Landmark Zurich fraud case verdict due today

The Supreme Court is due to make a landmark ruling this morning that will determine whether insurers can throw out an entire third-party liability claim if parts of it are fraudulent.

The case centres on a disputed £838,000 claim filed against Zurich by Shaun Summers.The insurer alleges the claim contains fraud.

Current case law requires insurers to pay out the genuine parts of liability claims even if they are proved to be partially fraudulent.

However, Zurich wants the court to disallow both the allegedly fraudulent and genuine elements of Summers’ claim.

If the court rules in Zurich’s favour, this will set a precedent for insurers being able to throw out entire claims containing fraudulent elements.

The claim was originally brought in May 2005 by Summers, who suffered leg and wrist injuries after falling off a forklift truck. Summers claimed the injuries were so severe that he could not return to work.