Guilty man claimed he had been inside a car hit by an Aviva insured when in fact he had not
A Birmingham man who faked an injury claim against Aviva has been guilty of fraudulent representation.
Ryan Fenton, of Quinton, Birmingham was sentenced to eight months prison, suspended for 12 months, and ordered to carry out 100 hours of voluntary work and pay £2000 in court costs.
Fenton claimed he was injured while the stationary car he was sitting in in a supermarket car park in May 2017 was hit by another vehicle - insured by Aviva.
However it was revealed that while the Aviva insured had hit the stationary car, Fenton had been walking towards the vehicle and was not inside.
The two parties decided to settle the cost of damage privately, and nothing more was heard about the incident until several months later when Aviva received the personal injury claim from Fenton alleging moderate injury to his neck, back, and right shoulder caused by being thrown forwards and backwards.
He also claimed the injury had forced him off work for two days and he was unable to go to the gym. His claim totalled £5000.
Aviva began an investigation as Fenton’s account was inconsistent was their insured’s. The Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department was brought in, as well as law firm DAC Beachcroft.
Fenton withdraw his claim, but the investigating parties decided there was sufficient evidence to pursue action against him, and he was found guilty of the fraud on 25 September.
Aviva’s director of motor and casualty claims Richard Hiscocks said: “We will always listen to our customers, and where there is concern that a claim is not genuine, we will work with our partners such as DAC Beachcroft to investigate.
”And, where we find evidence of fraud, we will not hesitate to refer to the authorities.
”In Mr Fenton’s case, this means he now has a criminal record. This tale of opportunistic greed underscores the need for the forthcoming whiplash reforms, which should remove the easy access to compensation for minor injuries, which encourages some people to turn a small accident into a big lie.”
DAC Beachcroft partner Dan Prince said: ”This type of case shows the importance of not taking a set of circumstances at face value.
”Many may have thought this was one word against the other and would not have investigated further, but we did not. We invested in Aviva’s customer to get the right result.”
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