Insurance fraudster caught after TV appearance

An insurance fraudster who exaggerated injuries from a car accident was caught after being seen running on a TV show.

Patricia Rogers, 25, from Barnsley, claimed damages worth £492,141 from her insurer after the crash in 2014.

She claimed she could not walk unaided, but was seen running across the stage on the Jeremy Kyle show in 2017.

After she admitted fraud, Rogers was given a 12-month jail term, suspended for 18 months, at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday.

She was also ordered to pay £500 in compensation.

At the same court, she had earlier admitted fraud by false representation after the case was referred to City of London Police's insurance fraud enforcement department.

Police said Rogers' insurer, NFU Mutual, had gathered surveillance which showed she was able to walk unaided for an extensive period of time.

The company recorded the footage on 26 April 2021, after it found inconsistencies in the medical reports that Rogers had submitted to support her claim.

In one report, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon wrote that he was unable to explain Rogers' condition and concluded it was either grossly exaggerated or due to an underlying psychological condition.

The surveillance footage, which showed Rogers on the way to a medical appointment, revealed she had travelled there in a taxi, going to the car with a walking stick hanging from her arm, but she walked into the medical centre leaning heavily on the stick.

During the appointment, she alleged that her back pain stopped her from standing up for more than 10 minutes at a time and that she could only walk with a stick or crutches.

However, City of London Police said that footage from earlier that day showed Rogers walking her two dogs for about 40 minutes with no obvious discomfort, and she was also walking while holding the stick without using it for support.

She told officers from the force's insurance fraud enforcement department that she could not hold the dogs' leads as well as a walking stick.

When police showed Rogers footage of her walking, standing and running unaided on the Jeremy Kyle show, she said she had been able to walk around the set because she was feeling angry and was distracted from the pain.

Before being axed by ITV in 2019, the programme often featured disputes between partners and family members which Mr Kyle attempted to resolve on stage – regularly using lie detectors.

Det Con Carley Parodi, from City of London Police, said: "Rogers took advantage of a genuine car accident and, for almost a decade, kept up the pretence it had a substantial effect on her life.

"There was a huge difference between Rogers' ability to carry out her day-to-day activities in the surveillance footage and the serious impact of the accident as she described during her medical appointments."

Det Con Parodi added that it was "astounding" Rogers had told medical professionals she could not walk unaided, but then appeared on national television "doing just that".

"Rogers thought she could convince medical professionals and the insurer using methods such as going to her medical appointments with a walking stick."

The sentence given to Rogers "should serve as a reminder that, however clever you think you are being, committing insurance fraud will have repercussions", Det Con Parodi said.

Richard Turnell, claims specialist at NFU Mutual, said: "Fraud of this kind is a crime which can and does have a real impact on innocent people and ultimately impacts premiums.

"We are determined to continue to protect our members from third party insurance fraud and we will continue to work with [police] to hold criminals to account for their actions."

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