Chris Booth

Business profile

Position: Partner

Office: Marsden House, Blackburn

Phone: 01254 662831

Contact Chris Booth by email

Download V Card

Legal Advice Areas

Insurance

Expertise

I am a Partner in Forbes and Head of the firm's Anti Fraud Unit. I am a member of the FOIL Special Interest Group on Fraud and regularly speak on the subject at conferences and training sessions. I am a member of The Insurance Fraud Investigators Group and The Northwest Fraud Forum.

I was involved in the high profile claim of Butterworth v Bury MBC where after intensive investigation over 30 claims were matched as linked and the claim was dismissed. The case received extensive press coverage and was highlighted in a lead article in "The Law Society's Gazette" as a warning to Claimant's solicitors.

Most recently I assisted in the groundbreaking case of Regina v Cairns which resulted in a dramatic shift in the courts perception of insurance fraud. Cairns had initially successfully claimed against Wigan Council for a broken ankle, claiming he had sustained the injury from a pothole in the road. Further investigation produced evidence that he had actually suffered his injury whilst playing football. Cairns was jailed for nine months after admitting obtaining property by deception and perjury. The case was reported extensively in the national press and featured in Post Magazine, Insurance Times and the Law Society Gazette.

I am a member of the occupational disease unit and have dealt with a wide variety of occupational disease claims including asbestos, noise - induced hearing loss and silicosis claims.