Time for a quick scout around the web to find some insurance related crime/fraud news for you;
KENT
Maidstone Crown Court heard the case of Stephen Balcombe, who worked as an insurance broker with Allianz Music Insurance, which specialises in insurance musical instruments. Balcombe used a fake invoice system to defraud about £107,000 which he spent on gambling. He is now working outside the industry and does work with Breakeven a gambling addiction charity. More here.
RED CARD
A keen amateur footballer put in a claim to Aviva for £55K after his foot was injured in a car crash. However Callum Saunders was seen on Sky Sports, putting away a neat goal and that kinda blew the whistle on his little game. We could continue with the football puns, but we shall let you read them on the Mirror site instead.
THE LONG TERM EFFECTS OF FRAUD
It is often seen a victimless crime, but insurance fraud can cause huge disruption to people’s lives, or put their lives at risk. There wa sa good catch-up piece in the Wirral Globe, which looked at the effects of Pascal Blasio’s home-made bomb, which caused half a street to be blown away, just so he could make a fake claim on his shop.
Some residents spent two years in temporary accommodation, houses were demolished and the Council is still putting together a re-development plan to rebuild the are some 4 years after the blast. Luckily nobody was killed but 81 people sustained injuries.
JAIL TIME FOR FAKE INJURY CLAIMANT
Mohammed Yaqub Kabil was jailed recently, after finally admitting lying for six years and making the false claim against Walsall Council. Kabil claimed that he suffered a knee injury when he slipped, tripped and fell due to a defect on a dropped kerb near his house on Old Park Road, Wednesbury, in 2015.
Kabil thought he would try his luck, reports the Express & Star, and lodged a claim to Walsall Council three months after the alleged incident happened, seeking £55,000 made up of care fees, lost income and travel expenses. However, the local authority contested the claim and eventually a judge ruled in the council’s favour.
Judge Philip Gregory described Kabil as “a man so lacking in credibility that it is impossible to know what to believe” who was “wholly incapable of giving a clear account of how he came to fall”. He also received a sentence for contempt, as he failed to turn up for a previous hearing. He received just three months prison sentence and the council has yet to recover any legal costs from Kabil.
St John’s Chambers acted for the council in the case by the way.
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