Crash victim can keep £3.4 million payout, says Judge
(Source: Daily Mail Online - http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1366916/Insurance-giant-loses-battle-reclaim-3-3m-payout-crash-victim-branded-fake-learned-walk-again.html)
The High Court has struck out a claim by the insurer Direct Line to have Mark Noble return his £3.4 million compensation payout for disability after he was secretly filmed walking unaided.
The insurer hired private investigators to collect evidence that Mr Noble could walk after he was awarded the substantial amount of personal injury compensation for the injuries sustained in a road traffic accident between himself and a motorist. The 43-year-old builder from Dorset suffered multiple injuries and fractures and was left virtually wheelchair bound when a car crashed into his motorcycle.
Direct Line had to pay out the compensation on behalf of the driver of the car, Martin Owens, in 2008 to cover Mr Noble’s loss of earnings.
However, Mr Noble, who could still walk short distances with the use of crutches, has managed to regain some use of his legs through sheer determination. A neighbour saw him walking unaided and tipped-off Direct Line.
The insurance company turned to the services of the Insurance Fraud Bureau to put together a case of insurance fraud against Mr Noble.
The private investigators put a camera on the top of a 50ft mast and hid in an animal shelter opposite Mr Noble’s home in order to gather evidence. Direct Line then took him to Court to try and recover the compensation money.
However, the Court held that Mr Noble could keep the money as he had used “determination alone” to recover some use of his legs.
Mr Justice Field sitting in the High Court said: “He did not dishonestly conceal from the Court or the expert witnesses his then true state of disability, or dishonestly emphasise his disability.”
Mr Noble’s wife said her husband has not won anything, he has simply been allowed to keep the money that is rightfully his. She said her husband is continually in “chronic pain” from his injuries, and will be reliant upon painkillers for the rest of his life.
