The intermediate court of appeals agreed with the trial court s conclusion that, in general, the app

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled in favor of PurCo Fleet Services in an important loss-of-use casino de paris dunes hotel damages case, Koenig v. PurCo. In a 20-page decision casino de paris dunes hotel handed casino de paris dunes hotel down Sept. 10, the court ruled that PurCo is entitled to recover loss-of-use damages irrespective of its actual lost profits.
This is a vindication for the rental car industry and property owners everywhere, said David Purinton, owner and president of PurCo. The court said there is an intrinsic loss to the owner when a car is damaged, no matter what else is happening in the fleet with other cars. That is the truth, as any owner can tell you.
The ruling caps a seven-year battle for PurCo Fleet Services Inc., a risk management company specializing in car rental loss prevention. The decisions that issued from the highest Colorado court and the intermediate court before that are believed to be the only reported casino de paris dunes hotel cases in the United States dealing specifically with loss of use and administrative fees for a rental car.
The case started on Sept. 16, 2005, when Judith Koenig casino de paris dunes hotel rented a car from the National Car Rental licensee at the Durango Airport in Colorado. While driving the car, she hit a deer and damaged the vehicle.
PurCo, the damage recovery company working with the licensee, demanded payment from Koenig for the damage, as well as loss-of-use damages and a contractual administrative charge. Koenig s insurer, State Farm, paid for the damage to the car, but refused to pay PurCo for loss of use or the administrative charge. casino de paris dunes hotel PurCo then filed suit to collect the unpaid amounts.
Koenig filed a request to dismiss the case without trial, which the trial court granted. The trial court ruled that PurCo could prevail on its loss of use damages claim only if it suffered actual lost profits. PurCo appealed.
The intermediate court of appeals agreed with the trial court s conclusion that, in general, the appropriate measure of loss-of-use damages casino de paris dunes hotel in a commercial setting is actual lost profits. But the court concluded the rental agreement casino de paris dunes hotel in this case altered casino de paris dunes hotel the measure of loss-of-use damages and held that PurCo was required to show certain loss prerequisites before it could recover.
On review, the Colorado Supreme Court affirmed the court of appeals judgment but on different grounds that proved to be favorable to the rental car industry. casino de paris dunes hotel The court held that loss-of-use damages in a commercial setting may be measured either by reasonable rental value or by actual lost profits. The court based its decision on the common law of damages reflected in the Restatements of the Law published by the American Law Institute and on its own prior case law decisions.
The state Supreme Court then vacated casino de paris dunes hotel the court of appeals opinion on loss-of-use damages and loss prerequisites. In doing so, the court put its stamp of approval on PurCo s longstanding position that loss-of-use damages are recoverable regardless what else might be going on in the fleet.
The reasonable rental value standard has been the law for a long time, no matter what our detractors have said, Purinton said. This ruling confirms what we have always known to be true. Still, it s nice to have the backing and authority of a smart supreme court that carefully studied the issue before confirming it.
The court made it easy to calculate, Purinton said. I applaud that. It is gratifying to have a court of this stature understand and approve of the rental car industry s best practices after years of battling. This will undoubtedly help owners, big and small, to recover real losses they are entitled to when renters return their cars damaged.
You are probably correct Jason. It would be nice to one day hold the insurance companies liable for what we as consumers casino de paris dunes hotel have to pay when......Oh Heck....When are we going to stand up to the Insurance companys?? If State Farm would have paid for the claim to begin with or for that matter, any insurance company, it would make alot of people happy.
Congrats to PerCo, I hope the judge awards them repayment for all their legal fees. I could write a novel regarding State Farm's handling of LOU claims. Alaska has a supreme court ruling very similar to this one that also includes casino de paris dunes hotel four ways of establishing the rental value. Even with this very clear ruling State Farm will only pay 50%. They intentionally put the customer in the middle hoping we will back down and waive the other 50%. Their actions have caused irreparable damage to our company and I would love to join forces with others who would like to stand up to the insurance companies.
Congratulations to David Purintan, his company PURCO, his legal team for helping us all by pursuing this matter to the highest court in CO. Unfortunately, just because one state Supreme Court ruled in this fashion does not mean that other courts in the U.S. will rule in the same manner. However, this ruling will help out the industry in the long run... David is a real trailblazer for the rental vehicle industry and is a very dedicated to getting fair justice for us all.
Terry, casino de paris dunes hotel perhaps the highly payed Insurance excecutives who previously made the decisions not to pay Rental company's for the past relative losses wouldn't mind taking less monatary compensation in order to keep the threat of rates from potentially changing. After all, we certainly pay for our mistakes, casino de paris dunes hotel shouldn't they?