Fictious injury claims made after ‘slipping’ at a discount store and pet shop in North Yorkshire
After each ‘slip’ he went straight to a member of staff to record the incident
If he had been successful in his claims, he would have received £11,000
A man has been sentenced after CCTV footage exposed his attempts to make two fraudulent ‘slip and trip’ claims at shops in North Yorkshire.
On Friday 31st January 2020, Asad Khan, Halifax, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court, to 10 months imprisonment suspended for 18 months.
He also received 60 hours unpaid work and was ordered to pay £940 in compensation costs. Two weeks earlier (Monday 13th January 2020), at the same court, he pleaded guilty to one count of fraud by false representation and a further count was taken into consideration.
Detective Constable Adam Maskell, who led the investigation for the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, said:
“While the CCTV exposed Khan and showed how ridiculous his injury claims were, the severity of these types of ‘slip and trip’ claims shouldn’t be understated.
“As this case shows, irrespective of how insurance fraud is committed and on what scale, it will not be tolerated by IFED and the insurance industry, and perpetrators will be punished.”
The City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) began investigating Khan after receiving referrals from Allianz Insurance and Covea Insurance.
In June 2016, Khan submitted a claim to Allianz, stating that he’d been shopping at a discount store and slipped on a spillage in one of the aisles, resulting in injuries to his back, leg and hand. A year later, in July 2017, Khan submitted a claim to Covea and told them he’d slipped on some water in a pet shop.
However, in both incidents, CCTV showed that Khan had clearly fell in a deliberate and controlled manner, and walked out displaying no signs of any injuries.
James Burge, fraud manager at Allianz Insurance, said:
“This case demonstrates that fraudsters will go to drastic lengths to get what they want. Fortunately, our customer had CCTV footage which could clearly challenge and prove that the claims made by Khan were dishonest.
“It’s sad that people will still go to great efforts for their own financial gain, potentially damaging a business’ reputation in their bid to get compensation. It’s important insurance companies and IFED continue to work together to protect genuine customers and fight fraud. Hopefully cases like this will make people think twice about committing fraud in the future”.
CCTV at the discount store shows Khan initially walk past the spillage but look back, clearly noticing it. He continues walking, but makes his way back towards it up another aisle, before attempting his ‘slip’.
After each ‘slip’ Khan is seen to quickly notify a member of staff in order to make sure the incident was recorded in the company’s log book.
A member of staff who dealt with Khan at the pet shop said in her statement that he had broken English and said to her “I slip, accident, book” and proceeded to write “I slip now” in their log book.
When Khan was interviewed about each incident, he refused to answer several questions and didn’t clarify the extent of his injuries or whether he attended hospital.
If Khan had been successful with his claims, he would’ve benefited to the amount of £11,000.