Driver ordered to pay £29,000 after phantom Allianz claims

A driver who had three phantom claims struck out by a court has been ordered to pay back costs of £29,000.

The incident followed an investigation by Allianz and DAC Beachcroft which found that the driver had supported fraudulent claims.

Had he not done so, the driver would have been entitled to compensation in excess of £5,000. But as a result of his dishonesty, this valid claim was also thrown out.

What happened?

Following a motor accident in May 2016, Allianz received four personal injury claims from the third party driver, a passenger and two children.

Allianz’s insured had accepted liability for hitting a vehicle but already confirmed that the male driver was alone in the car.

Due to the inconsistent version of events, Allianz’s claims validation team investigated the case further. After speaking again to the insured, it was confirmed that nobody else got out of the vehicle at the scene of the accident and the driver recalled that he could see every seat in the vehicle.

Despite outlining concerns to the claimant solicitor, Allianz then received medical evidence detailing that the driver was accompanied by his ex-partner and two children, who were rear seat passengers.

Allianz also confirmed with the third party insurer that during the original call recording with the claimant, no injuries were reported and there were no other passengers involved.

Based on the evidence, Allianz instructed DAC Beachcroft to file a defence pleading fraud and fundamental dishonesty.

At the trial, which took place at the end of July, the driver’s ex-partner and children were not present and the Judge stated that there was no good reason for them not to attend court.

The judge said that she believed the reason they chose not to turn up was that they didn’t want to be cross examined, questioning the credibility to this claim.

The judge concluded that the driver was alone at the time of the collision and would have been compensated in excess of £5,000 had he not lied about the circumstances.

Instead the judge ordered the man to pay back costs at over £29,000.

‘Right outcome’

James Burge, fraud manager, Allianz Insurance said: “Working together with specialists such as DAC Beachcroft demonstrates our ongoing commitment to challenging and tackling insurance fraud.

“I’m really pleased that the right outcome was achieved. Unfortunately cases like these are not uncommon and this case goes to show that we are still determined to combat exaggerated and fictitious claims and continue to protect our genuine customers”.

Georgia Court, partner at DAC Beachcroft said: “The defence of the claim was successful due to the robust approach taken by Allianz and support they gave their customer, whose evidence was crucial.

“This case demonstrates that, even if part of a claim is genuine, all of it will be dismissed if any fraud is found, which happened here because the claimant supported the bogus passenger claims.”