Temple Garden Chambers is a leading common law set based in London and The Hague.
With excellence from top to bottom Chambers provides a first class service in a number of different fields.
Temple Garden Chambers is a leading common law set based in London and The Hague.
With excellence from top to bottom Chambers provides a first class service in a number of different fields.
03/11/2017
Edward Hutchin, instructed by Ryan Sweetnam of Keoghs solicitors, represented the successful Defendant and his insurers in this fraud case.
The Claimants, a mother and her 2 daughters, claimed damages for personal injuries allegedly sustained when the First Defendant reversed into the vehicle in which they were passengers in a car park. A defence was failed disputing liability, occupancy and causation. In particular, although the First Defendant accepted that his vehicle had come into contact with the Claimants’ vehicle, it was denied that the force of collision was capable of causing the alleged injuries, and it was therefore pleaded that the claims were fundamentally dishonest.
After a trial in Clerkenwell & Shoreditch County Court, involving oral evidence from the First Claimant and First Defendant, and expert engineering evidence, the claims were dismissed. The Judge held that the claims were fundamentally dishonest, relying in particular on photos taken by the First Defendant at the scene which were inconsistent with the extent of damage alleged by the Claimants, and referring in detail to the medical records of all the Claimants, which recorded that, contrary to their evidence, they were not injured in the accident as they claimed.
The claims were therefore dismissed, and an enforceable costs order made in favour of the Defendants. The Judge assessed costs on the indemnity basis, and awarded the Defendants the full costs claimed.
