Former Independent Insurance manager testifies against former bosses
Jurors at the ‘Indie' trial heard the first witness account detailing the alleged mishandling of claims data.
Stuart Pettet, who joined Independent in 1987, was called on the fourth day of the trial.
Prosecutor Andrew Baillie QC questioned Pettet, a former assistant general manager, about various claims reporting systems in operation at Independant.
The crown alleges that various processes were used to suppress the reporting of claims.
Some claims, said prosecutors, were written up on white boards before they were entered properly onto computer systems.
The prosecution also referred to a process by which senior management would decide how claims were recorded. In-depth reviews of individual claims, allegedly carried out by Michael Bright, sometimes led to these being recorded on the manual lists.
According to Pettet, some large claims were kept on manual lists until a signal came to move them over to the computer system.
Certain records allegedly stayed on the board for months. “The length of time it took to get manual records on to the system caused me concern,” said Pettet.
The prosecution also argued that senior management drew attention to the degree of savings coming out of closed claims in an effort to persuade claims handlers to lower their estimates.
Pettet said he did not believe this was good practice and the court was shown a letter he had written to articulate his objections. Asked if he had discussed this with other members of staff Pettet said he had.
The trial continues.
