WHA - UK Supreme Court finds that an insurance claims handler for vehicle breakdowns did not receive a supply for VAT purposes of repair services from the mechanics

For British VAT purposes, an insurance claims processor was merely providing third party consideration rather than consideration for repair services received by it when it paid mechanics for repair work on cars that were insured under vehicle break-down insurance provided by an affiliated insurer.  The repair services instead were supplies made to the insured drivers.  Among other considerations, the drivers had direct implied contracts with the mechanics under which they authorized the repair work and agreed to cover any shortfall between the repair cost and the insurance cover.

Neal Armstrong.  Summary of WHA Ltd. v. Revenue and Customs Commissioners, [2013] UKSC 24, [2013] 2 All ER 908 under ETA - s. 169(1).