A former legal professional, Michelle Scully, has been exposed for attempting to defraud insurers through false injury claims and lying about her qualifications while employed in the legal sector. A court ruling found Scully guilty of fundamental dishonesty, saving insurers tens of thousands of pounds.
Scully, who held senior positions at prominent law firms, including Bond Turner solicitors, fabricated injuries from three separate car accidents in 2015 and 2016. According to a news release, Scully claimed these injuries, which allegedly included significant psychological impacts, prevented her from exercising, caused weight loss, and led to poor health. Scully sought £65,000 in damages.
However, social media posts revealed that during the period she claimed to be unable to exercise, Scully participated in physically demanding activities. Evidence showed she completed a 10k race with her former employer Carter Law, climbed Ben Nevis in 2017, and took part in the Yorkshire Three Peaks Walk in 2018.
Further investigations uncovered that Scully had misrepresented her academic and professional qualifications throughout her career. She falsely claimed to have achieved five A-levels and was pursuing a Level 6 CILEX qualification, while, in reality, she held only one A-level. Scully’s LinkedIn profile listed roles such as “head of litigation” and “insurance fraud team leader” at various law firms. She resigned from Bond Turner just before a disciplinary hearing regarding her qualifications.
HHJ Bird, in his judgment, described Scully as “a generally dishonest person” who fabricated evidence to suit her interests. He ruled that Scully had not sustained injuries in any of the accidents and ordered her to pay the defendants’ legal costs on an indemnity basis. The judgment was also shared with the Law Society, CILEX, and her former employers.
Alex Wilkinson, partner at HF and head of the technical fraud team, who represented Admiral Insurance, commented: “Michelle Scully thought she could use her knowledge of the claims process to dishonestly obtain compensation for accidents that, in fact, caused her no injuries. As if that wasn’t bad enough, the lies she had told about her qualifications throughout her legal career, potentially denying someone else a job that they would otherwise have secured, are scandalous.”
Ian Price, head of claims fraud at Admiral, added: “Miss Scully deliberately lied and misled the court about the real impact the car accidents had had on her life. When our policyholders told us that Miss Scully was uninjured in the two accidents they were involved in, we decided to fully investigate. What we uncovered shocked us.”
Admiral Insurance reiterated its commitment to compensating genuine claimants while maintaining a zero-tolerance policy toward fraudulent claims.
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