ARTICLE · 04 DECEMBER 2009

Insurance: What it means to be a ‘common carrier’

DLA Piper Australia

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The recent decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Stapley v Towing Masters Pty Ltd (trading as Dynamic Towing) [2009] NSWCA 382, the Court considered what it means to be a ‘common carrier’.

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In the recent decision of the New South Wales Court of Appeal in Stapley v Towing Masters Pty Ltd (trading as Dynamic Towing) [2009] NSWCA 382, the Court considered what it means to be a 'common carrier'.

The appeal arose as a 'test case' in which an insurer sought to challenge the decision of a trial judge that a tow truck operator had a lien over a vehicle because it was a common carrier.

Whilst the appeal was decided on its facts, and raised some quirks because of the way in which the case and evidence had been put at the lower level, the judgment of the Appeal Court contains a useful (and poetic) analysis of the genesis and obligations of a common carrier.

The facts

The case was spawned by a motor vehicle accident, in which Mr Stapley was driving. A tow truck owned by Towing Masters Pty Ltd (Towing Masters) attended the scene of the accident along with several other tow trucks.

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