Insurers have weaponised ‘fraud’

 

Insurers have used ‘fraud’ as an excuse to remove claimants’ rights to compensation for many years. This is despite the fact there is no evidence to suggest that there is as much fraud as the defendants make out or to warrant their approach.

 

This came to light again in the Gazette news story ‘Claimant lawyers have publicly attacked a defence firm over a delay’ (22 November) – in this case accusing them of dragging the client through an unnecessary court process, due to the assumption that anyone waiting just four months to make a claim must be fraudulent. 

 

The firms in question are Manchester-based Graham Coffey & Co Solicitors, which posted on LinkedIn that Horwich Farrelly had questioned the honesty of their client. For many years, insurers have pushed the boundaries on what constitutes a delayed claim. In the past, this was a ‘couple of years’ but now it appears to be only four months. As Graham Coffey & Co points out, many victims of accidents are wary of the legal system and this leads to delays in seeking help.

 

For defendant firms, this is all part of the business model, enabling them to justify their fees and to win work from insurers.

 

In fact, raising findings of fraud as a matter of course, such as in this instance, where claims match certain criteria that firms themselves set, means that many claimants are made to feel bullied into withdrawing legitimate claims.

 

In National Accident Helpline’s own survey, we found that 12% of the public said they would not claim if they suffered an injury due to ‘fears of lawyers or the legal system’. There need to be clearer consequences for raising such issues and a greater push on evidence of fraud when raised by defendants.

 

Given that the result of a finding of fraud or fundamental dishonesty is severe – claimants would have to pay both sides’ legal fees, which could bankrupt them, and also risk jail – all allegations should be used sparingly unless there is actual evidence.

 

This would help protect claimants and improve the experiences of those who need the personal injury sector.

 

John Kushnick

Legal operations director, National Accident Helpline, Kettering

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