Porsche driver denied £74k crash claim after dashcam shows him crouched in bush
A luxury Porsche driver who claimed he was inside his car when the vehicle was hit has been denied a five-figure payout after it was discovered he was actually squatting in bush on the side of a motorway.
Terrell Brooks, 33, claimed he suffered injuries when his £81,000 Porsche 911 Carrera GTS was hit by a lorry on the A13 in Essex on August 19, 2022. The account manager from Romford sought £74,000 for the crash, including £63,435 for alleged damage to the car, £5,000 for the alleged injury, £2,400 for medical treatment, and an additional £3,374 for loss of earnings.
But the would-be fraudster was rumbled after dashcam footage revealed he was not in the car as he had claimed.
The footage, taken from the truck involved in the crash, shows the blue Porsche parked against the A13 hard shoulder when the incident took place.
The vehicle can be seen clearly unoccupied, with Mr Brooks conspicuously crouching several metres away on the other side of the motorway barrier. While it is not clear why he exited his car, the footage proved vital in refuting Mr Brooks' claim, and his case fell apart when it was presented to his solicitors.
His legal representatives withdrew from the case after viewing the footage, and Clyde & Co, representing lorry insurers AXA UK, alleged Mr Brooks' original claim was "founded on a false premise" in an Amended Defence.
The lawyers said both the Porsche driver and an alleged passenger knowingly provided false accounts to insurers, their legal representatives, and medical professionals. Mr Brooks, in turn, discontinued his claim, agreeing to cover AXA's legal costs amounting to £4,000.
He formally admitted his dishonesty in a Tomlin Order, confirming he was not inside his luxury car at the time of the crash nearly three years ago.
AXA claims operations manager Deborah Talbot said in a statement that the dashcam footage had helped the firm avoid a "potentially costly and lengthy court hearing". She said: "This case highlights how technology is helping us to fight claims fraud. The dashcam footage provided clear evidence that Mr Brooks wasn't in the car at the time of the collision, avoiding a potentially costly and lengthy court hearing."
Damian Rourke, partner at Clyde & Co, said in his own statement that, "in every sense", the claim was "caught short", although it is still unclear as to why Mr Brooks was not inside the car.
He said: "Mr Brooks claimed he was sitting in his Porsche, belted up and injured. The dashcam showed him in the bushes. We still don't know what he was doing there – but we do know he wasn't in the car. His story fell apart the moment the truth came to light. In every sense, the claim was caught short."
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