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Rogue Claimers - Season 2 Episode 1
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00:06Insurance fraud has reached epidemic levels in the UK.
00:09It's costing us more than £1.3 billion every year.
00:13That's almost £3.6 million every day.
00:17Deliberate crashes, bogus personal injuries, even phantom pets.
00:23The fraudsters are risking more and more to make a quick killing.
00:27And every year, it's adding around £50 to your insurance bill.
00:31But insurers are fighting back, exposing just under 15 fake claims every hour.
00:37Armed with the latest fraud-busting technology.
00:40It's a subject out of the vehicle.
00:42Including covert surveillance systems, sophisticated data analysis techniques
00:47and specially trained fraud investigators.
00:50Oh, they're catching these chances red-handed.
00:54Instead of getting away with it, even more of these fraudsters are getting caught out.
01:00This is Rogue Claimers.
01:09Today, an amateur detective turns the tables on scammers who've used him in a crash for cash.
01:17The car accident seems to be fraudulent.
01:21Two vehicles involved and they are directly linked to people that are outside the same house.
01:27Trying it on in Turkey, CCTV reveals the man throwing shapes round the pool
01:32when he claimed to be throwing up.
01:34At the time, the claimants were apparently bed-bound.
01:37Father was dancing by the pool and apparently had no ill symptoms whatsoever.
01:40And a heartbreaking story of stolen medals.
01:44The worst part of it was the button for medals.
01:47You see how the state is losing my medals, I am.
01:51You won't get that back.
01:52But is the soldier claiming to have lost the medals who he says he is?
02:04Roundabouts.
02:05Some parts of the country have lots of them.
02:10And they can be tricky to manoeuvre.
02:12Slowing traffic, impatient drivers.
02:16These complicated spots are also used by some unscrupulous motorists
02:21who see them as the perfect cover for staged crashes.
02:26They are known as crash for cash scams.
02:28And legal firm DWF is well versed in the tactics used.
02:33A claimant deliberately slams his brakes in front of an innocent victim
02:37with the sole purpose to cause what they would think is a very straightforward road traffic accident
02:42so they can get some compensation.
02:45And there are variations on these scams like using a third car as a decoy.
02:53First, the gang choose a victim.
02:55Then they move their two cars into position in front of the target.
02:59Gang car number one then slams on its brakes.
03:02Gang car number two reacts by braking hard resulting in a rear end shunt from the victim.
03:08Gang car one drives off pretending to be unaware of the crash.
03:17The next case involves such a scenario at a roundabout in Bradford.
03:26The insurer, Marcus Study, was taken aback when one victim turned detective on scammers.
03:34A policy holder entered a roundabout behind two third-party vehicles.
03:38One of those vehicles undertook the other causing it to slam its brakes on.
03:43Aaron Short was unfortunately unable to stop in time and hit the rear of that third-party vehicle.
03:51The other car then drove off.
03:55By chance, the distinguishing features of that car had been noticed by the policy holder prior to the prank.
04:02It was a Toyota Avensis and he remembered it because it had a similar registration to that of his own.
04:08The policy holder and the driver of the vehicle that he hit stopped and exchanged details at the scene of
04:15the accident.
04:15Our policy holder became suspicious when exchanging details with the third-party driver.
04:21The third-party driver began writing his own address on an envelope that he had with him.
04:26But it was an address in Nottingham.
04:29The policy holder noticed that the letter within that envelope actually had an address for the third party in Bradford.
04:37The third party became a little agitated when Aaron Short said that he noticed the discrepancy
04:44and insisted on writing down the address in Bradford.
04:49And the third party became very upset at that and ended up driving off.
04:54Why did the driver hit a roundabout bolt?
04:57The man who bashed into him had a possible explanation.
05:03He reflected upon the accident circumstances, wondering if perhaps it had been a staged event rather than a fortuitous accident.
05:14It did bear the hallmarks of a crash for cash scam and the policy holder wasn't keen to be due.
05:19The policy holder took it upon himself to drive to the address in Bradford.
05:26At which point he found that the decoy vehicle, the third-party vehicle that had left the scene initially,
05:33was actually parked up outside that address.
05:36How about that?
05:38He decided to phone his insurer to report the incident and to outline his growing concerns.
05:46During that call, he noticed that the other third-party vehicle actually arrived at the scene as well.
05:54This was the Astra driver he'd hit.
05:57Both this and the Avensis, with the memorable number plate in the same street at the same time.
06:02Not only that, it was clear the two drivers knew each other well, as they chatted and laughed.
06:08So it was that point that he then decided to telephone and report the matter to the police.
06:15Police up for emergency.
06:17Hello there, I'm really sorry if I'm wasting your time.
06:20I've been involved in a car accident.
06:22Nobody's hurt, although the car accident seems to be fraudulent.
06:28I've basically followed the person home.
06:31There was two vehicles involved and they had directly involved outside the same house.
06:36They were very suspicious about their details.
06:38They gave me an address in Nottingham for his address.
06:42Whilst he was writing it on a piece of paper, he had a different address on a headed piece of
06:47paper.
06:48It actually led me to an address in Bradford, which both vehicles involved in the parking outside.
06:54So they're actually talking to each other, sort of laughing and joking.
06:57The policyholder gave us and the police the registration numbers of both vehicles involved.
07:02And he gave us both the address in Bradford that he attended and saw these vehicles
07:07and the address in Nottingham that the third party driver attempted to give him at the scene of the accident.
07:14Amazingly, the investigation into a possible fraud had already begun, even before any claim had been made.
07:21Eventually, it came through from the driver.
07:26He was claiming for the damage to his vehicle and associated credit hire charges.
07:31He was also alleging that he suffered a whiplash type injury and was claiming for that as well.
07:38The cost of his claim, had we paid it, would have been around £9,000 in total.
07:43Notice the had we paid it.
07:46At that point, we decided to pass the claim to DWF solicitors and we asked them to investigate the matter
07:53on our behalf.
07:54Because the policyholders' evidence went way beyond the usual witness statement in a case like this,
08:00Marcus Studi wanted to be sure it would stand up in court.
08:04So we got a barrister involved really early on in the case and we interviewed the policyholder about the facts.
08:11So we can see how strong his evidence is.
08:13The verdict? Strong.
08:15Immediately after the conference, we issued proceedings against the claimant.
08:21The eyewitness evidence of apparent conspiracy between the drivers of both cars involved in the incident was a real coup
08:28for DWF.
08:29It's extremely rare that we would choose to issue proceedings against someone like this.
08:34But because of what happened, we felt that we could prove that the person driving the Astra actually deliberately caused
08:41this accident.
08:43But it appeared news of the damning evidence against him hadn't reached this fraudster.
08:48The claimant actually filed a counterclaim alleging that this was a genuine accident and that he wanted compensating.
08:57The fraudulent claimer had no shame.
08:59But if DWF could identify who was at the wheel of the events and link them, then their defence would
09:05start to crumble.
09:07And at trial, the target of the scam would be able to back up his version of events with hard
09:12evidence.
09:14We didn't know who the driver of the events was at first.
09:18But when we looked through DVLA records, we found the address that it was registered to.
09:25They were able to show that those two people were father and son.
09:29A very cosy collusion.
09:32With this new information, DWF conducted a claims history search and the results were gold dust for Marcus Studi's case.
09:40The address was linked to a number of other suspicious claims that were being investigated by other insurance companies.
09:48So it seemed to be linked to some sort of organised fraud activity.
09:52Some of those previous claims actually included alleged accidents that occurred at the same roundabout that we had here.
10:00The evidence played out. Everything fell into place like a jigsaw.
10:05But the road to justice through the courts was a long and difficult one.
10:10There were numerous stages to this case, which involved four trials.
10:14We ended up going to the High Court.
10:17Eventually, in June 2019, Lord Justice Dingman sentenced these guys to a total of 12 months in prison.
10:30A custodial sentence, all for the sake of a £9,000 claim.
10:35But there's a reason for the stiff penalty.
10:38Slamming on your brakes in front of an innocent motorist is inherently dangerous.
10:41And that sentence handed down by the court is a clear message that they won't tolerate this kind of behaviour.
10:48The plucky target in this case managed to turn the tables and collect enough information to send these chances down.
10:56In my experience, this is a unique case in the sense that the decoy driver was actually identified and prosecuted.
11:04In most cases, we don't usually even get to find out who they were.
11:08The way that he insured, took matters into his own hands is extremely unusual.
11:13And I've not seen it before.
11:14I'd be surprised if I see it again.
11:23Later, a prisoner slips up when he chances his luck with a wet floor.
11:28The CCTV evidence was absolutely compelling and we were lucky to have it.
11:41Jetting off to the sun, there's excitement and anticipation.
11:45The last thing anyone wants is a spanner in the works.
11:49Whilst insurance can help cover financial issues, disappointment is not so easy to make up for.
11:55Legal firm Horwich Farrelly is used by insurers to deal with claims.
12:01However, as the following case demonstrates, investigators will exploit all resources available to get to the truth if they suspect
12:09foul play.
12:10We were instructed to investigate a number of claims that were brought by a family after a stay in a
12:16hotel based in Turkey.
12:22The claim forms told of the kind of holiday nightmare we all dread.
12:28They'd suffered from a bout of food poisoning for a number of days because of the food and drink that
12:33they consumed in the hotel.
12:36Not ideal. And it sounds extremely unpleasant.
12:40All of the claimants put forward claims with pretty significant symptoms.
12:44The two adults claimed that they were bed bound and had soiled the bed.
12:46And the children had done the same in the pool as well.
12:52Because of the severity of the symptoms that the claimants were saying they suffered from, the claims were potentially worth
12:57tens of thousands of pounds.
13:01Any illness like this can test your dignity, but suspicions were aroused by loose chat over cocktails.
13:09During the claimants' stay at the hotel, some of the guests had overheard them at the bar claiming that they
13:14were going to bring claims for compensation when they returned to the UK and had done so before in the
13:19past.
13:20Holiday makers with form? Not what any hotel wants to experience.
13:25The management made the staff aware of these particular claimants and made sure that all CCTV footage was stored and
13:32kept safely in the event that the claims were presented in the future.
13:36Once the claim came in, the insurers appointed Horwich Farrelly to look into the case.
13:42Its first line of inquiry was the hotel, who turned over some explosive evidence.
13:48CCTV footage. At the time, the claimants were apparently bed bound.
13:52Father was dancing by the pool and apparently had no symptoms whatsoever.
14:02He is clearly throwing shapes, not throwing up.
14:07Forget bed bound, he is displaying boundless energy.
14:10Hardly the actions of a man who can barely leave the bathroom.
14:15And the whole family is seen leaving their room to go on a trip.
14:30Perhaps it's the one the father was booking here at reception.
14:35And if they were incapable of venturing out, then why are they spotted returning?
14:45Whilst the evidence offered a compelling case against the claim, Horwich Farrelly wanted to carry out further investigations back home.
14:53So, it went online.
14:58We discovered that one of the claimants had actually posted on his return back to the UK to say what
15:03a fantastic holiday he had.
15:05We found one post that showed the two of the claimants out.
15:09One of the claimants actually had a parrot on his shoulder and apparently suffering from no ill effects whatsoever.
15:18But he'd underestimated the beady eyes that are on us for much of the time.
15:24We presented all of this evidence to the claimants and initially they disputed it, but we were confident that we
15:29had enough to take matters further.
15:31To sue them for damages and costs and to also pursue a declaration that the claimants were presenting fraudulent claims.
15:39Based on the evidence presented, the judge decided there was enough there for the claimants to pay around £30,000
15:46in damages and costs.
15:49He also found that the claimants had brought fraudulent claims.
15:54Certain types of insurance scam go in and out of fashion and this case was bang on trend.
16:00At the time these claims were presented, it had been reported that there had been a 500% increase in
16:06holiday sickness claims.
16:08So it was extremely important for us to tackle that problem.
16:11The turkey twosome may not try this again.
16:14Most likely they're sick as parrots that their seedy scam was spotted.
16:28The United States has a very different healthcare system to ours.
16:33There, millions of people rely on insurance to cover medical issues.
16:38But in Rancho Mirage, California, one practice has been violating guidelines.
16:44Millions of dollars have been siphoned off and some patients have endured unnecessary and substandard surgery leading to life-changing
16:52injuries.
16:53All to line the pockets of a man whose greed knew no bounds, according to a judge.
17:03David Morrow, a cosmetic surgeon and dermatologist, was the owner of the Morrow Institute.
17:09A successful doctor, he owned multiple million dollar homes.
17:14Funding this luxurious lifestyle came at the expense of his patients, who he pressured to undergo procedures and treatments they
17:22didn't need, so they could be billed to insurance.
17:28Over five years, Dr. Morrow claimed millions of dollars for procedures he certified as medically necessary.
17:35But in reality, what had been carried out were cosmetic procedures like tummy tucks and nose jobs.
17:46He doctored medical records to hide the cosmetic nature of the procedures by handwriting over the original text.
17:54Here, the words umbilical and ventral hernias have covered the original text, which said abdominoplasty.
18:03These procedures would have received a medical insurance payout, but the abdominoplasty, which is a tummy tuck, would not.
18:12He also tampered with documents, inserting blank white boxes to conceal the cosmetic procedures he was billing.
18:21Morrow blatantly used his clients, faking testimonials.
18:27This was rejected outright by the angry patient.
18:36Ten patients suffered injury as a result of Morrow's offences.
18:40Some were actually disfigured and some had procedures performed without them giving consent.
18:46One woman was not told prior to surgery that she was to have a piece of cartilage removed from her
18:52ear to her nose.
18:55Now, she can no longer blow her nose normally.
19:00Another victim was left with a virus which left a hole in her stomach, which took four months to recover.
19:07A man had to go back into the Morrow Institute to have his nose flap glued back on.
19:14Morrow's was an abuse of trust on a massive scale.
19:19At least seven insurance companies were affected by the sheer scale of Morrow's actions.
19:26Morrow and the Institute submitted more than $80 million of claims and insurance companies made payouts of more than $20
19:34million to him and the clinic.
19:36The doctor also failed to report more than $1.5 million on his tax returns.
19:43But his spree was not to last.
19:50His criminal activity spanned from at least 2007 until March 2011 when there was a search of his premises and
19:58hard drives by the FBI and the California Department of Insurance.
20:03This led to a five-year investigation.
20:06Ninety witnesses were interviewed.
20:11Morrow pleaded guilty in March 2016, but instead of facing the music, he fled the country in spring 2017.
20:20Before he disappeared, he managed to sell his Beverly Hills home for more than $9.5 million and concealed the
20:28sale.
20:28In his absence, he was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment.
20:33He's since been discovered in Israel and has been extradited to the United States, where he's now serving his sentence.
20:41The judge said he showed an utter disregard for patience, well-being and safety.
20:47Victim Michelle Bee put it best in her written victim impact statement to the court.
20:52David Morrow is a money-hungry, pride-filled, unprincipled man with no concern for the welfare of other human beings
21:01and has taken advantage of hundreds of women in his singular goal of gaining wealth.
21:08For the victims, it's likely no punishment could go far enough, but David Morrow's medical license has been revoked.
21:17They'll be relieved he could no longer practice.
21:27Still to come, fur flies as a woman claiming she's had her pedigree cat stolen is caught out.
21:34Yes, no, she has been.
21:36So, why would you put her on Facebook that she's been found?
21:48Burglars will seek out trinkets, watches and rings.
21:53Gifts or bequests from loved ones that hold sentimental value could be lost forever.
21:59LMG jewellery is brought in by insurance companies to manage claims including valuables.
22:04The following case involves some items that were literally fought for.
22:09An ex-soldier was targeted by thieves just before Christmas, but his honour was questionable.
22:16The customer advised us that he'd suffered a burglary one evening between 6pm and midnight whilst he was out at
22:21an army reunion.
22:22There was a break-in to the rear of the property where a large quantity of jewellery, his army medals,
22:27clothes and cash were stolen.
22:29We've been appointed to take some details on the claim.
22:32Yes, go on.
22:33The first item we've got is these, sort of, seven or eight medals that have been taken from you.
22:39Yeah, yeah, my little medals, yeah.
22:42Were they inherited or did you buy them?
22:44No, no, I bought them for myself, I have.
22:48Were there any particular medals, any specific ones there?
22:51Yeah, Northern Ireland was there, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghan, Jubilee, two Jubilees.
23:01So that's all service medals were there, yeah.
23:05This was a man who'd seen some action, and he must have been gutted his awards for bravery had been
23:11taken.
23:12These, along with the other items, made this a significant claim.
23:15The claims we deal with, burglary is on average around £15,000 per claim.
23:21So this one, £40,000 minimum, this was a high value claim.
23:26The burglary had been reported to the police, and the property had been boarded up.
23:32Initially, there was no reason to doubt that the customer hadn't suffered a genuine burglary.
23:36However, the value of the items meant that we looked into it a little bit more closely than we would
23:42do with a lower value claim.
23:44You've got your Breitling watch.
23:47Breitling watch, yeah.
23:48Where did you buy it? Was it on eBay or something?
23:51Yes.
23:52And how much did you spend on it?
23:55I bought it for a boat.
23:57See, five and a half.
23:59And that would have been like a debit, credit card purchase, was it?
24:03Yeah.
24:04Have you still got the box or any of the documents?
24:08No.
24:09I've still got the case that's in.
24:12Mm-hmm.
24:13I've still got two cases, one for a tag watch and one for a Bifling watch.
24:19Mm-hmm.
24:21And any sort of certificate with its number on?
24:24No, I have a certificate, no.
24:27OK.
24:28The ex-soldier doesn't sound like he has much to support his claim.
24:33Right, then we've got your tag watch, your tag Hoya watch.
24:37Yeah.
24:38And how old is this piece? What sort of age is that?
24:41Two years old.
24:43And did you buy that one yourself again?
24:45Yeah.
24:46Was that a new or a second-hand model?
24:48Second-hand that one.
24:49And how much did you spend on that one?
24:52Three thousand.
24:53Was that on eBay again?
24:55Yeah.
24:56Then we've got a 24-inch chain.
24:59How old is this piece? What sort of age is that?
25:01That was about a year. Yeah.
25:07Well, you see, when I left the army, the only thing I could put my money in was gold, basically.
25:13Well, that's what I did it for, see.
25:14Did you buy this one on eBay as well, this one?
25:17No.
25:19Cash, personal.
25:20Was it a particular dealer or a friend?
25:23Dealer.
25:23How much did you spend on that one?
25:25About 10,000.
25:2710,000 pounds.
25:29Yeah.
25:30Yeah.
25:30I've got all the receipts, because all my receipts within my safe.
25:33They're still in the safe, are they, and still in the receipts, yeah?
25:37Yeah, everything, yeah.
25:38My safe's gone.
25:39The worst part of all, everybody's got medals.
25:42Indeed, absolutely.
25:43Yeah, the state is with my medals, I am.
25:46She won't get that back.
25:47However heart-rending the story, LMG still had to check the facts.
25:52When we asked further questions and saw some of the paperwork that was submitted, our suspicions were aroused.
25:58Digital photos are very useful, as the data contained within them shows where and when they were taken.
26:05In this case, the ex-soldier's snaps were very revealing.
26:08The data on these photographs were concerning mainly because of the time they were taken.
26:15When we looked at the date properties, they'd all been taken within a half an hour window in the evening
26:20of the day before the burglary.
26:23Very convenient, but in LMG's experience, definitely fishy.
26:28When we normally receive photographs from various occasions, they're spread over months or years from when they were taken.
26:36The fact these were all taken on the same evening raised concerns.
26:40It's not something you'd normally expect to see.
26:43The photographs that were sent in show the customer at home playing games, consoles,
26:48but with no obvious reason why the photo had been taken.
26:51They just looked slightly unnatural.
26:53That led us to believe that they'd been staged for the purpose of submitting the claim itself.
26:59Alarm bells were going off, and the file was passed on to LMG's technical department,
27:03which scrutinises claims in more detail and asks searching questions.
27:09Hi, I'm at LMG Jewelry about your claim. Is it all right to talk for a moment?
27:13Yeah, yeah, certainly.
27:14Looking at some of these items, they're not very old.
27:18For example, your Breitling, your Tag Heuer, they were both purchased from eBay.
27:25Can you get us copies of the purchase details for those?
27:30I've got nothing, love. I've got nothing at all.
27:32I've been trying to get everything for you, but I've got nothing.
27:35If you log into eBay, you'll be able to get it from there.
27:38Yeah. Okay. I will have a look.
27:41At the moment, we won't be able to value those two items until we've seen proof of purchase.
27:48The fact these had been bought online would mean they'd have to be bought using a card.
27:53There'd be a statement to show transactions, even if they didn't provide detail.
27:57They'd provide proof that a purchase had been made and these were never sent to us.
28:02The claimant is not inspiring confidence, and as the call progresses, it's clear his responses are vague to say the
28:09least.
28:12The jeweller dealer that you deal with, who is that? Because you've bought quite a number of pieces off of
28:18him according to this information.
28:20Yeah.
28:21Is he still dealing in jewellery?
28:23No.
28:23Yeah.
28:24And where did he sell from?
28:27His house.
28:29Okay. Have you got a contact number for him?
28:32I can get it.
28:33If you wouldn't mind, because we may need to speak with him about the items that he's sold to you.
28:39So, when you paid for these, you paid for cash, but did you have to draw the cash out of
28:43a bank?
28:45Yeah.
28:46No, I don't use bank for my cash.
28:50But you must have money put into a bank for you to be able to draw it out?
28:55Yeah.
28:56I don't make a contact.
28:58So, you would be able to show the insurance company your bank statements showing cash withdrawals?
29:04Right.
29:04Okay.
29:05It's really just because you're saying that you paid like 10 grand in cash for something and you've got no
29:11proof?
29:12Yeah.
29:13Ah, well you told the guy you spoke to it was 10.
29:17No, eight thousand it was.
29:18I can check the phone call, so that's fine, but you said it was a year ago.
29:24Yeah, what it is, my love, I've got PTSD from the army and my head is all over the place
29:28at the moment because of the break-in.
29:33It's clear what LMG needs to check and settle this claim, but the ex-soldiers are a long way from
29:38being able to provide any of the information.
29:41We were made aware of some further inconsistencies from the customer where initially they said they had the watch boxes
29:47available for inspection.
29:48Then when we spoke to them they said that they'd also been stolen and then later on we did actually
29:53receive them into the office.
30:00The boxes themselves weren't the correct boxes for the models being claimed for.
30:05They were generic watch boxes without the foam inserts, without any supporting paperwork, which isn't unusual or fraudulent in itself,
30:14but it's another indicator that something wasn't right with this claim.
30:18LMG was left with little choice.
30:21Looking at the claim as a whole, the inconsistencies in the descriptions, the staged photographs, the inaccurate watch boxes, we
30:30felt that this claim had been purposefully staged.
30:33The evidence, or lack of it, had repercussions.
30:36When we heard back from the insurance company they advised us that the claim had been declined due to the
30:40fraud condition on the policy.
30:42This was an excellent outcome for the company to ensure that a fraudulent customer didn't receive any payout.
30:47The soldier wasn't Quid Zinn, and he's now a marked man.
30:52In similar circumstances what happens is that if policy is voided, that makes it very difficult for the customers to
30:58take out another insurance policy with a different insurer.
31:01Historically within the industry, insurance companies were happy to simply decline the non-genuine claims.
31:06However, more and more we're now beginning to see them pursuing prosecutions against fraudsters.
31:18Woodhill Prison in Buckinghamshire houses remanded prisoners and those on short sentences.
31:24Governor Nikki Marfleet has noticed an increase in claims against the prison service.
31:30Accidents do happen, and the next case features a trip with questionable authenticity.
31:37A prisoner had slipped on a wet landing, received a shoulder injury and was saying that we are negligent for
31:43that.
31:46Each case costs, and so any incident is scrutinised.
31:52Our council estimated that damages would be in the region of £11,000 to £16,000.
31:59There was a senior officer on the wing with four staff and 90 men on the unit at the time
32:05the prisoner claims he was injured.
32:08He was making a claim that the prison service was negligent for not putting out wet floor signs.
32:12He had slipped on a wet floor atop of the stairs and dislocated his shoulder.
32:18Oh, that sounds nasty.
32:20The unlucky inmate was suffering from shock.
32:22He was taken to hospital, whilst the prison officers tried to piece together what had happened.
32:28There were lots of his peers that were willing to witness and say that he'd just slipped.
32:33But their versions didn't tally with what staff on the wing had seen.
32:38I saw a prisoner clean out his cell.
32:42As he was mopping his cell, moving backwards, he spilled a bucket of water.
32:47He went to get a wet floor sign to make people aware of it.
32:51The claimant came up the stairs, saw the water.
32:54He walked round the landing and then ran back and slipped over.
33:01Prisons have good coverage of what's going on through CCTV.
33:06When I saw the CCTV, it was blatantly obvious that the claim was incorrect.
33:09He had, I believe, done it on purpose.
33:13The footage does offer a different insight into what happened.
33:19He walks up the stairs.
33:21He walks round to the right.
33:25At that point, he goes out to CCTV view.
33:29And then you see him running.
33:31It would appear he jumps as if jumping over somebody, behind somebody.
33:34And then he slips on the floor.
33:37And that's when he got injured.
33:41Clearly the inmate was hurt.
33:43But staff were not convinced by his explanation.
33:47He would have seen that somebody was cleaning this outside the cell.
33:50He would have seen a wet floor.
33:51And he avoided it.
33:53But he then went back to the area where the water was spilt.
33:58In my 20 years of service, I've seen more and more of these claims come forward.
34:03And that is why, as governor, I'm trying to say, where we think we have a chance of winning, we
34:08will always defend these at court.
34:11But there was more going against the accident-prone inmate.
34:16We also had a witness who was familiar with the layout, able to describe what would have been able to
34:21be seen and actually what he saw.
34:24At the time of the slip, the claimant had a bunch of fellow prisoners willing to back up his story.
34:29But where were they when he needed them?
34:32When it comes to the court case, they weren't available or weren't prepared to put evidence to corroborate his claim.
34:39Their diaries must have been full. Besides, perjury carries a hefty penalty.
34:45At trial, we presented the CCTV, which was so compelling that the judge didn't even require our witness.
34:53People underestimate at their peril how willing we are to defend these cases.
34:58This is public money. This is taxpayers' money. I'm a taxpayer.
35:01And our money should not be going as free cash to people that want to chance their arm at a
35:08claim.
35:15Cats can be purebred or simple moggies, but they all love to curl up in their own sunny spot and
35:21they enjoy a tickle.
35:24Tabbies may be independent, but it doesn't make them any less loved by their owners.
35:33The following case, dealt with by pet insurance specialist Agriar,
35:37reveals that even those who are fond of their fur babies still use them to attempt ill-gotten gains.
35:44The first to be heard was when the policyholder contacted us on the 3rd of May
35:48and advised that she'd been burgled the day before.
35:53The car keys and two cars had been stolen at the same time.
35:58You weren't in the house, so it's while you were out the house?
36:00Yeah, no, no, I was in the house.
36:02Oh, you were in the house?
36:03They burgled downstairs today.
36:05Gosh, okay.
36:05Yeah.
36:06It's quite traumatic in itself, isn't it?
36:07Yeah.
36:08Okay, so, and you think they've broken the back?
36:11The door handle was broken.
36:13And obviously, both my cars were stolen.
36:15And, you know, they couldn't have bundled anything in the back of the cars.
36:19I don't know.
36:21This must have been very distressing.
36:24Second to our homes, cars are often the most valuable things we own,
36:27but some possessions go beyond monetary value.
36:31One of her cats had gone missing.
36:33She was obviously an avid cat owner.
36:35She had 11 in total.
36:37One pedigree and 10 crossbreed cats, 10 moggies.
36:44As a specialist in animal insurance, Agria wouldn't be able to help with the car,
36:49but a missing cat was right up its alley.
36:53The kitty in question, not seen since the burglary, was now missing in action.
36:59The cat was an exotic, short-haired pedigree cat, worth around about £900.
37:09She told us that she'd obviously told the police that the cat was missing and perhaps stolen.
37:14She'd also advised a local veterinary practice that the cat was missing,
37:18just in case somebody had picked it up.
37:20She'd also gone onto social media and left some posts that her cat was missing,
37:25perhaps stolen, and could people keep an eye out for it?
37:29She'd been very thorough using not only her own social media,
37:33but that of her vets to get the message out.
37:36We received the completed claim form from the policyholder
37:38and on the 25th of June, we started to assess the claim.
37:43Hi, how are you? I just received your claim.
37:46I see, bless her, she was stolen when you got burthled.
37:49Yes, I believe so.
37:51Oh, bless her. Have you found her at all yet?
37:53No.
37:55You haven't?
37:56No, erm, I spoke to the insurance originally and I kind of thought that she's probably might have been lost.
38:04Erm, well, obviously I had time for none, I'm thinking that she's probably stolen.
38:09Erm, cos she went, this is the same, same.
38:13Not a problem.
38:14Erm, as I said, I'm just trying to think at a moment, I said, please double-check whether or not
38:18she has come back.
38:20As in situations like this, we'll check on social media, we checked that the cat was posted missing.
38:26Erm, but at the same time, we also noticed that the veterinary practices social media
38:32and the policyholder social media were saying the cat had been found.
38:38So we phoned her up.
38:39Erm, I wanted to talk you through some Facebook pages that you advertised.
38:44Yes.
38:44Erm, and on the 18th of June, have they notified that it's been found?
38:49No.
38:52So, she had posted...
38:54That's incorrect, is it?
38:56Yes, no, she hasn't been found.
38:58Still.
38:59OK.
39:00Erm, so can I just refer you to your own Facebook page on the 18th of June then, at 21
39:05.38?
39:06Where you say that she's been found?
39:08Yes, no, she hasn't been found.
39:10So why would you put on Facebook that she's been found?
39:14It's a perfectly reasonable question from an insurer who's trying to check the claim.
39:19But the mood changes at this point.
39:22Well, I don't understand what you're insinuating.
39:24I'm saying a cat has not been found.
39:26She's not been found at all.
39:29The reason I said that the cat was found was because I was sick of people contacting me
39:33and saying that they found a cat that looked similar.
39:37And I was sick of boys and, you know, getting my hopes off and it not being that cat.
39:42Her claim that she and the vet's practice put up the found post to stop time wasters
39:47may have been well-intentioned, but it was cutting no weight with Agria.
39:52If you're frightened or you're worried about some comeback and people making mutants of themselves,
39:58you just take the post down.
40:00Taking it down, it doesn't delete it from anywhere.
40:02It just, it just, it stays in there.
40:06You can.
40:07I mean, on the road.
40:08It doesn't actually because you just delete an entry.
40:11So it's like, I thought that the, I didn't mean like that.
40:17The cat owner was struggling to get Agria on board despite her best efforts.
40:22It's not a very nice experience, you know, like I've been burgled.
40:26I've talked a lot of other stuff.
40:28You know, I don't know whether it's time.
40:30Yeah, I've noticed that because obviously police put on that, you know, two vehicles
40:34and an IT equipment were stolen.
40:36Yeah.
40:36They obviously didn't mention the cat, so...
40:39No, because at the time, I just wasn't aware that she'd gone missing.
40:44I thought she just got frightened and, you know, that I would find her.
41:01Agria didn't automatically share her opinion.
41:04Pedigree cats aren't always identifiable as pedigree cats.
41:09It's not as obvious as dogs.
41:11And amongst the other 11, there were probably cats there that looked as much like pedigrees
41:16or as attractive to take.
41:20Are you welcome to come to the house and see if the cat is there, the cat is not there?
41:25No, I mean, obviously from our concern and mine particularly is that you've mentioned...
41:30Obviously you've got to look into it, but, you know, I don't think Facebook can be any kind of evidence
41:36to say, you know, that I haven't been burgled and that my cat hasn't gone missing.
41:40No, we're not disputing that you haven't been burgled.
41:43Obviously, if you're giving false information and as part of your terms and conditions,
41:47we ask that people are honest and...
41:49But does it say any terms and conditions that you can look at my Facebook?
41:53The fact that Agria checked her social media really touched a nerve with the cat owner.
41:58Guilty conscience, perhaps?
42:00It's a public domain.
42:01You will have seen it.
42:02My Facebook is not a public domain at all.
42:05It is, because obviously we can see it, so...
42:08And also the, um, that is a public domain.
42:11Yeah, that makes sense.
42:13They are both saying that you have found the cat.
42:16A few more things started not really to stack up.
42:20Yeah.
42:21Agria had done its homework and knew the cat's background.
42:25She was bought and breathed in terms, so it seemed good to get her on Agria's insurance,
42:33because they said that I could cover her if she was having kittens or anything like that.
42:38Yeah, because I know this on the history.
42:39Back in February, she was diagnosed that she had a heart murmur.
42:42Was that correct?
42:43Yeah.
42:44Yeah.
42:45The vet did say that it was quite severe, the heart murmur,
42:49so, you know, she could kind of drop dead at any point.
42:52Oh, bless you.
42:54A cat with a heart defect shouldn't be used for breeding,
42:58so that's the owner's investment straight into the litter tray.
43:01And, in Agria's experience, this could be a motive to place a fraudulent claim.
43:07She had this valuable animal that she couldn't breed from.
43:11Opportunistically, perhaps she was looking to regain some of that investment.
43:15The insurer was also surprised that someone who had worked in a vet's practice
43:19wasn't more savvy.
43:22Being a veterinary nurse and working in a veterinary practice,
43:25the policyholders should have known just the efforts that pet insurance companies go to
43:30when they're assessing claims, just to validate facts.
43:34And, these days, social media is probably the key area where we go to first.
43:39And that search threw up many more questions than answers.
43:43Often as not, when things are a little untoward, policyholders trip themselves up.
43:50We rejected the claim.
43:52We felt the claim was spurious, and the owner was endeavouring to recoup some of the purchase price for a
43:58cat.
44:00And there would be further implications.
44:03This cat lover was put on an insurance industry blacklist.
44:07We also told the police in this case, because there had been a burglary and other things had been taken.
44:12And the facts that she'd given to the police may also have been called into question.
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