I read that a Worcester taxi driver who brought a claim in personal injury as a result of a road traffic accident will not receive any compensation after a judge held that he was involved in a ‘cash for crash’ fraud. Mahmood Hussain, 37, alleged that he was driving his vehicle which included three passengers when a goatee-bearded driver collided with him.
Mr Hussain, claimed that the offending driver gave his name as Richard Jones and a home address in Timberline Avenue. The personal injury claim totalled approximately £15,000 in damages but Acromas Insurance repudiated the claim.
Mr Hussain’s claim collapsed at Worcester County Court in December 2012 when Judge Daniel Pearce-Higgins QC held that on the balance of probabilities Mr Jones, who could not be traced, had never existed and therefore the accident probably never occurred.
The three alleged passengers failed to provide evidence at court to support Mr Hussain, and there was expert engineering evidence which was inconsistent with Mr Hussain’s account of the accident.
The trial judge concluded: “I am satisfied that Mr Jones does not exist.” He added: “I am satisfied that he [Hussain] has been drawn into this conspiracy as a potential beneficiary, but in precisely what way I am not sure …
“The extent of his involvement in the conspiracy is not entirely clear but, for present purposes, I am satisfied, on balance … that there was not a genuine accident by Mr Hussain and it is not a genuine claim.”
While Mr Hussain recently lodged an application to appeal the decision, this has been denied based on the above.
If witnesses are not prepared to provide evidence and engineering evidence highlights inconsistencies with the damage caused etc, then on balance this claim would seem ingenuous.
By Barry Sutton, personal injury team
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