Description
A wasted costs order was granted against a solicitors firm which had pursued a road traffic accident on behalf of a claimant. At the outset the defendant's insurers had written alleging the claim was fraudulent and this was repeated in the defence. The claimant's witness statement did not contain an integral statement of truth. At trial the claimant did not give evidence because he was allegedly illiterate and there was no evidence that his statement had been read to him before he signed it or that he knew what his evidence was. The supporting witnesses had given their evidence to the solicitors over the telephone. One witness said that his statement was a substantial expansion of what he told the solicitor. The other witness denied she had spoken to the solicitor before receiving her statement. There was clear evidence of incompetence which could be fairly termed as negligence and the way in which the case collapsed at trial supported the defendant insurer's early allegations of fraud.
