England and Aston Villa footballer, Darren Brent, has had his case upheld by three appeal judges who found that he was within his rights to hire an Aston Martin sports car for three months after his own Mercedes sports car was damaged in an accident which was not his fault. The insurance provider had refused to foot the car hire bill of £63,000 which the footballer had run up saying that although he was entitled to hire a “broadly equivalent” car while his own vehicle was being repaired, however the Aston Martin DB5 which he hired at a daily rate of £573.28 plus VAT had an estimated value of £105,000, while Brent’s own Mercedes was said to be worth in the region of £72,000. The car insurance provider for the driver of the van who had damaged Brent’s Mercedes following an accident in South London had argued that the footballer should have hired a cheaper hire car while his own sports car was being repaired. However the appeal judges ruled in favour of Brent, saying he was entitled to be reimbursed for almost the entire cost of hiring the luxury car, finding that a reasonable daily hire rate would have been £504, meaning he will receive over £50,000 from the insurer to cover the £63,000 he paid in car hire fees. The case has been ongoing for four years which has resulted in two county court hearings and two trips to the court of appeal.