Auhua Clean Share Discussion Threads

[sir brainy] 14/7/2010 14:12

Didn't take much selling to push it back down

[sir brainy] 14/7/2010 13:55

RNS does not really impact much on the likelihood of getting any money back.

Therefore share price should revert to trend.

[knowing] 14/7/2010 13:50

£20 or £30M but I know see they have found additional claims.

[sportbilly1976] 14/7/2010 13:44

what are the financial implications of this in terms of cash to be awarded?

[cockneyrebel] 14/7/2010 13:44

Claims against Car Insurers and Autofocus down the line I reckon - should bring in a lot of much needed cash imo.

CR

[tez123] 14/7/2010 13:37

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 July 2010






Accident Exchange Group Plc

("the Company")



UPDATE ON AUTOFOCUS LEGAL ACTION

Court of Appeal judgment handed down



As previously reported, the Company commenced an action in the High Court against Autofocus Limited ("Autofocus") in October 2009 following the discovery that a number of their employees had presented evidence of daily hire rates which we believed were false and which had resulted in a material under recovery of our hire charges. The action brought alleges conspiracy to use unlawful means, interference to our business by unlawful means and deceit.



We have previously reported that Autofocus made an application to the High Court to have our action struck out with Autofocus arguing that it was able to rely on protection from prosecution by reference to witness immunity. As was also previously reported, that application was rejected by His Honour Judge Mackie QC (sitting as a judge of the High Court) on 16 December 2009 but permission was requested by, and was given to, Autofocus to appeal the decision.



That appeal was heard by The Court of Appeal on 9 June 2010 and judgment was handed down this morning by Lord Justice Maurice Kay, Vice President of the Court of Appeal (Civil Division). We are pleased to report that the appeal by Autofocus has been dismissed.



In addressing the issues for trial, Lord Justice Kay said of the Autofocus evidence that:



"...it will be necessary to consider precisely what each rates surveyor and his superiors did or omitted to do and what their state of mind was at the time. It may be necessary to consider the chronology of the events from phone calls (if made) to the spreadsheets, to the creation of the witness statements. I am bound to say that, if it is established that a particular surveyor dishonestly fabricated evidence, in my view, applying Darker, he would be unlikely to avail himself of the immunity..."



Following the appeal judgment, the Company will now make an application to the High Court to amend the original proceedings in this case to include all of the Autofocus employees against whom we believe we have further evidence of dishonesty.



The case against Autofocus therefore continues.



Update on other Autofocus related matters



As well as the substantive action brought against Autofocus, and as previously reported, the Company has identified approximately 2,500 cases where the decision of a Court may have been unsound based on the evidence given by employees of Autofocus and where we believe that the hire charges recovered were below the level that should have been awarded.



In the case of Archer v Skanska Corporation, which is the case where our suspicions regarding the conduct of Autofocus rate surveyors were first identified, leave to appeal the original judgment has now been granted by the Court of Appeal. A form of order has been agreed with the defendant which provides, inter alia, that a retrial will take place solely on the issue of the quantum of hire charges. The agreed draft order is before the Court of Appeal awaiting approval. The defendant has conceded that the original evidence of Autofocus is unreliable and this evidence has now been abandoned.



In the case of Stewart v Rees, which involved evidence from the same Autofocus rate surveyor as in the above case, leave to appeal the original decision has also now been granted following the submission of evidence by the Company which shows that the comparator vehicle details and rate evidence of the Autofocus rate surveyor, on which the Judge based the initial award for damages, were fictitious. In granting permission to appeal, HHJ Walton said:


"Mr. Roger [the Defendant's barrister] candidly accepts the evidence of Elaine Spence contained in her witness statement raises an important issue in relation to the evidence of Mr. George Broom [the Autofocus rate surveyor]. Frankly speaking, on an ordinary reading it contradicts it and I think I cannot ignore the fact that there are other cases in which the same gentleman has been involved which are currently, no doubt in relation to much higher amounts, proceeding in the Court of Appeal. Bearing that in mind, it seems to me that it is not as it were something which can be regarded as without substance. It is an important and significant issue in relation to the evidence which he gave, and it would appear on the face of it to indicate that the District Judge in reaching the decision he did selected a figure which was fictitious.

That being so, it seems to me it is a matter which the court cannot ignore. One has to balance the use of the resources of the court and the rights of the parties. I am bound to say when I first looked at the papers it did seem to me that this was such a small amount of money that giving permission to appeal was inadvisable. But you also have to put into the scales that if I took that course, whether it is a financial giant or an ordinary person, they are being required to accept a loss on the basis of a figure which the evidence suggests is fictitious. That seems not a situation which the court should accept where there is a reasonable possibility of rectifying it."



Summary



As a result of the Company's investigations, we believe that all three active team leaders at Autofocus acted with systematic dishonesty during the period under investigation and that we now have sufficient evidence to include the third team leader as a Defendant in our primary damages action against Autofocus. Furthermore, we believe that we have evidence that also implicates two former directors who left Autofocus soon after our initial findings of dishonesty were announced in September 2009.



In the case of Archer, instructions have been given to our legal team to make an application to have the Autofocus rate surveyor in question made personally liable for the costs of the appeal and the retrial and also to consider an application for permission to apply to commit him to prison for contempt of court.

Steve Evans, Chief Executive said:

"We are delighted with the judgment from the Court of Appeal because it now allows for the hearing of the substantive issues of our claim in open court to be resumed after a delay of six months. We are also encouraged with the judgment in Stewart where, for the first time in one of these cases, we have a Judge confirming that the Autofocus evidence given in that case led to the trial Judge accepting a fictitious spot rate figure as the basis for making his judgment.

"Whilst this delay to the substantive litigation has been ongoing, we have prepared further cases from the population of approximately 2,500 which we now intend to seek leave to appeal. In addition, and following today's judgment in the Court of Appeal, we have decided to bring into the main action against Autofocus, as co-defendants, the majority of those 13 employees of Autofocus who left the business hurriedly in September 2009 and against whom we have evidence of improper behaviour in order that they can fully account for the investigations that they say they conducted on gathering hire rates, the veracity of the evidence they gave and the reasons for their rapid departure from Autofocus when our suspicions were aroused."



END





CONTACTS:



Accident Exchange Group Plc



Steve Evans, Chief Executive
08703 009 781

Martin Andrews, Group Finance Director
08703 009 781








Singer Capital Markets Limited



Shaun Dobson, Joint Head of Corporate Finance
020 3205 7500






Bankside



Simon Bloomfield
020 7367 8888






About Accident Exchange



Based in the West Midlands and with regional depots in Glasgow, Belfast, Warrington and Dartford, Accident Exchange delivers accident management and other solutions to automotive and insurance related sectors. Fully listed, the stock code is LSE: ACE.


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

[tez123] 14/7/2010 13:35

Me neither.

[knowing] 14/7/2010 13:28

Oh I don't think so now.

[orchestralis] 13/7/2010 09:39

I think this will drift back down below 10p again

[thenorth] 12/7/2010 12:56

SB it's free and has been for years.... it indemnifies the client against any come backs from ACE if they are unable to reclaim the hire/ repair costs from the third party... not daft but very necessary and its not like paying insurance twice at all....

Come on people do some research before you make statements please.

TN

[sir brainy] 12/7/2010 12:34

ISTR it only cost £10

Begs the question why they do not make it automatic ie for all customers

[clond] 12/7/2010 12:29

thats like paying insurance twice isn't it ?

How daft is that !

[sir brainy] 12/7/2010 10:51

Do ACE still offer a cheap insurance policy protecting the person liable to pay the rental costs if the ins co doesn't cough up?

[orchestralis] 12/7/2010 10:36

spread large coz volume low. If volume increases, spread will decrease. volume will only increase when positive/important news received

[davius] 12/7/2010 10:27

I wonder if a 25% spread is putting off anyone thinking of buying or selling here...

:0)

[clond] 12/7/2010 09:10

What is interesting here SB is if one where to lose the claim with a third party rendering her liable.

I guess it is the strength of the claim that makes it an option or not.

If you run around in a BMW 5 series and you are offered a Kia Cee'd whilst the claim is ongoing by your insurance company, would you feel that is fair value for the money you pay.

If your position in the crash isn't 100% then you'd take what ever your offered !

[sir brainy] 10/7/2010 19:28

Accident management company: a sensible move?
Honest John has some advice about dealing with accident management companies

By Honest John
Published: 6:30AM BST 10 Jul 2010

CUE bawl

My daughter-in-law's car has just been rendered unusable after a third party ran into it. It is clearly going to be the subject of an insurance claim. Her policy includes the provision of a car whilst hers is off the road. I understand that she has already been contacted by a company that wants to provide a temporary car replacement. Is this an accident management company? How do you deal with this sort of problem and get the insurer to provide a straightforward replacement without a third-party rip-off?

+++

To get the hire car she will have to sign papers rendering her liable for the hire if the other party's insurer refuses to pay. This operator has illegally obtained her details from the Claims and Underwriting Exchange (CUE) and this is an offence under the Data Protection Act. Please report the matter to the claims regulators: www.www.cueuk.org, www.ico.gov.uk and www.claimsregulation.gov.uk

[davius] 09/7/2010 10:21

Well it did open up, but I can only see sells today. A rise of 26% and just a few trades, interesting for an MM only stock. About 170K shares sold, I wonder if this means the market makers have a buyer? Perhaps we'll see a delayed trade to balance them out, or maybe they were short and have just balanced the books.

This will be an interesting one as it pans out. Steve Evans holds the best part of half of this company and his paper fortune dwindled from something like £150m to below £4m. Would he really be happy to see such dilution? Perhaps, if the alternative is administration.

The £50m of convertible loand notes were dated January 2008 and set at a minimum conversion price of 75.41p, but they were unsecured. The holders won't be in a particularly strong bargaining position but I would imagine that the management will have to come up with a reasonable plan to convince them to convert at whatever price they can agree.

[orchestralis] 09/7/2010 09:03

I can't see anybody buying in based on that news.

[davius] 09/7/2010 07:50

I think we could see a small rally here today, it's going to open up. Market cap is £6.7m, I can't imagine Steve being happy to have his stake reduced from 45% to perhaps 5%. Unless he's the senior lender!

[davius] 09/7/2010 07:46

Hmm, this appears to protect them from immediate risk. The paragraph towards the end regarding increasing vehicle funding is interesting to note too, it suggest that perhaps they think the corner has been turned...

UPDATE ON REFINANCING DISCUSSIONS AND ANNUAL RESULTS TIMETABLE

As reported on 19 March 2010, the Company has been engaged in a review of its financial structure with its senior lender and its asset backed lenders. These discussions have more recently been extended to consider a potential restructuring of the GBP50m 5.50% unsecured convertible loan notes due 2013 (the "CLNs").

The Company's senior lender has advised that, subject to agreeing final terms with the Company and the Company successfully negotiating restructuring terms with the other stakeholders including the holders of the CLN's, it is willing to amend the terms of its GBP40m Senior Credit Agreement to, among other things, extend the maturity date from 30 September 2010 to an amortisation running until 2013. Documentation amending the terms of the Senior Credit Agreement is being negotiated.

The Company is in constructive discussions with its CLN holders regarding a restructuring. In its capacity as a holder of approximately 40% of the CLNs, the senior lender has indicated that, subject to the support of the other CLN holders, it is willing to consider converting its CLN interest into an equity interest as part of a restructuring. In view of these ongoing discussions, the Company has received assurances from the holders of over 90% in value of the CLNs that the interest payment on the CLNs due to be paid on 8 July 2010 may be deferred as part of and pending the outcome of these discussions.

Finally, the Company is also in discussions with a number of asset backed lenders with a view to increasing available vehicle funding facilities post-refinancing.

A further update on refinancing discussions will be made in due course.

In view of the above, the Company expects to publish its annual results for the financial year ended 30 April 2010 on or before 31 August 2010.

[18bt] 09/7/2010 07:25

Survival looking better after this morning's announcement; massive dilution in equity likely.

[docopoly] 08/7/2010 18:03

There is no doubt that there is a need for this service and further no doubt that ace can deliver the service with a quality experience for the end customer which I admire.

I do doubt whether Morgan Stanley or anybody else will step in with fresh funding.

Without that at even with the reduced level of cash consumption it does not bode well.

Doc

[wilba] 08/7/2010 14:31

Nice post. TN. Trend looking good.

[orchestralis] 08/7/2010 09:25

I have a funny feeling ACE might turn the out ok!