Footballer in car hire row

Aston Villa footballer Darren Brent is locked in a court battle with his insurance company after they refused to reimburse him for the cost of a hire car which he rented while his own vehicle was off the road following an accident.

The striker hired an Aston Martin DB9 for three months while his Mercedes CLS car was undergoing £20,000 worth of repairs. Darren Brent hired the car from the Accident Exchange Ltd at a cost of £570 per day.

However when the England footballer handed the £63,000 car hire bill over to Allianz Insurance, the company refused to cover the cost of hiring the luxury sports car for three months.

The footballer and the insurance company have been to County Court twice over the matter, and the court of appeal on two occasions in an attempt to bring the matter to a close.

The judge at one of the county court hearings found that £396 was a reasonable daily cost for car hire, however this is being challenged at the court of appeal as Mr Brent’s legal team say it was the footballer’s right to hire a car of equivalent standard to his own vehicle while his Mercedes was being repaired.

The case was heard over a whole day at the court of appeal, with the three judges due to deliver their decision at a later date.