators, denies the ruling is a serious set-back because the judge has already ruled that the operators do have a contract with SHL, which administers the recovery scheme for the police.

"The vehicle recovery operators always believed that the police or the management company, possibly both, had a contractual duty towards them to chase debts," he explains. "It was found that the management company did indeed owe a contractual duty to them."

Beckerley predicts that another court hearing, probably within the next fortnight, will sort out the terms of the contract between SHL and the recovery operators. A further hearing will be needed to decide if SHL breached that contract and, if they did, how much the operators are owed.

Beckerley says the £35,000 awarded against the operators is partly covered by Insurance and may eventually be recouped from SHL.

A statement from Staffordshire police describes the court action as "a wholly unnecessary approach to solving any emblems with the scheme".

Tags

Organisations: Staffordshire police
People: Peter Beckerley

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