Expert Witness Journal Issue 68 August 2026 - Flipbook - Page 29
Resounding win: multiple
indemnity and contribution claims
by Kate Archer, Partner & Samantha Betts, Senior Litigation Executive at DAC Beachcroft.
Overview
The underlying claims
DAC Beachcroft Claims Limited (DACB Claims),
acting on behalf of Ainscough Crane Hire Limited
(the claimant) and its insurers recently succeeded
in bringing a claim for an indemnity and/or
contribution in respect of damages paid in relation
to a number of accidents caused by hydraulic oil
which had leaked from one of the claimant’s vehicles
onto the road surface.
The claimant received several third party claims
arising out of the oil spillage including three
personal injury claims arising out of accidents
caused by vehicles which skidded on the hydraulic
oil, a claim from a local authority for the clean-up
of the road surface, as well as a signi昀椀cant claim for
repairs to the motorway.
The claimant’s claim against
the defendant
Background
The claimant had engaged Hydraquip Hose &
Hydraulics Limited (the defendant) to supply it
with services including the supply and installation
of hydraulic hoses on its cranes. The defendant
warranted that its work would be undertaken with
skill, care and diligence, and agreed to indemnify
the claimant against third party liabilities arising
from its negligence.
The claimant commenced proceedings against
the defendant seeking an indemnity and/or
contribution in respect of the claims that it faced
arising out of the spillage of hydraulic oil. The
defendant denied liability and also alleged that
even if there was liability on its part, there had been
contributory negligence on the part of the claimant.
The court ordered that there be a preliminary trial
to deal with the issues of liability and causation.
A little less than 15 months after one of the
defendant’s employees had replaced a hose on one
of the claimant’s vehicles, that crane was driving
on a motorway when the driver noticed that the
coolant temperature warning light on the vehicle’s
dashboard was illuminated. The driver stated that
having stopped the vehicle when it was safe to do so,
he looked and observed steam emerging from near
the vehicle’s exhaust so returned to the claimant’s
depot.
At trial, the claimant was represented by Richard
Whitehall KC instructed by DACB Claims, the
matter being conducted by Kate Archer, Partner
and Samantha Betts, Senior Litigation Executive,
and Sophia Murphy, Senior Complex Loss Handler
from Aviva Insurance Ltd.
The trial
At trial, the claimant called 昀椀ve lay witnesses, the
defendant called one. Both parties also called
evidence from one expert. Having examined in
detail the evidence of the lay and expert witnesses,
the judge turned to the legal argument, noting that
the claimant’s primary case was the doctrine of res
ipsa loquitur, (the thing speaks for itself) a rule of
law which allows negligence to be inferred from the
circumstances of an accident without direct evidence
It subsequently transpired that the crane had leaked
hydraulic oil onto the highway, resulting in road
tra昀케c accidents and damage to the highway surface.
The oil had leaked from a perforated hydraulic hose
inside the crane which had been previously replaced
by the defendant’s employee. The failed hose was
subsequently replaced by one of the defendant’s
employees.
EXPERT WITNESS JOURNAL
27
AUGUST 2026
