THE MOTOR INSURERS’ Bureau of Ireland has described the withdrawal of a personal injury claim in the High Court as a “victory for putting suspicious claims to the test”.

The MIBI was defending a personal injury claim lodged by a man residing in Lusk, Co Dublin who alleged he was involved in an accident with an unknown vehicle in June 2016.

Today, the MIBI said that the man formally withdrew this claim after the MIBI presented the court with video footage.

The MIBI said that the man claimed that he required a wheelchair and crutches following the incident.

The video footage showed him walking with crutches and using a wheelchair. However, it also showed him on two occasions walking – once to his car while holding the wheelchair.

Costs were awarded to the MIBI. The MIBI is a not for profit organisation that was established to compensate victims of road traffic accidents caused by uninsured and unidentified vehicles.

Speaking following the conclusion of the case, the MIBI’s Chief Executive David Fitzgerald said: “This is a victory for putting suspicious claims to the test. Thanks to a comprehensive investigation, we were able to provide evidence which strongly rebutted the claim being made. We will now be referring the details of this case to the gardaí.

Suspicious claims simply won’t be accepted by the MIBI. We will put considerable resources into establishing if the evidence actually supports a claim we believe is questionable. We will look under every stone to establish the truth and if we do find any falsehoods we will bring those to the attention of the legal authorities. That means anyone who is making a false injury claim had better be prepared to live a life that backs that claim up 24/7.

“We will happily provide genuine claimants with the compensation they deserve,” said Fitzgerald. “That is what the MIBI was set up to do. But if the claim does not live up to scrutiny then it should not be allowed to succeed and the MIBI is determined to defeat claims of this nature.”