‘Injured’ car crash payout cheat filmed doing martial arts moves and swinging on bars at Ninja Warrior
AN “injured” car crash payout cheat was filmed doing martial arts moves.
Robert Wood swung from bars and did high kicks at a Ninja Warrior activity centre.
He had claimed he could not work for three years due to a wrist injury after a Peugeot taxi hit his arm as he unloaded a van in 2018.
He sued Aviva Insurance for £10,000 in lost earnings.
However, investigators found videos on social media of Wood, 42, doing martial arts.
“When confronted, he insisted: “It’s not me, it’s my twin.”
But experts found his brother had distinctive blond highlights which did not match the brown hair of the man in the video.
Wood, of Chandler’s Ford, Hants, said his brother would appear in court to give evidence but at the last minute he retracted his claim.
A judge at Southampton county court ordered him to pay Aviva — which had insured the taxi driver’s vehicle — £13,000 in costs.
The court heard the accident was genuine but suspicions arose that Wood had exaggerated his injuries.
Elinor Willis, of Clyde & Co, which represented Aviva, said: “This type of insurance fraud will not be tolerated.”