A UK millionaire has launched a legal battle against his car insurance company over £236,000 spent on hiring Ferraris whilst his own supercar was being repaired.
Paul Frankland, 51, was involved in a crash in 2012 and rented the cars in the seven months it took for insurers to repair his Ferrari 360 Modena after the accident.
A Court heard that Mr Frankland told insurers he required a “comparable vehicle” to his damaged Ferrari for use for “work, social and family commitments” whilst his own supercar was off the road.
Mr Frankland’s insurers claimed that the businessman’s high-value vehicle took seven months to repair because rare, specialist parts had to be ordered and shipped in from Italian manufacturers.
A District Judge ruled against the businessman last year upon hearing that he owned another five luxury cars he was capable of using during the interim.
The decision was upheld at Darlington County Court last week.
Judge Peter Armstrong, said: “Whether the claimant was well-off or not is not a relevant consideration for the purposes of the application.
“I am however of the opinion that the description by the District Judge of the claimant’s Ferrari as ‘plainly an occasional hobby’ was justified on all the evidence.”