Video footage assists with fundamental dishonesty finding

CASE STUDY

The case

Our insurance client’s policyholder (the defendant) was stationary at red traffic lights behind the claimant’s vehicle.

Upon the lights changing to green, the claimant drove around the corner out of sight, before suddenly braking and coming to a complete stop.

This completely unnecessary act resulted in the defendant colliding with the rear of the claimant’s vehicle.

Given that there was no reason for the claimant to carry out this dangerous manoeuvre, the defendant decided to film the confrontation with the claimant that followed. The video evidence shows a dispute arising when the defendant questioned the four occupants of the claimant vehicle as to who was driving at the time.

No one was willing to take responsibility for being the driver, and they all refused to confirm whether they held a driving licence.

CASE STUDY

The outcome

At trial, the claimant was described by the judge as an “unimpressive witness” and was found to have provided false information to the credit hire company.

The judge described the defendant and their witness as “honest”, before accepting their evidence and concluding that whoever was driving the claimant’s vehicle at the time of the incident deliberately slammed on their brakes.

The judge made a finding of fundamental dishonesty against the claimant resulting in a saving of £23k for our insurance client, in addition to recovering over £6k in costs.

Imagin Shore from our Insurance Litigation team commented on this case:

“Alongside the video footage, there were numerous inconsistencies that arose throughout the process, as well as procedural breaches that further obstructed the claim. The outcome of this case is testament to the great results our specialist fraud team and credit hire teams regularly achieve for our insurance clients.”

Video footage assists with fundamental dishonesty finding

The case

The outcome

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