In message <[log in to unmask]>, John R PASKINS
<[log in to unmask]> writes
>A recent TV programme suggested that 40% of post RTA claims for whiplash injury
>were fraudulent.
>
>All of these people moust have been seen by a doctor so does this mean that we
>as a group can be fooled by 40% of the people all of the time?
>
>I would be interested in what you think. My view is that most of the patients I
>see have genuine symptoms.......
>
>BUT I understand that some agencies suggest that people are coached about
>symptoms etc. Are we gullible? What signs do you think can be faked? What are
>the clues?
>
>What do you reckon?
>
>JP
The coaching comes from three sources:
The agents & solicitors
Friends who have had successful claims
The man in the pub.
Under Woolf, it is the claims handling agents that are proliferating in
a manner that I cannot describe on this august list.
The latter two sources are more traditional.
Previous successful claims by the claimant or close family or friends
raise expectations, and so the temptation to defraud becomes
overwhelming.
Good pointers are:
Previous claim history, particularly if successful.
Pushy partners and relatives
Bits missing from the GP records (incomplete disclosure)
Middle aged middle class articulate females
Certain of the inhabitants of a certain large city in the North West
with two famous football teams!!!
Unpalatable as the above pointers sound, they have not often failed me.
--
Stephen Hughes
