Case proceedings were issued following a staged road traffic collision between a minibus and car, all at full capacity, resulting in 19 personal injury claims being put forward, of which nine were litigated. HDFU’s suspicions were raised by the high number of claimants involved, and the inception date of the policy for the car involved being only three days prior to the accident.
Once fraud was established, a counter claim for exemplary damages was issued. A further part 20 claim was issued against the mastermind behind the fraud, who was found jointly and severely liable in court, despite being the only individual involved not to have made a bodily injury claim.
The claimants were ordered to pay The Co-operative Insurance costs, monies owed for the repair of the minibus along with rarely awarded exemplary damages in the sum of £9,000.
Peter Oakes, Head of Fraud at Hill Dickinson says: “Hill Dickinson is pleased with the result of the case, with the exemplary damages acting as a prominent reminder that the industry is fighting back against fraud and that the significant time, effort and expense involved in investigating such cases and bringing these criminals to justice is being recognised. The deterrent message is strong – not only will you not succeed in making a fraudulent claim but there are wide reaching financial consequences if you attempt to do so.”
John Martini, Motor Claims Fraud Manager at The Co-operative Insurance commented: “This was a substantial and highly organised fraud and we are very pleased that those responsible have been called to account. For a long time honest consumers have had to pay the price for exaggerated claims made by a dishonest minority of people. We welcome the industry’s tough approach to fraud, and will continue to play our part in tackling cases such as this so that as an industry we can bring down premiums for motorists and homeowners.”
