A specialist insurance law firm has broken a record by establishing eight findings of fundamentally dishonest claims in just one day.
Horwich Farrelly revealed a series of spurious claims across four separate trials for four different insurers during one day on August 18 – forming what it is believed to be a record day for fraudulent claims.
In the first case, evidence from all four claimants who were allegedly involved in a shunt in a car park at Legoland, Windsor, was found to be littered with inconsistencies.
A statement by one of the claimants – that her injuries left her unable to attend the gym – unravelled when her gym records showed that she had made five visits in the fortnight prior to her medical examination.
In the second case, the accounts of a minor car crash from two claimants were dismissed after medical records revealed that neither party had visited a GP, despite allegedly suffering from severe pain for up to six months.
The pair, who did not establish a claim until two years after the crash, also argued that they were confused between the crash for which they were claiming, and a second car crash that happened three months afterwards.
A third case was found to be based on false claims after the claimant stated that a car collision had been enough to shake his vehicle and jolt him in his seat.
The evidence was found to support the defendant’s claim that he had only scraped the claimant’s stationary vehicle, and the claimant was also unable to provide evidence of time taken off work after the accident.
In the final case, suspicions were raised over a claim for whiplash when it was found that the claimant had made claims relating to nine other incidents.
The judge ruled the man to be an unreliable witness who was making his evidence up ‘on the hoof’; his inconsistencies included stating that he was illiterate and later proceeding to point out relevant sections of a medical report.
Mark Hudson, Counter Fraud Partner at Horwich Farrelly, commented: “When the concept of fundamental dishonesty was introduced, some commentators were quick to suggest that the sanction was of limited application in the fight against fraud.
“With these results, which are almost certainly the most findings of fundamental dishonesty ever secured in a single day, we have shown this is demonstrably not the case.”
To date, Horwich Farrelly’s counter fraud team has secured 146 findings.
Related stories:
“I accidentally threw my teeth into the fire”: Aviva unearths the quirkiest historical fire claims
Ageas launches fraud fightback
