Forbes Anti-Fraud investigators save council from costly claim

Main issues:

In the Claimant’s DWP records, just two months prior to the index accident, he alleged that he had poor mobility and could only walk 20 metres. When he was examined by medical experts in relation to his claim, he reported to them that his health was excellent prior to his accident and that he had no significant pre-existing medical issues.

Despite his previous statement of only being able to walk 20 metres to the DWP, he claimed that he had parked 120 metres away from his intended destination.

The Claimant then lied in Part 18 questions and also in his witness statement (both signed by a Statement of Truth), denying having made any other personal injury claims. Searches on his claims history and from scrutiny of his medical records, proved that he had made at least 3 previous claims for road traffic accidents, but possibly even more claims than that.

We also had concerns regarding the Claimant’s account of the aftermath of the accident. He reported to experts that it took him 30-40 minutes to get out of the ditch he fell into, but at A&E he told the doctors that he managed to get up okay, so he went home and went to bed.

The result:

The issues with this claim were put to the Claimant’s solicitors confirming that should this matter proceed to trial, the Defendant would be seeking a finding of Fundamental Dishonesty.

Given the likely inability of the claimant to pay the council’s costs and to avoid incurring additional costs to trial, which would likely be unrecoverable, the Claimant was offered the opportunity to discontinue without a costs penalty.  The claimant agreed to withdraw his claim; a clear vindication of our costs, resulting in a saving of approximately £75,000 to the council and their insurers.

File handlers – Chis Threlkeld and Claire Opacic, assisted by Poppy Romback.