21st Century CCTV beats false insurance claim - single case saves Arriva £5,000 -
20 June 2007
21st Century CCTV system has given Arriva the evidence to combat a false insurance claim made against the company. The CCTV images saved Arriva just under £5,000 in claims, which almost equates to the cost of installing CCTV on two buses.
The claim against Arriva was by a taxi driver with a history of making personal injury claims. He alleged that the Arriva bus had collided with him while his vehicle was stationary. He produced two eye witnesses - one a pedestrian and the other who claimed to have been driving by in the opposite direction just as the incident occurred.
The Arriva driver claimed that it was in fact the taxi that had collided with the bus while trying to overtake. Two elderly women who were on the bus at the time were the only other witnesses, who later withdrew their evidence due to poor health.
The Claimant's Solicitors were invited to view the CCTV footage taken by 21st Century, but the offer was declined and the Claimant insisted that the case proceeded to trial.
An Arriva CCTV Controller attended Court where the Claimant's Counsel indicated that he had not yet viewed the CCTV footage. It was shown to him and the Claimant's representatives then proposed a form of compromise. In light of the excellent CCTV footage which clearly showed that the collision was entirely the fault of the Taxi Driver, Arriva refused to compromise and the Claimant then elected to discontinue his claim before the start of the trial.
The claim was discontinued with a costs order in Arriva's favour.
Lynne Beale, Arriva's group risk manager, said: "We know from experience that our claims bill falls when CCTV is fitted. CCTV is proving cost effective and this is just another example of this in action"
Paul Rogers, Director of Sales and Marketing for 21st Century, comments: "We are delighted that the high quality of our images can be used to combat insurance fraud cases like this. Bus operators are increasingly falling victim to the compensation culture, and CCTV is both a deterrent and a weapon against dishonest claims. Bus operators are finding that CCTV systems simply pay for themselves, and their staff and customers get the extra protection such systems provide, just by being in place."
