A London taxi driver is to be prosecuted by insurance company Aviva after he falsely claimed loss of earnings whilst still working.
In what may be the first case of its kind, Aviva have been given permission to take Michael Seabrook to court after they asked private detectives to follow him when he claimed £52,000 in lost earnings. The claim was made following a car accident in 2006 which Mr Seabrook said had forced him into early retirement.
Aviva found, through the private detective, that he was still working and produced footage to the court. This led to his hoped for £52,000 being reduced to just £500 and he was also ordered to pay £3,000 in legal costs, leaving him with a net loss of £2,500. Now Aviva say that Mr Seabrook should also be sent to jail for contempt.
Aviva’s solicitor John Lezemore said that video footage had been taken of Mr Seabrook working over seven weeks and that the company was taking him to court “as a deterrent to others”, claiming that insurance fraud was “endemic”. He added: “The advent of accident management companies and no win no fee lawyers means that all fraudsters need to invest in their fraud is a day of their time at trial, if the case goes that far.” He added that even if they are exposed, “they merely walk away from the litigation unscathed”.
