Kevin Perkins, operations manager and fraud lead at Carpenters Group, discusses the value of co-operation in the motor fraud sector.
I am grateful to Donna Scully for inviting me along to the latest Insurance Times Fraud Charter meeting, which took place in London on 12 December 2023.
One of the things that struck me during my attendance was the collegiate approach adopted by all stakeholders.
Despite some of the delegates having commercial rivalries, the discussions were open and constructive – all approached the meeting with the common goal of furthering the fight against fraud and that objective was the central issue running through all items on the agenda.
With that context in mind, I felt the case I had chosen to mention – involving a situation where the court found that a defendant was dishonest in the setting of a personal injury matter – was a perfect fit.
The matter was listed before DJ Ellery, sitting at the Bristol County Court. Having heard from both parties, the court determined that the defendant had lied about his version of events, deliberately fabricating his evidence.
Indemnity costs were ordered, it being successfully argued that an honest individual would have readily admitted fault and the matter would have settled much earlier on without the need for the court’s adjudication.
The decision serves as a timely reminder that the mechanism of the law relating to dishonesty is a two way street. Defendants should think long and hard before alleging fraud and avoid the temptation to utilise the term as a defence in itself with the aim of forcing better terms of a negotiated settlement.
Motor fraud is a blight on all of us and the industry is doing all it can to promote awareness of it. The above case hopefully demonstrates just what a multi-faceted issue it is and the challenges we all face in detecting and stemming the ever-increasing flow of spurious and suspect claims.
