Ageas has claimed defeat of a £100,000 insurance fraud case in Dorset.
A judgment was recently obtained against an individual who submitted a personal injury claim against an Ageas policyholder in the sum of £100,000 in respect of an accident in 2009.
In April 2009, the Claimant, her husband and two children were involved in a low velocity accident. Minor damage to the vehicle was sustained costing £800 to repair.
In February 2012, the Claimant claimed that, due to severe back pain as a result of the accident, spinal surgery and loss of earnings were going to cost in the order of £100,000 and the Claimant commenced proceedings for this sum.
On further investigation, the Ageas Claims Team learned that the Claimant not only had a long history of back pain and sciatica, but that she received the highest disability benefit and claimed for a significant care allowance.
Ageas looked into the case further, using the CUE (Claims Underwriting Exchange) Personal Injury system, which indicated that the Claimant had been previously involved in other incidents of a similar nature. Ageas investigations discovered, among other examples of inconsistent behaviour, the Claimant taking her children to a popular adventure park and riding on an extreme rollercoaster, one which specifically advises passengers with back pain not to participate.
At trial, the court heard more medical evidence, which showed that the Claimant had pre-existing back problems and her injuries were not directly as a result of the accident in question. In the judgment the court ordered the Claimant to repay over £19,000 in sums already received from Ageas Insurance Ltd.
Ageas understands that the Claimant may be seeking permission to appeal.