The insurance company, AXA, has been ordered to pay aggravated damages to a man injured by their client in a rear-end accident after a claim of collusion was not pursued in court.
Mr Justice Matthew Deery ordered the insurance company to pay the additional damages after they and their client – Gary Reilly, of Ballyfermot, County Dublin – withdrew an affidavit alleging collusion between the injured party – James O’Sullivan, of Clane, County Kildare – and another witness for the defence.
The judge heard that James O´Sullivan had made a claim for personal injury compensation after he was rear-ended by a taxi driven by Reilly in Eirhouse, County Dublin, in September 2008. However, Reilly and his insurers defended the claim by alleging that O´Sullivan had colluded with a defence witness to gain support for his claim.
The allegations of collusion were not brought up at the court hearing, and Mr Justice Matthew Deery was critical of the way in which AXA Insurance and Reilly had handled their defence. The judge ordered the insurance company and Reilly to jointly and severally pay O´Sullivan 3,000 Euros damages for their rear-end accident claim of collusion in addition to a settlement of 7,750 Euros for whiplash injury compensation which was made against the AXA insurance company.