Insurer’s footage catches out fraudulent claimant
A BRAZEN Barnsley woman who exaggerated the injuries she sustained in a car crash and made a fraudulent civil injury claim for damages totalling almost £500,000 has avoided jail – after she was caught out by evidence including footage from The Jeremy Kyle Show.
Patricia Rogers, 25, of Hoyland Road, made the claim against NFU Mutual after she was involved in a collision with a vehicle driven by one of its policyholders in 2014.
Rogers – who sought damages totalling £492,141 – claimed the collision caused a back condition that severely disrupted her day-to-day life and left her unable to walk without a stick or crutches.
However, surveillance evidence gathered by the insurer showed she was able to walk – unaided for an extensive period of time – and that she appeared as a guest on The Jeremy Kyle Show on ITV in 2017 and 2018 where she walked, stood and ran across the stage.
Rogers pleaded guilty at Sheffield Crown Court in February to fraud by false representation after the case was referred to the City of London Police’s insurance fraud enforcement department.
She was sentenced at the same court on Tuesday to 12 months’ imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, and must also pay £500 in compensation.
Detective Constable Carley Parodi said: “Rogers took advantage of a genuine car accident and, for almost a decade, kept up the pretence that it had a substantial effect on her life.
“There was a huge difference between Rogers’ ability to carry out her day-to-day activities in the surveillance footage and the serious impact of the accident as she described during her medical appointments.
“It was astounding that she told medical professionals she could not walk unaided, but then appeared on national television doing just that.
“Rogers thought she could convince medical professionals and the insurer using methods such as going to her medical appointments with a walking stick.
“The sentence handed down to her should serve as a reminder that, however clever you think you are being, committing insurance fraud will have repercussions.”
NFU Mutual gathered the surveillance footage on April 26, 2021, after it noted inconsistencies in the medical reports that Rogers submitted to support her claim, leading it to suspect that it was fraudulent.
In one report, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon wrote that he was unable to explain her condition and concluded that it was either grossly exaggerated or due to an underlying psychological condition.
Rogers attended a medical assessment on that day and footage showed that she travelled to the appointment in a taxi.
She walked to the vehicle with a walking stick hanging from her arm and, after leaving the taxi, entered the medical centre leaning heavily on the stick.
During the appointment, Rogers completed a questionnaire in which she claimed she was unable to get dressed, washed with difficulty, and could not lift or carry anything.
She alleged that her back pain stopped her from standing up for more than ten minutes at a time and that she could only walk with a stick or crutches.
However, surveillance footage from earlier that day showed Rogers leaving her residence and walking her two dogs for around 40 minutes.
She held the lead of one of the dogs and walked unaided, with no obvious discomfort, and later went into a shop and emerged holding a walking stick.
Rogers used it for a short distance, then lifted it off the ground and walked back home.
NFU Mutual referred the case to the police and Rogers stated that she had been able to walk around the set of The Jeremy Kyle Show unaided because she was feeling angry, which distracted her from the pain.
Richard Turnell, claims specialist at
NFU Mutual, added:
“By exaggerating and inflating the extent of her injuries and losses, Rogers sought to fraudulently claim money in the sum of up to at least half a million pounds at the expense of NFU Mutual’s members.
“Over a period of almost a decade, Rogers attempted to mislead medical experts and investigators and even purchased props to support her deception – but she was observed on several occasions walking and running unaided.
“Fraud of this kind is a crime which can and does have a real impact on innocent people and ultimately impacts premiums – we will continue to work with the police to hold criminals to account for their actions.”