Car renter ordered to pay €93,000 damages

The owners of a hired car which was seized by the police in the course of an investigation were yesterday awarded €93,000 in damages after a court ruled they had been deprived of the car through no fault of their own.

Francis Xuereb owned a Toyota which he rented out to Francis Formosa in February 2004. The car was confiscated by the police on the same day as it was suspected that it had been used to carry contraband cigarettes.

Mr Xuereb told the court that his company had nothing to do with this confiscation but had been deprived of the use of the car as a result of Mr Formosa's actions. He asked the court to condemn Mr Formosa to pay the firm damages including loss of rental income.

Mr Justice Giannino Caruana Demajo noted that Mr Formosa had not contested the court case. But the car had not been released by the police as criminal proceedings against Mr Formosa had not ended.

As a result, Mr Xuereb suffered loss of income because he could not use the car and Mr Formosa was responsible for these damages.

The court calculated that Mr Xuereb had lost income of €15,000 per year since the car was confiscated. Furthermore, the car would nowadays be valued at €3,000.

In conclusion Mr Formosa was ordered to pay Mr Xuereb €93,000.