Ferndown Commercials Ltd: [2022] UKUT 19 (AAC)
Upper Tribunal Administrative Appeals Chamber decision by Judge Beech on 17 January 2022.
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Judicial Summary
The Appellant was the owner of an impounded Heavy Goods Vehicle which had hired a vehicle to a company with an operator’s licence which had gone into liquidation in 2019. The same directors set up a new company and the vehicle hire continued by that new company without the Appellant making any inquiry as to whether the new company had an Operator’s Licence. When the Appellant discovered the unlawful use of its vehicle, its director was satisfied by an assurance that an Operator’s licence had been applied for. When it was discovered that the application had been unsuccessful, the vehicle remained with the client on the basis that it would not be used. It was. The Appellant failed to establish that it had taken all reasonable steps to prevent unlawful use as per regulation 4(3)(d) of the Goods Vehicles (Enforcement Powers) Regulations 2001. The appeal was dismissed.