Bureau promises to stamp out fraudulent insurance claims

The Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland will use all its investigative resources to help stamp out fraudulent insurance claims, the bureau’s chief executive David Fitzgerald said today.

The MIBI's declared war on unwarranted cases arising from suspicious traffic incidents follows the decision by Circuit Civil Court Judge Karen Fergus to throw out a €60,000 claim by Michael Robinson, Broadlough View, Greenhill Road, Wicklow.

Mr Robinson, a back seat passenger in a car driven by John Connors, Ocean View, Ballyguile, Wicklow, claimed his lower back had been injured when Mr Connors’s car struck a bridge between Rathdrum and Laragh in March 2015.

After forensic collision investigator Tony Kelly told the court that Mr Connors’s car had “been driven, rolled or manoeuvred” to its resting position after the crash, Judge Fergus dismissed the case.

She told barrister Conor Kearney, who appeared with solicitors Stephen MacKenzie and Co for the MIBI, that she did not believe Mr Robinson’s evidence that he and two others had sat in the car “and did not talk at all” for more than half an hour until gardaí­ arrived at the scene.

Judge Fergus said the crash had not happened in the manner in which the plaintiff said it had. The position of the vehicle was inconsistent with the position of the incident and the vehicle may have been moved afterwards.

“I found the plaintiff to be guarded and defensive and I find his evidence that he and others sat in complete silence in the vehicle for over half an hour to be unbelievable,” Judge Fergus said.

Judge Fergus said that when the investigating garda had arrived, he had taken photos on his own phone camera of the scene and the resting position of the vehicle.

“I wish to commend the actions of the garda for taking photos on his own camera and I wish this practice to be rolled out as a recommendation in the future,” Judge Fergus said.

She awarded the MIBI’s legal costs against Mr Robinson.

Following the case a statement on behalf of the Chief Executive of the MIBI, David Fitzgerald, was issued by Jimmy Healy, senior vice president of Teneo Strategy.