Aviva and HF Solicitors have emerged victorious in a legal battle against a senior finance professional who made a fraudulent claim for alleged injuries caused by a car accident.
Rizwan Ahmed, whose LinkedIn profile lists him as head of finance for reporting & planning, was found to be fundamentally dishonest in his claim.
The incident in question took place on November 10, 2019, according to a news release from HF, when an individual insured by Aviva backed out of a parking bay and collided with Ahmed’s vehicle.
Initially, Ahmed completed an accident report form for his insurance company that said the accident was minor and that none of the occupants, including his wife and their three children, had sustained any injuries.
However, Ahmed later filed a claim asserting that all five individuals in the car had suffered injuries. Court proceedings revealed that all the claims were remarkably similar in terms of injury location, duration, and prognosis, with the judge even remarking that the submitted medical records appeared to be “carbon copies” of each other.
During the trial, it was also observed that both Ahmed and his wife, Fozia Hussain, were well-educated and articulate individuals. As such, the judge deemed it implausible for them to feign ignorance about the meaning of the word “injury” when completing the accident report form.
It was further highlighted that Ahmed’s attempt to convince the judge that he believed injuries only referred to broken bones, cuts, and bruises was unconvincing.
Additionally, the judge took note of the accident report, which indicated that the insured had reversed only a short distance and that the engineering evidence demonstrated minimal contact between the two vehicles. This cast doubt on Ahmed’s claim that the insured vehicle was traveling at a speed exceeding 10mph, making it more likely that the impact was below 5mph.
“We are pleased that in collaboration with HF, our legal advisers, we were able to challenge a blatantly fraudulent claim,” said Pete Ward, head of claims counter-fraud at Aviva. “We hope the outcome will serve as a message to anyone, regardless of their profession and career, who is considering making a false claim, that Aviva will fight such dishonesty on behalf of all our valued and honest customers.”
“We are committed to helping our clients fight fraud and challenge the notion that claims from professionals and children are less likely to be fraudulent,” added Jared Mallinson, partner & head of counter fraud at HF. “This case shows how important it is for us to fight dishonest claims, whoever makes them.”
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