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30 June 2011 / Robert Dickason
Issue: 7472 / Categories: Features , Damages , Personal injury
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No leg to stand on

Robert Dickason examines exaggerated injuries & insurer misrepresentation claims

In 1998, Hayward was injured in the course of his employment. Proceedings were issued and, by October 2003, Hayward and his lawyers thought they were home and dry. Liability had been compromised at 80% in August 2002 and the employer had since paid £100,000 into court, alongside interim payments of £12,500 and a sum in the region of £22,000 payable to the Department of Work and Pensions. Hayward decided to take the money, and the settlement was embodied in the form of a Tomlin order.

Settlement

The settlement figure was much lower than the £420,000 originally pleaded, but that had been before surveillance evidence cast Hayward in a rather more capable light than his future earnings claim suggested.

Consequently, the defence alleged that he had been exaggerating his injuries for financial gain—as close to pleading fraud as it could get without actually using the f-word. Having seen the tapes, the orthopaedic surgeons agreed that Hayward was in fact fit for part-time

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MOVERS & SHAKERS

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft—Clare Dewar

DAC Beachcroft strengthens Scottish real estate capabilitywith partner appointment

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson—Brendan Ryan

Womble Bond Dickinson appoints Brendan Ryan as partner in Public Law Projects team

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers—five appointments

Parklane Plowden Chambers welcomes five new barristers

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