Takeaway driver fined £5,000 after he lied about dog biting him and damaging car
A food delivery driver who claimed he was bitten by a pet dog has been left with a £5,000 bill after his lies were caught on CCTV.
Sean Dore, 37, is captured on CCTV as Labrador Marley bounds up to him with his tail wagging as he arrived with a takeaway.
But Dore later claimed the ‘active, lively and friendly’ dog had damaged his car and his arm at the farmhouse near Bodelva in Cornwall in July 2021.
Dore, of Trewoon, St Austell, presented Marley’s owners with a quote for £185 for scratches on his car to be repaired and filed a claim for injury worth up to £3,000.
But home insurer AXA was suspicious when CCTV showed Marley with its tail wagging, enthusiastically greeting the delivery driver.
Medical examinations also found no sign of the ‘deep scratches’ Mr Dore said the dog had inflicted.
Mr Dore attempted to claim that the video footage had been ‘doctored’.
But Deputy District Judge Healey sitting at Plymouth County Court dismissed his case as ‘fundamentally dishonest’.
He ordered Mr Dore to pay Marley’s owners’ legal costs worth £4,788.90.
Law firm Clyde & Co was instructed by AXA and conducted the investigation into Mr Dore’s claim.
Damian Rourke, partner at Clyde & Co in Manchester, said: ‘When Sean Dore met Marley, he clearly thought he’d found a cunning way of getting his car repaired for free and earn some quick money.
‘But Mr Dore underestimated both Marley’s owners and the power of surveillance technologies.
‘Living in a remote area, Marley’s owners had had CCTV installed to monitor access to their driveway. But it wasn’t just the footage that helped our investigators.
‘Other aspects of Mr Dore’s claim didn’t add up including vanishing puncture marks, his failure to seek medical attention and a false claim he’d called the NHS 111 phone number – all hallmarks of a dishonest insurance claim.’
Dean Witherington, Retail Claims Director at AXA UK said: ‘Insurance fraud is a serious crime which has significant consequences for fraudsters but sadly also results in higher insurance premiums for honest customers as insurers are faced with increased costs.
‘This finding of fundamental dishonesty from Mr Dore shows the importance of investigation and expertise in fighting against fraud.’
In their evidence to the court, Marley’s owners described their family pet as ‘an active, lively and friendly dog, typical of the Labrador breed’.
They said Marley had no propensity to bite and had been under their control at all times during Mr Dore’s visit.
The hearing took place at Plymouth County Court on Friday 13 October.
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