High frequency fraudulent motorcycle claims in London have been widely reported in both the industry and national press, and in February 2025 a surge in litigated claims was experienced by many insurers. CSG have achieved a significant degree of success in defeating these claims, securing notable fundamental dishonesty findings, costs awards and non-party costs orders for our clients.
A recent trial win for Marshmallow and it's insured driver provides another good example of why it is important to deploy robust strategies: to send a strong signal to the fraudsters.
CSG were instructed to defend a claim on behalf of Marshmallow's insured driver whose evidence was that he had merely nudged the claimant's motorbike whilst reversing at a very low speed. However, the claimant had presented a claim for credit hire, recovery, storage, and PAV in the sum of £20,000.
The claimant alleged that their motorcycle was a total loss which flagged damage consistency concerns given the low speed of the impact and the lack of any damage to the insured's vehicle.
On review of the claimant's engineering evidence, the claimant had advised the engineer of damage to the front end, handle bar, brakes, offside and nearside mirrors as a result of the incident. The images appended to the engineer's report showed that a screw had been removed to exaggerate the damage when compared to the images taken by the insured at the scene where the screw was visibly present.
CSG commissioned a damage consistency expert's report which stated that it was highly unlikely that any significant damage was caused to the claimant's vehicle and it was therefore roadworthy following the accident. It was also noted that the claimant had made 11 deliveries for Deliveroo, as per his delivery statements, only one day after the accident which undermined his assertion that his vehicle was undrivable and/or that he did not have access to any other vehicle.
The claim was defended and was tried at the Central London County Court.
In view of the engineering evidence and the insured's evidence at trial, the judge found in the defendant's favour and ordered the claimant to pay costs in the sum of £8,243.00.
Nick Kelsall, Claims Director at Marshmallow commented "Fighting fraud is high on the agenda at Marshmallow and we put the customer at the centre of it. To have such positive feedback from the customer around supporting them all the way to trial was great to hear and a real team effort alongside DACB. I would like to personally thank DACB and our growing claims fraud department for their work and dedication in getting the best outcome for the customer."
For more information or advice, please contact a member of our Motor Fraud Team.
