The claim, valued in excess of £100,000, was struck out by the court after it was determined that the claimant had been fundamentally dishonest in her allegations.
The claimant, Ms. Parker, alleged that she had slipped and fallen on stairs while working as a cleaner, leading to an inability to work due to chronic pain, claiming that she was unable to perform basic tasks at home such as hoovering, filling the washing machine, or driving. However, investigations revealed that shortly after the alleged accident, Ms. Parker had started a valeting business, "Pride N Shine Mobile Valeting Service Limited," and was actively working in a manual role.
Evidence gathered showed Ms. Parker cleaning cars with her partner, with customer reviews praising their "hard work" in challenging conditions. Even when her partner fell ill, Ms. Parker continued to valet cars on her own, contradicting her claims of incapacitation.
In addition to attempting to deceive the defendant, Ms. Parker was found to have received benefits of over £10,600 from the Department for Work and Pensions. The disclosure of this evidence led to her solicitors withdrawing from the case.
The court ultimately struck out the claim, resulting in savings in excess of £150,000. Furthermore, Ms. Parker was ordered to pay legal costs of £17,976.
Ben Fletcher, director of financial crime, Allianz UK commented; "At Allianz, we pride ourselves on our robust approach to tackling fraud and protecting our customers' interests. This case exemplifies the strength and dedication of our team, working tirelessly to uncover the truth and ensure justice prevails.
“The successful outcome of this case underscores our determination and collaborative efforts with partners like DWF to combat fraudulent activities effectively."
William Stobart, Associate at DWF, stated, “When confronted with her deception, Ms. Parker attempted to come up with excuses to explain away the evidence. She attempted to conceal the extent of her deception but the court was not deceived by her attempts. Allianz rightly have a zero tolerance to fraud and we were delighted to work in partnership with real teamwork between Allianz and DWF to achieve this result.”
Other news from the DWF fraud team
The DWF fraud team held a Medical Experts as Enablers Conference in March this year. Over 90 participants attended DWF's offices in Birmingham and were treated to a Legal Fair discussing a range of issues from Psychological Injury Claims to Casualty Claims to Special Jurisdictions and much more.
They then heard from a range of experts in their fields from Accident Reconstruction, Psychology, Pain Medicine, data and legal experts on new trends to look out for, how to identify enablers of concern and how to evidence concerns before the judiciary including a range of successful case studies.
Hannah Bashforth, a Clinical Psychologist who presented at the conference said “it was a pleasure to attend the DWF Expert Enablers Conference in a professional capacity as a clinical psychologist to help educate insurers and solicitors in the additional challenges of assessment and diagnosis of PTSD in litigation settings."
The key takeaways from the conference were that DWF and their clients had caused significant disruption to a number of experts following their initial conference, but that further disruption was necessary in light of other enablers being willing to fill the void, an increase in OIC mixed injury claims, enablers sitting across product lines and an increase in automated and fabricated medical evidence.
The feedback from DWF's clients was overwhelmingly positive and DWF continue to be market leading in this space.’
Craig Budsworth, Head of Organised Fraud, Director
