Irish fraudsters 'getting away with it' – leading judge

Irish insurance fraudsters are getting away with it because they are not being prosecuted, according to a leading Irish jurist.

Former Irish High Court president Nicholas Kearns told RTE Radio that there appears to be no punishment for lying in court, the Irish Independent newspaper reported. Kearns head the Irish government’s Personal Injuries Commission which is looking at the level of awards in Ireland.

“There is a significant amount of fraud permeating the motor claims scenario,” Kearns said.

Fraud is estimated to cost the Irish insurance industry about €200m a year.

But the former High Court president said the real cost of fraud is a multiple of that as the industry estimate only counts fraud that is detected and doesn’t include exaggerated claims.

Kearns said fraud was encouraged by the large level of settlements for claims, the low likelihood of detection and the “infinitesimal” chance that any fraudsters would be prosecuted for perjury.