Aviva said that it has detected £250,000 worth of bogus injury claims made by passengers arising from a low-speed accident involving a double-decker “party bus.”
According to Aviva, most of the 46 party-goers en route to a local nightclub were unaware of the collision at the time, which occurred in September 2012. Aviva said that its policyholder, driving a Ford Fiesta, collided with the bus at less than 10 miles an hour, resulting in a mere £70 worth of damage to the bus.
Aviva said that all of the party-goers continued on to the nightclub without seeking medical attention, yet subsequently submitted 46 claims for whiplash injuries, totaling more than a quarter of a million pounds. Aviva said that it discovered the claim as part of an operation focusing on staged accidents involving buses and multiple claimants.
Tom Gardiner, head of fraud at Aviva, said, “This claim highlights the outrageous scale of whiplash fraud in the U.K. being driven by the current system, and which frankly has become a national disgrace. We believe our customers are fed up paying for spurious and fraudulent injury claims through their premiums and they expect us to defend these claims on their behalf.
“In this case, our customer described the impact as 'minimal' – neither he nor anything else inside his vehicle was moved by the impact. In fact, the only damage to his vehicle was a one-inch split on his bumper. Given this, and the £70 worth of damage to the bus, it was highly unlikely that such a minor bump could result in so many injuries.
“Despite evidence the claims were bogus, 21 of the 23 litigated claimants were still represented by just two firms of solicitors at trial, resulting in considerable legal costs being incurred. This also highlights the abuse of courts and the significant drain on public resources as a result of fraudulent claims.”
Aviva said that it currently has over 4,000 suspect whiplash claims linked to organized “cash for crash” claims, and that it had detected 19 percent more organized scams in 2015.
Aviva provides life insurance, general insurance, health insurance, and asset management to 34 million customers, across 16 markets worldwide. In the U.K., it serves one in every four households.
Victoria Spears
Victoria Prussen Spears is senior vice president of Meyerowitz Communications Inc., a law firm marketing communications consulting company. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and Brooklyn Law School, Ms. Spears was an attorney at a leading New York City law firm before joining Meyerowitz Communications. She may be contacted at [email protected].