Fraudster behind bars after contempt of court ruling

Keoghs & LV= General Insurance (LV= GI) secure committal of immediate imprisonment for claimant who impersonated grandmother

In the recent case Hall v LV=GI, a false personal injury claim led to a sentence of five months imprisonment for claimant, Robert Hall, after he made false statements on three documents.

This was the headline case of an ongoing strategy by Keoghs and LV= GI against a claims farming operation which resulted in over 100 claims being defeated in litigation.

Background

Keoghs were instructed by LV= GI to help deal with the issue of claims farming, specifically in relation to accident management company, Complete Claims Solutions Limited, who were providing claims to LA Law. In excess of 100 claims were defeated in litigation via discontinuance, strike out, dismissal at trial or findings of fundamental dishonesty. Over 700 claims were identified and a bespoke strategy was set to deal with pre-litigated and litigated claims. The work undertaken resulted in an MOJ investigation into Complete Claims Solutions Limited whilst LA Law went into administration.

The case

One of the cases investigated involved a former employee of Complete Claims Solutions, Robert Hall, who pursued a claim for personal injury following an accident, despite not being in the relevant vehicle, by having someone impersonate his grandmother when calling LV= GI.

Hall then submitted a claims notification form, a claim form, and a particulars of claim all of which were verified by a statement of truth signed on his behalf. These documents alleged that he was a passenger in the car and suffered injuries as a result.

Investigations uncovered two independent witnesses who confirmed that Hall was not in the car at the time of the accident and, combined with the fact it became obvious he impersonated his grandmother, LV= GI and Keoghs decided to issue a defence that Hall’s claim was dishonest.

Hall then stopped actively pursuing the claim, although it was not discontinued. After a year and a half of orders being made, the court was required to strike out the claim.

Judgment

It was at this point LV= GI and Keoghs decided to proceed to trial, with Temple Chambers being instructed as counsel.

The claim was subsequently found to be in contempt and, as well as a five month prison sentence, Hall was ordered to pay the full amount of LV= GI’s costs, totalling over £21,000.

In sentencing, Judge Rowena Collins-Rice highlighted the gravity of drawing in the justice system by making false assertions in documents backed by statements of truth, which wastes court resources and negatively impacts genuine litigants.

Keoghs Partner heading up the case, Ben Leech, said;

“This is a great result for our team and LV= GI who have worked incredibly hard on the ongoing strategy related to this claim and many others. The downfall of a prolific claims farming operation along with the committal re-affirm the position that those telling lies undermine the civil justice system and will face custodial sentences.”

LV= General Insurance Complex & Organised Crime Manager, Matt Crabtree, said:

“Cold callers and claims farmers are a real nuisance for our customers as well as the industry. Working with Keoghs not only have we managed to successfully defend a large number of claims which were made against LV= GI but we have also managed to secure a prison sentence for one of the people making the calls.

This was a very lengthy and detailed investigation but demonstrates the lengths we will go to disrupt the activity and push for the harshest possible penalties where we identity fraud.”