A victory for Disbursement Funding..!
25th April 2016
In an important victory for disbursement funding, a claimant has successfully recovered interest and charges under a loan. (Angela Jade Powell v Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust, Court No OSY02236, 01.01.2016)
The claimant, who was of very limited means, utilised a disbursement funding product much like our own (click here for more information) in order to bring her claim and sought payment of interest charges under CRP 44.2(6)(G).
Interestingly, The Defendant’s Counsel said during the hearing that the NHSLA completely accepted that the Jones case (Jeffrey Jones and others v The Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change and Coal Products [2012] EWCH 2936 (QB)) established the principle that Claimants could recover the cost of disbursement funding, and they did not dispute the Claimant’s entitlement to interest per se. Instead, the Defendant disputed the claim for pre-judgment interest which the Claimant sought to pay the cost of the loan. They disputed the recovery on the basis that:
- The court did not have the jurisdiction to re-open the Consent Order of the parties and change the principle as to costs
- The credit agreement itself was not compliant as the Claimant had not been properly advised
- The rate of interest charges which was 13.3% in this case was excessive
In the end the defendant agreed to pay charges in full, and we see no reason why this would not apply to our unique facility – great news for those claimants needing the assistance of disbursement funding to bring their claims.