Fraud case struck out as court dismisses three phantom claims

Posted: 13 August 2019

A driver’s claim and three phantom claims have been struck out by a court, following an investigation by Allianz and DAC Beachcroft, which found that the driver had supported fraudulent claims.

Following a motor accident in May 2016, Allianz received four personal injury claims from the third party driver, a passenger and two children. Allianz’s insured had accepted liability for hitting a vehicle but already confirmed that the male driver was alone in the car.

Due to the inconsistent version of events, Allianz’s claims validation team investigated the case further. After speaking again to the insured, it was confirmed that nobody else got out of the vehicle at the scene of the accident and the driver recalled that he could see every seat in the vehicle.

Despite outlining concerns to the claimant solicitor, Allianz then received medical evidence detailing that the driver was accompanied by his ex-partner and two children, who were rear seat passengers.

Allianz also confirmed with the third party insurer that during the original call recording with the claimant, no injuries were reported and there were no other passengers involved. Based on the evidence, Allianz instructed DAC Beachcroft to file a defence pleading fraud and fundamental dishonesty.

At the trial, which took place at the end of July, the driver’s ex-partner and children were not present and the Judge stated that there was no good reason for them not to attend court. The judge said that she believed the reason they chose not to turn up was that they didn’t want to be cross examined, questioning the credibility to this claim.

The judge concluded that the driver was alone at the time of the collision and would have been compensated in excess of £5,000 had he not lied about the circumstances.

Instead the judge ordered the man to pay back costs at over £29,000.

James Burge, fraud manager, Allianz Insurance said: 

“Working together with specialists such as DAC Beachcroft demonstrates our ongoing commitment to challenging and tackling insurance fraud.

“I’m really pleased that the right outcome was achieved. Unfortunately cases like these are not uncommon and this case goes to show that we are still determined to combat exaggerated and fictitious claims and continue to protect our genuine customers".

Georgia Court, Partner at DAC Beachcroft said,

“The defence of the claim was successful due to the robust approach taken by Allianz and support they gave their customer, whose evidence was crucial. This case demonstrates that, even if part of a claim is genuine, all of it will be dismissed if any fraud is found, which happened here because the claimant supported the bogus passenger claims.”


The information contained in this press release relates to Allianz Insurance plc. Allianz Insurance plc is one of the largest general insurers in the UK and part of the Allianz Group.

About Allianz Holdings plc

Allianz Holdings plc is the non-regulated holding company which owns the principal insurance operations of Allianz SE in Great Britain.

About Allianz

The Allianz Group is one of the world's leading insurers and asset managers with more than 100 million* private and corporate customers in more than 70 countries. Allianz customers benefit from a broad range of personal and corporate insurance services, ranging from property, life and health insurance to assistance services to credit insurance and global business insurance. Allianz is one of the world’s largest investors, managing 790 billion euros on behalf of its insurance customers. Furthermore, our asset managers PIMCO and Allianz Global Investors manage 1.7 trillion euros of third-party assets. Thanks to our systematic integration of ecological and social criteria in our business processes and investment decisions, we are amongst the leaders in the insurance industry in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index. In 2021, over 150,000 employees achieved total revenues of 148.5 billion euros and an operating profit of 13.4 billion euros for the group.

These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided below. 

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This document includes forward-looking statements, such as prospects or expectations, that are based on management's current views and assumptions and subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Actual results, performance figures, or events may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Deviations may arise due to changes in factors including, but not limited to, the following: (i) the general economic and competitive situation in the Allianz Group's core business and core markets, (ii) the performance of financial markets (in particular market volatility, liquidity, and credit events), (iii) the frequency and severity of insured loss events, including those resulting from natural catastrophes, and the development of loss expenses, (iv) mortality and morbidity levels and trends, (v) persistency levels, (vi) particularly in the banking business, the extent of credit defaults, (vii) interest rate levels, (viii) currency exchange rates, most notably the EUR/USD exchange rate, (ix) changes in laws and regulations, including tax regulations, (x) the impact of acquisitions including and related integration issues and reorganization measures, and (xi) the general competitive conditions that, in each individual case, apply at a local, regional, national, and/or global level. Many of these changes can be exacerbated by terrorist activities.

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Charlotte Stretton
Media Relations Officer
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