One Wareham man has recently won the accident claim he filed against his insurers after they expressed doubt on how honest he was being regarding the extent of his injuries.
Dorset native Mark Noble, aged 43, filed a traffic accident claim after he was involved in an accident that left him unable to move without the aid of a wheelchair or crutches. Mr Noble suffered his injuries in 2003 after he was knocked off his motorbike in Cadnam.
Mr Noble received a £3.4 million personal injury compensation award in 2008 after the motorist who collided with him admitted his liability for the incident.
Mr Noble was found by the judge to have suffered injuries in the accident to preclude his return to work as a builder. Additionally it was found that Mr Noble’s pelvis fracture was both severe and life-threatening, resulting in the need for daily care due to both the severe pain and the serious psychiatric ailment he suffered due to his injuries.
However later in 2008 the insurer making payment on Mr Noble’s personal injury claim, Direct Line, was contacted by a neighbour. Direct Line then initiated surveillance of Mr Noble for four months. The resulting footage was taken to the Court of Appeal, which led to the decision to freeze the £2.25 million already disbursed to Mr Noble.
However a London judge recently dismissed Direct Line’s claims that Mr Noble had been dishonest in the description of his injuries. While Mr Noble had been determined at the time of the initial trial to attempt to walk unaided at some time in the future and testified that he would someday succeed in being able to do so again, the judge stated, he made no dishonest concealment in regards to the true state of his disability. Nor did he emphasise his disability dishonestly, stated the court.