Fraudster who made £500,000 civil injury claim sentenced after being caught out by surveillance footage and appearance on The Jeremy Kyle Show
A woman who exaggerated the injuries she sustained in a road traffic collision and made a fraudulent civil injury claim for damages worth £492,141 has been sentenced, after she was caught out by evidence including footage from The Jeremy Kyle Show.
Patricia Rogers, 25, of Barnsley, made the claim against NFU Mutual after she was involved in a road traffic collision with a vehicle driven by one of its policyholders in 2014. Rogers claimed that the collision caused a back condition that severely disrupted her everyday life and left her unable to walk without a stick or crutches.
However, surveillance evidence gathered by NFU Mutual showed that she was able to walk unaided for an extensive period of time. In addition, she appeared as a guest on The Jeremy Kyle Show in 2017 and 2018, where she walked, stood and ran across the stage unaided.
Rogers pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court on 2 February 2024 to fraud by false representation after the case was referred to the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED). She was sentenced at the same court on 9 April 2024 to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and must also pay £500 in compensation.
Detective Constable Carley Parodi, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), said:
“Rogers took advantage of a genuine car accident and, for almost a decade, kept up the pretence that it had a substantial effect on her life.
“There was a huge difference between Rogers’ ability to carry out her day-to-day activities in the surveillance footage and the serious impact of the accident as she described during her medical appointments. It was astounding that she told medical professionals she could not walk unaided, but then appeared on national television doing just that.
“Rogers thought she could convince medical professionals and the insurer using methods such as going to her medical appointments with a walking stick. The sentence handed down to her should serve as a reminder that, however clever you think you are being, committing insurance fraud will have repercussions.”
NFU Mutual gathered the surveillance footage on 26 April 2021, after it noted inconsistencies in the medical reports that Rogers submitted to support her claim, leading it to suspect that it was fraudulent. In one report, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon wrote that he was unable to explain her condition and concluded that it was either grossly exaggerated or due to an underlying psychological condition.
Rogers attended a medical assessment on 26 April. The surveillance footage showed that Rogers travelled to the appointment in a taxi. She walked to the vehicle with a walking stick hanging from her arm and, after leaving the taxi, entered the medical centre leaning heavily on the stick.
During the appointment, Rogers completed a medical questionnaire in which she claimed that she was unable to get dressed, washed with difficulty, and could not lift or carry anything. She alleged that her back pain stopped her from standing up for more than 10 minutes at a time and that she could only walk with a stick or crutches.
However, surveillance footage from earlier that day showed Rogers leaving her residence and walking her two dogs for around 40 minutes. She held the lead of one of the dogs and walked unaided, with no obvious discomfort. Rogers later went into a shop and emerged holding a walking stick. She used it for a short distance, then lifted it off the ground and walked back home.
NFU Mutual referred the case to IFED on 18 August 2021, and Rogers gave a voluntary attendance interview on 17 November. When shown the footage of her walking her dogs, Rogers told officers that she could not use a walking stick because she was holding a lead. She admitted that she bought a walking stick that day, but claimed that she had one in a different size at home.
Rogers stated that she had been able to walk around the set of The Jeremy Kyle Show unaided because she was feeling angry, which distracted her from the pain.
Richard Turnell, Claims Specialist at NFU Mutual, said:
“By exaggerating and inflating the extent of her injuries and losses, Patricia Rogers sought to fraudulently claim money in the sum of up to at least half a million pounds at the expense of NFU Mutual’s members. Over a period of almost a decade, Rogers attempted to mislead medical experts and investigators and even purchased props to support her deception – but she was observed on several occasions walking and running unaided.
“Fraud of this kind is a crime which can and does have a real impact on innocent people and ultimately impacts premiums. We are determined to continue to protect our members from third party insurance fraud and we will continue to work with IFED to hold criminals to account for their actions.”