A woman from Preston has been fined £2,500 for exaggerating her injuries in an attempt to win personal injury compensation for injuries sustained during an accident.

The woman, Joanne Kirk, was found in contempt of court by Mr Justice Coulson. The verdict also represents the first time that the insurance company, NIB – part of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) managed to successfully win a case of this sort.

RBS is hoping that the decision will help to curb the increasing number of fraudulent personal injury claims being made against them, and other insurance companies.

Ms Kirk initially claimed that she was unable to walk very far, and she was awarded compensation for injuries as a result of this claim. NIB then investigated her claim, and obtained video footage of Ms Kirk being far more active than she claimed she could be.

Mr Justice Coulson stated that Ms Kirk:

exaggerated her symptoms to a significant and unconscionable degree” and can have had no “honest belief” that much of her claim was true, after claims following an accident in 2001.

Kate Lotts works for RBS in their specialist claims department. She stated:

We saw an opportunity to enhance the counter fraud measures available to all insurers by pursuing this case.

Significantly, this landmark decision gives insurers a means to pursue not just their own policyholders, but also fraudulent third parties.

Anyone considering committing fraud, whether they be our policyholders or third parties, will now have to face very serious consequences beyond the main personal injury action for dishonestly inflating a claim.

Policy holders currently pay around £40 on their car insurance premium as a result of fraudulent claims on damage to vehicles and injury compensation.