Press release -
False documentation at heart of dishonesty claim
A minor accident at a petrol station in 2017 turned into £150,000 personal injury claim resulting in a court case in 2023.
In 2017 an Allianz customer reversed from a closed pump at a petrol station and hit a third party vehicle, causing minor damage. Allianz accepted liability and repaired the vehicle.
Six months later, Allianz received a claim for personal injury from the third party, Mr Pritesh Ganatra from Northampton, for neck, mid and lower back injuries along with loss of earnings, travel expenses, physiotherapy and legal costs. After referral to Allianz’s claims validation team it was declined as a dishonest claim.
Court proceedings were then issued from Mr Ganatra where he claimed over £93,000 in loss of earnings. Despite Allianz stating that the claim was fraudulent and at odds with the damage caused to the vehicle, Mr Ganatra produced documents in support of his loss of earnings claim. Allianz believed the documents to be fabricated and instructed their solicitors, Keoghs, to investigate and defend the claim.
As part of the investigations Keoghs obtained a Court Order for the extensive disclosure of documents relevant to the loss of earnings claim. The documents in both Allianz and Keoghs view supported the fact that the loss of earnings claim was false.
Both the driver and Mr Ganatra gave evidence at Northampton County Court in October 2023, where the court found Mr Ganatra was not injured in the low speed collision and that the documents used for his loss of earnings claim were falsified.
Ruling that the claim was fundamentally dishonest, the claimant was ordered to pay an initial £20,000 towards Allianz legal costs with the outstanding costs to be agreed in due course.
James Burge, head of counter fraud, Allianz Commercial said: “We’ve seen an increase in fundamental dishonesty findings, with fraudsters exaggerating events for financial gain. This case demonstrates the continued work of the teams across Allianz and Keoghs and the zero tolerance approach that Allianz takes.”
Nigel Parker, Associate Solicitor at Keoghs LLP added: “All too often claims of this nature are successful. It is critically important that these type of claims are fully investigated and that claimants learn that they cannot lie and get paid out. This is a fantastic result for Allianz and Keoghs and shows the benefit of working together to get the right result”.
Topics
Regions
About Allianz Holdings plc
Allianz Holdings plc is the non-regulated holding company which owns the principal insurance operations of Allianz SE in Great Britain including Allianz Insurance
About Allianz
**As of March 31, 2023
***As reported – not adjusted to reflect the application of IFRS 9 and IFRS 17.
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This document includes forward-looking statements, such as prospects or expectations, that are based on management's current views and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance figures, or events may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Deviations may arise due to changes in factors including, but not limited to, the following: (i) the general economic and competitive situation in the Allianz Group's core business and core markets, (ii) the performance of financial markets (in particular market volatility, liquidity, and credit events), (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including those resulting from natural catastrophes, and the development of loss expenses, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) particularly in the banking business, the extent of credit defaults, (vii) interest rate levels, (viii) currency exchange rates, most notably the EUR/USD exchange rate, (ix) changes in laws and regulations, including tax regulations, (x) the impact of acquisitions including and related integration issues and reorganization measures, and (xi) the general competitive conditions that, in each individual case, apply at a local, regional, national, and/or global level. Many of these changes can be exacerbated by terrorist activities.
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