Personal injury claim dismissed due to ‘exaggerated losses’: What does this mean?

A personal injury claim can fail due to ‘exaggerated losses’. This means the nature and/or extent of the claim has been dishonestly overstated in an attempt to increase compensation.

This was the case in Pinkus v Direct Line [2018] where the claim was dismissed due to exaggerated losses even though the accident was genuine and there was a clear breach of duty.

Examples of ‘exaggerated losses’ may include claims for loss of earnings where:

• The person making the claim did not lose any wages;
• The person making the claim was already out of work for another reason at the time of the accident;
• The impact of an injury on a person’s ability is not as severe as stated.

Embellishing or exaggerating claims such as those listed above could amount to fundamental dishonesty which may cause a claim to be dismissed. If this happens, then the dishonest Claimant may have to pay all the costs of the action.

Honesty is always the best policy and exaggerating injuries and losses does not mean more compensation. Our personal injury team can advise on how to make an honest personal injury claim for the right level of compensation.

For more information or to start a No Win, No Fee claim, please contact us on 0113 232 1030 or email personal.injury@emsleys.co.uk.