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Man jailed after £2.3m insurance fraud attempt

Posted on 13/12/11, filed under Fresh News | No Comments

A man who exaggerated his injuries and attempted to claim £2.3m in compensation has been jailed for four months by the Royal Courts of Justice after his deception was uncovered and he was found in contempt of court.

Michael Richards, 31, was involved in a car accident in 2004 in Milton Keynes which resulted in two deaths. According to the Motor Insurers' Bureau (MIB) he subsequently attempted to mislead medical and legal professionals and the MIB about the scale and nature of his head and orthopaedic injuries in an attempt to claim £2.3m in compensation from the MIB.

His sister Serina Richards was also sentenced to 14 days in prison and Mr Richards' foster father, Terence Bassnett, received a 14 day sentence suspended for six months for their roles in the attempted fraud.

Ashton West, chief executive at MIB, said: "MIB is a not for profit organisation that exists to support genuine claims from innocent victims that have sustained injuries caused by uninsured or untraced drivers.

"The attempt to claim money under false pretences was one driven by greed. This judgement sends a strong message that MIB, the insurance industry, courts and public will not tolerate false or fraudulent claims and these cases will be pursued with vigour."

 

Fraudulent Insurance Claims

Posted on 06/12/11, filed under Fresh News | No Comments

Recent research shows that 46% of consumers believe that exaggerating an insurance claim is NOT insurance fraud. With Christmas fast-approaching and putting a strain on already tight budgets, this type of fraud is likely to increase.

We would be very interested to hear your views, opinions and maybe your past experiences on this subject so feel free to respond to this Blog.

BIG BROTHER coming to a VEHICLE near you….

Posted on 10/11/11, filed under Fresh News | No Comments

BMW plans to pre-install "black box" technology in all new cars by 2015. A knock-on effect may result with other manufacturers following suit in the future.

The GPS companies could then download the data from the boxes and pass it on to insurance companies to assess driver behavior and rate insurance premiums accordingly. Whilst some drivers will recognise obvious benefits to this type of system, particularly younger drivers where premiums are horrendously expensive, others may feel that this is over-intrusive monitoring by insurers.

As well as overall driving speed, the type of information that insurers may be able to monitor include rate of acceleration, braking intensity and cornering characteristics. Location and time would also be relevant risk factors.

We would be most interested in any comments or views you may have on this subject.