Fundamental Dishonesty and Personal Injury Claims

The term “fundamental dishonesty” is one that is now commonly used in personal injury claims. However, this is a relatively new concept in personal injury litigation.  Section 57 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act was introduced on 13 April 2015 into civil law, specifically in relation to personal injury proceedings.

Increasingly fundamental dishonesty is being brought up by Defendants. For the lay person who does not understand what this means a simple explanation is as follows: Fundamental Dishonesty is where the ‘Claimant’ (the person bringing the claim) is untruthful about all or part of their claim for personal injury. The Court can penalise the Claimant for being dishonest by ordered him/her to pay the Defendant’s legal costs. The result is that not only do they receive no compensation, but they can also be landed with a large bill to pay.

You can be found to be fundamentally dishonest for:

• Exaggerating your injuries
• How the accident happened
• How many people were in the vehicle at the time of the accident
• Claiming losses that you did not incur
• Lying about any aspect about the claim
• Any inconsistencies without the claim

The rule now is that where a claim is found to be fundamentally dishonest in any way, the court must dismiss the whole claim even if there is some genuine element. An exception to this would be unless to do so would cause “substantial injustice.”

The reality is that Claimants cannot now run the risk of pursuing a case if they know they have been dishonest when bringing the claim. Defendants will often raise fundamental dishonesty early on in the case as a way of putting the Claimant on notice of the costs risks if they lose.

At Nayyars we investigate cases thoroughly at the outset. Our lawyers and barristers will guide you at every step of the way throughout your case. We will explain any legal rules and costs consequences to you clearly.

If you wish to make a personal injury claim, then you can contact our Team on 0161 491 8520.

Mackenzie Leahy

New Claims Team