The UK Credit Hire Rates Index

§ 01What is the Credit Hire Rates Index?

A quarterly comparison of the two rates that define credit hire disputes: the credit hire rate (what credit hire companies charge per day, by vehicle category) and the basic hire rate (what mainstream hire of a comparable vehicle costs, assessed on the principles in Stevens v Equity (2015)). It exists to put a number on the gap the courts have argued about since Dimond v Lovell (2000) — and to be citable when it does. The significance of the gap is explained in how much credit hire costs and impecuniosity explained.

§ 02The eleven categories

The Index reports on eleven fixed vehicle categories — seven car bands, two van bands, plated taxi and motorcycle — chosen to mirror how vehicles are actually grouped in hire supply and in rate disputes. Each edition publishes, per category: the credit hire day rate (£), the basic hire day rate (£), the ratio between them (to two decimal places), and the sample size (n). A category whose sample falls below the publication floor is marked “insufficient sample” rather than published thin.

§ 03Methodology: what the Index measures

The methodology is fixed and published in advance, so every edition ships against rules the reader can already inspect. Two figures per vehicle category per quarter, and their ratio:

• Credit hire day rate (£): the daily rate charged under credit hire agreements for vehicles in the category during the quarter, before any negotiated settlement discount.
• Basic hire day rate (£): the daily cost of hiring a comparable vehicle from a mainstream (or, where none serves the market, reputable local) supplier, on standard terms, assessed in the spirit of the test in Stevens v Equity (2015): the lowest reasonable rate for a comparable vehicle.
• Ratio: credit hire rate ÷ basic hire rate, to two decimal places, with the sample size (n) stated for every figure.

§ 04Data sources

Every published figure is traceable to source records retained by the site, and each edition states the retention and audit rule its figures sit under.

§ 05Comparison basis

• Rates are daily, exclusive of VAT, stated for the same hire duration basis (7-day equivalent) in both columns.
• Basic hire comparators must be genuinely available quotes for the location and dates sampled — no averaged brochure rates.
• Excess terms are recorded; where credit hire is supplied nil-excess, the excess-adjustment approach follows McBride v UK Insurance (2017): the cost of excess elimination is stated separately, not buried in the rate.
• Exclusions: delivery/collection charges, upgrades, out-of-category supply.

§ 06Cadence, revisions and citation

Quarterly. Each edition publishes as a dated child page, with sample sizes, the in-quarter collection window dates and machine-readable CSV and JSON files, and is summarised on this page. Published figures are never silently changed: corrections republish with a footnote stating what changed, why and when, and the machine-readable files are versioned. Methodology changes apply prospectively and are logged here with dates.

Suggested citation: UK Credit Hire Rates Index, edition and quarter, credithire.uk/rates-index/, with the date accessed. Journalists and researchers may reproduce Index figures with that attribution. Requests and corrections: via the contact route.