Compensation Claim

Crash for Cash fraudster jailed

Categories: Road Traffic Accident (RTA) | Tags: | Written by Paul on October 25, 2009

 

Mohammed Patel defrauded £1.6 million in personal injury compensation from insurance companies over the last three years in crash for cash scams. Patel has now been jailed for his part in the scam that cost insurance companies £1.6 million and led to higher premiums for all drivers in the UK.

Patel staged his accidents in the North West of England in towns such as Manchester and Liverpool. Patel was the main driver in the staged accidents, but another 24 men are to be sentenced for their parts in the scam.

Patel’s crimes were discovered when office workers spotted him having repeated accidents at a roundabout outside of their office window. All of his accidents were virtually identical, which triggered their suspicions.

Patel staged one accident with a white van driver, Kevin Mair. Mr Mair described his accident in great detail:

They got out and rather comically had hold of their necks and were quite lethargic getting out of their cars, obviously feigning injury… they were calm, collected and sort of as if they’d been through it before.

Patel would hit his breaks hard while on the roundabout causing the vehicle behind to crash into him. He would then have numerous people come forward who claimed to be in his car, suffering whiplash.

Richard Davies from the Insurance Fraud Bureau added:

We now have the right controls and databases to allow us to pinpoint this activity and the bureau has now got 25 ongoing operations right across the country.

I’m confident we’re going to see many more convictions.

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UK insurance premiums hit 15 year high

Categories: Compensation Claim,The AA | Tags: , | Written by Michael on October 23, 2009

 

According to the AA, insurance premiums in the UK have hit a 15 year high in the third quarter of this year. The blame lies with fraudulent personal injury compensation claims, and genuine injury claims.

The result is that motorists are having to pay more for their car insurance because of personal injury lawyers and compensation claims. The average car insurance quote in the last quarter was £821, a rise of 5.6% on the previous quarter. This is also up by 14% on the same period in 2008.

This increase in insurance premiums is the largest seen by the AA since they started their insurance survey in 1994, 15 years ago. Simon Douglas, the insurance director at the AA, stated:

Despite motor insurance being one of the most competitive markets in the UK, insurers have little choice but to put premiums up.

The AA added that personal injury claims are the reason for the insurance premium rises, as £9.6 billion was paid out in 2008 in the UK for compensation claims. Fraudulent claims totalled $1.9 billion in the same year.

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Fraudulent claim admitted by Northern Ireland man

Categories: Compensation Claim,Public Liability | Tags: , | Written by Hilary on October 7, 2009

 

_45694347_metrobus203.jpgA man from Northern Ireland has admitted that he had made a fraudulent claim for personal injury compensation following a bus crash. Fifty eight year old Brian Langford admitted in court that not only was he not injured in the crash, but he wasn’t even on the bus at the time of the accident.

The bus company, Translink, was successful in defending itself against Mr Langford’s attempt to gain injury compensation.

Mr Langford withdrew his claim for personal injury compensation, but Translink wanted to prosecute him for his fraudulent attempts to extort money from them. As a result of the ruling, Mr Landford had to pay the legal bill for Translink, which amounted to £2,700.

Mr Langford initially claimed that he was injured in the bus crash in 2006, but after viewing CCTV evidence, Translink discovered that he was not even on board at the time of the crash.

Mr Langford could now also face community service for his efforts to claim personal injury compensation.

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Personal injury claim in Leeds thrown out

Categories: Compensation Claim,Slip and Trip | Tags: , | Written by Michael on September 23, 2009

 

A man tried to make a claim for compensation for injury in Leeds after he allegedly tripped on a paving slab and smashed his knee on a BT junction box. However, it emerged in Leeds court that the man had damaged his knee after being involved in a fight.

The man’s compensation claim for £617,000 was thrown out of Leeds court and the man, twenty-four-year-old Ryan Kirk, was given a 1 year prison sentence. Luckily his sentence was suspended for 2 years

In addition to the suspended sentence, Mr Kirk has to pay the legal bills of the council, which amount to £10,832, and he has to complete 240 hours of community service.

Kerry McGill, the judge presiding over the case, stated that Kirk’s father (who knew of the fraudulent claim yet convinced his son to continue to make it) would be facing a heavy sentence if he were to be charged. Ryan Kirk however escaped a more severe penalty because of his learning difficulties, which the judge took into account.

Judge McGill commented on fraudulent compensation claims:

These claims are a blight on the public purse. They can cause all sorts of problems.

You were a stupid boy … consider yourself an extremely fortunate young man. And a word of warning to any parent who is blind to what is going on – be careful in future.

Insurance investigators found a call made by Kirk to 999 where he admitted to kicking the box after a fight. Kirk’s personal injury lawyers in Leeds then refused to represent Kirk, but he pursued the claim himself.

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Recession could lead to more personal injury claims

Categories: Compensation Claim | Tags: , , | Written by Paul on September 6, 2009

 

Personal injury lawyers in Liverpool have stated that the recession the country is in could lead to more claims for compensation from people desperate for money. The law firm claim that fraudulent claims could be made due to the desperate situation many families are finding themselves in.

The personal injury lawyers, based in Liverpool, also warn that personal injury firms could be targeting families who are burdened with debt in the hope of getting them to make a claim for compensation even though they are not entitled to it.

The personal injury solicitors in Liverpool, Paul Rooney Partnership, say that the next few months will see a marked increase in claims for compensation by people looking to stave of their debts.

Steve Ireland, from Paul Rooney Partnership, stated:

We have already seen an increase in the number of claims we’d expect at this time of year and an increase in the number of claims we reject at the first stage of scrutiny. These are claims where there was a genuine accident so no blame can be apportioned or where we have suspicions about the claim.

In many respects we are entering uncharted waters. At the time of the last major economic downturn in 1990, there was no ‘no win-no fee’ funding for personal injury claims – this did not come into effect until 1994.

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Private investigation firm works on beating fraudulent injury claims

Categories: Compensation Claim,Road Traffic Accident (RTA),Slip and Trip | Tags: , | Written by Paul on September 4, 2009

 

Tees Valley Investigations, a private investigators, has revealed that it has been very busy lately investigating fraudulent injury claims against insurance companies. The company has been so busy of late that they have had to move to larger offices near Middlesbrough. Personal injury claims are often made by people hoping to con money out of insurance companies when the person hasn’t actually suffered any injury. This increases the insurance premiums for everyone, not to mention costs the insurance companies money and increases the premiums of the person who has been claimed against.

According Abdul Shakeel, the MD of Tees Valley Investigations, personal injury compensation fraud is one of their biggest earners. He claims that personal injury lawyers offering no win no fee injury claims services is to blame for the increase in fraud:

You have solicitors saying if you have an injury contact us and you can make a claim for compensation.

I think it is a litigious society we are living in and it is growing to epidemic levels.

It is being thrust in people’s faces.

If there is any sort of injury there is potentially a claim.

Mr Shakeel adds that when employees make personal injury claims against their employers for so called accidents at work, the effects on the firm could be disastrous, costing others their jobs.

Fraudulent claims against employers can have a devastating impact on an organisation’s ability to function as it invariably involves long-term absence, affects morale and can impact on other employees if working practices have to be altered, not to mention the financial impact on the company involved.

These so-called slips, trips and falls can also affect organisations that are subjected to suspected fraudulent personal injury claims by members of the public or clients when in or on premises they own or control.

We are saying there is a way to combat that legally and stop people who are effectively lying. Rather than give into these claims there are real tangible ways to investigate them.

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Crash for cash compensation claims

Categories: Compensation Claim,Insurance Companies | Tags: , , , , , | Written by Hilary on June 1, 2009

 

The term ‘crash for cash’ applies to people who stage accidents for the purposes of claiming personal injury compensation and compensation for the repair to the vehicles. It’s a growing trend and is costing insurance companies millions every year. It’s also costing the average motorist around £40 on their insurance premiums each year.

According to the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) the number of fraudsters claiming compensation for ‘crash for cash’ claims is increasing.

A common way for these fraudsters to stage an accident is to slam their brakes on hard, often on a motorway, causing the driver behind to rear shunt them. There’s little you can do to avoid them and they’ll claim against your insurance for damages to their vehicle and personal injury, usually involving whiplash claims and compensation for time off work.

Often injury claims will be made for passengers who weren’t even in the car.

The IFB’s John Beadle stated:

The criminal gangs targeting honest motorists are ruthless.

Innocent lives are being put at risk and fraudulent insurance claims add approximately £40 to every premium paid by honest policy holders each year.

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