A passenger travelling with First West Yorkshire has been ordered to repay £4,656 in legal costs, after being found guilty of making a bogus personal injury claim against the operator.
The claimant, named by FirstGroup as Mr A Crook from Leeds, allegedly claimed he’d suffered neck and shoulder injuries, sustained when the bus he was travelling on clipped a stationary car.
Mr Crook had attempted to take legal action against the operator, however when the case went to court a series of inconsistencies in his story emerged.
Initially citing damage to his neck, the claimant changed his version of events, telling a court that he had also suffered shoulder problems.ook also fabricated a story of how he was jolted by the bus, which was later disproven by on-board CCTV.
Simon Robinson, Head of Claims at FirstGroup, said: “When we reviewed the CCTV footage, it was quite clear that no passengers were jolted during the incident and, in fact, Mr Crook didn’t even appear to be aware of the collision until he was told by another passenger.
“These types of bogus claims, which are more regular than you might think, can often take a lengthy period of time to disprove. Thankfully our researchers were able to quickly reveal the inconsistencies in his version of events and we will not hesitate to use these methods to expose anyone else attempting to try something similar.”
Mark Hudson, Head of Counter Fraud at Horwich Farrelly, defended the claim on behalf of FirstGroup. He added: “The claimant in this case was clearly a chancer as the CCTV evidence proved beyond any doubt that Mr Crook could not have possibly suffered any injuries from what was an extremely minor incident. It’s quite right that courts take a hard line against dishonest individuals like Mr Crook and hit them where it hurts – in their wallet.”
Presiding over the case at Leeds County Court, Judge Saffman dismissed Crook’s claim, finding it to be fundamentally dishonest.
