As operators in the accident repair industry are all too aware the rising cost of insurance premiums is not because insurance companies are paying more for vehicle repairs, but is directly related to the huge cost of personal injury claims. Many of these claims are exaggerated or fraudulent and this costs insurers an estimated €200m per years and adds €50 to the cost of every motor policy.

Fighting this rising tide of claim is not easy, but two recent examples show that judges are now more prepared to dismiss exaggerated claims and are also prepared to use more creative tactics to do so. 

The €60,000 claim of a woman from Citywest, Dublin, following an accident were dismissed and costs against her awarded after the judge said the severe injuries she claimed were in sharp contrast to pictures she had posted of herself on Facebook after she climbed to the top of Bray Head, and shots of her posing at a body sculpture competition. The judge concluded that she was a "very fine specimen of human fitness" and her injury claims were false.

A week earlier David Ward and Lynsey Ivory from Clonshaugh, Dublin, also had a claim dismissed. They had staged an accident in Donabate, Co Dublin, with Ward claiming to have sustained spinal injuries. Posts on Facebook showed that the two were in fact a couple and had planned the whole incident. Ward was jailed for a year, while Ivory, who has since married her partner in crime, got a suspended sentence.

Theses two cases follow others in recent months were jail terms have been handed out to insurance fraudsters.

Chief executive of Insurance Ireland Kevin Thompson commented, "The judiciary are now taking a tough approach when dealing with spurious claims, which is to be welcomed."