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Alan Farrell TD, and his "unusual" personal injury claim.

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  • 10-07-2018 10:12am
    #1
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭


    With car insurance costs spiralling, largely (imo) due to the ludicrous high amounts often paid out by judges, for what appear on the surface as soft claims, it was nice to see the judge call this one out for what it was.
    The Public Accounts Committee member alleged he suffered neck and shoulder issues which affected his personal and professional life for up to 18 months following the accident in Drumcondra, Dublin, on April 9, 2015.

    But the Irish Sun can reveal Judge Michael Coghlan has ruled the Fine Gael politician did not suffer a “significant injury” and only awarded him €2,500.

    The judge said: “There is little or no notation to back up a claim of significant whiplash.”

    Dublin Fingal Deputy Farrell brought a personal injuries claim against Hertz Rent A Car after a collision with one of their vehicles.

    Giving evidence to Dublin District Court, the Fine Gael rep told how he was left in pain after being “shunted” as he sat in traffic in Drumcondra in his Audi A6.

    The court was told how the driver behind him was at a standstill in traffic when a spider ran across her arm, causing her to panic and take her foot off the brake. Her vehicle then “rolled into” Farrell’s car.

    Farrell said: “Within a few minutes of the incident I felt a very warm tingly sensation on my shoulders and neck.

    “Over a series of days the pain and discomfort continued — developed, I should say — and continued thereafter.

    “Initially I treated it with over-the-counter medicine and I went to my GP then sometime later.”

    In his personal injury summons, Farrell said he experienced difficulty for six months following the accident, claimed he had to reduce his activities for up to 14 months after, and suffered occasional spasms up to 18 months     on.

    So he was "experiencing pain for six months after the incident" and had to "reduce his activities for 14 months" after the incident.....


    Here is Alan pictured just 4 x months after his terrible incident that left him in pain for 6 months, and reduced his activities for 14 months.

    NINTCHDBPICT000418521636.jpg

    The court heard the snap was taken during the period he had claimed the “pain” and “discomfort” was at its worst. Bolster said:
    “In that photograph you are putting up posters of yourself in Skerries.” Farrell replied: “Correct.”


    And this was the damage done to his car following the unusual incident.

    NINTCHDBPICT000418954061.jpg
    The 40-year-old said he experienced stiffness and pain at work and also while flying during the course of his work.

    And he claimed his recreational exercises, particularly running, were compromised for approximately six months.

    Contesting the claim, Hertz said in court they were “at a loss to understand how a personal injury claim could arise”.

    Next time your told by your insurance firm that your costs have risen, despite being claim and accident free, remember that its largely down to the scammers and the folk playing the system.

    Not that I'm implying Alan was or is mind you ;)


    Full article here


«1

Comments

  • Options
    #2
    jobless
    Registered Users Posts: 2,183 ✭✭✭jobless


    a dishonest politician...im aghast!


  • Options
    #3
    GBX
    Registered Users Posts: 11,900 ✭✭✭✭GBX


    Barely a mark on his car and he had neck/shoulder injuries! Get the f**k !!... fair play to the judge on this occasion!


  • Options
    #4
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭McMurphy


    jobless wrote: »
    a dishonest politician...im aghast!

    This part in particular stuck out like a sore neck.
    But when quizzed in court about the snap, Farrell claimed the photo was “staged”.

    Eve Bolster, barrister for Hertz, asked Farrell if he was expecting the court to accept that it was a staged photograph because “it doesn’t sit with your evidence so far”.

    He said: “No, it is nothing to do with my evidence, I’m just telling you that that photograph is a staged photograph.”

    This is a man who sits on the Public Accounts Committee.


  • Options
    #5
    BettePorter
    Registered Users Posts: 2,257 ✭✭✭BettePorter


    Alan 'neymar' Farrell


  • Options
    #6
    jobless
    Registered Users Posts: 2,183 ✭✭✭jobless


    Ten Pin wrote: »
    What class of an idiot poses for a photo with a poster of themselves overhead.

    the politcal class


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  • Options
    #7
    Omackeral
    Registered Users Posts: 32,956 ✭✭✭✭Omackeral


    Ten Pin wrote: »
    What class of an idiot poses for a photo with a poster of themselves overhead.

    Alan Farrell TD


  • Options
    #8
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭McMurphy


    Ten Pin wrote: »
    What class of an idiot poses for a photo with a poster of themselves overhead.

    The type of idiot who has a fairly high public profile who would post pictures of themselves indulging in activities they claimed they were unable to do on social media, while taking a personal injury claim to court.


  • Options
    #9
    jobless
    Registered Users Posts: 2,183 ✭✭✭jobless


    Johnny Dogs wrote: »
    The type of idiot who has a fairly high public profile who would post pictures of themselves indulging in activities they claimed they were unable to do on social media, while taking a personal injury claim to court.

    and at the same time complaining about insurance price hikes...
    https://twitter.com/namawinelake/status/1016613298668802048


  • Options
    #10
    andekwarhola
    Registered Users Posts: 4,638 ✭✭✭andekwarhola


    Maybe somebody in the industry can confirm but it seems like I'm reading about a lot more personal injury claims being more vigorously contested in court these days.


  • Options
    #11
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭McMurphy


    jobless wrote: »
    and at the same time complaining about insurance price hikes...
    https://twitter.com/namawinelake/status/1016613298668802048

    Face palm.

    Well played Alan.


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  • Options
    #12
    ford2600
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,457 ✭✭✭ford2600


    andekwarhola wrote: »
    Maybe somebody in the industry can confirm but it seems like I'm reading about a lot more personal injury claims being more vigorously contested in court these days.

    This case was an assessment as far as I know; Defendant was not contesting their driver was at fault just contesting that Plaintiff could not have been injured from such a minor impact.

    Even from a Machiavellian point of view, how smart was it to proceed
    *on €93k per year plus €30k in expenses and lodge a claim in district court (with max payout of 15k) as a sitting government td and probably in Junior Minister waiting room
    *get aggressive with a young lady driver after an accident. If you want garda/judges to fcuk you over in a RTA; have the lady crying/upset when guards get to scene
    *post on social media about insurance premiums and climb ladders while being so effected by accident

    Award was 2.5k, but he wasn't allowed specials, which could have been close to 1k. He also probably had to pay for costs of this court procedure

    https://www.thesun.ie/news/1703010/fine-gael-td-suing-car-hire-firm-for-up-to-e15000-over-crash-that-left-him-in-pain-for-14-months/

    Do TD have to run stuff like this before their party before going ahead? FG are obsessed with PR, they can't be happy


    https://mobile.twitter.com/AlanFarrell/status/1016264920588062721


  • Options
    #13
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,128 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    cruel_barber wrote: »
    that pic of him up a ladder really tells us nothing , just because you sustain a painful injury doesnt mean you cease doing everything , he might have had to take painkillers for a prolonged period of time which impacted on the quality of his life , him being a TD doesnt change this

    ireland does have a bogus claims culture but in truth the media narrative would have us believe that every personal injury claim is bogus , people often like to believe someone is faking an injury but they havent a rashers , they are not doctors and simply like to believe the worst




    Is that you Alan?


  • Options
    #14
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭McMurphy


    ford2600 wrote: »

    Do TD have to run stuff like this before their party before going ahead? FG are obsessed with PR, they can't be happy


    https://mobile.twitter.com/AlanFarrell/status/1016264920588062721

    Especially after Leo's campaign urging people to report fraud.

    Replace the word welfare with insurance here, and it's the same thing.
    Last April, during his campaign for Taoiseach and leadership of Fine Gael, then minister for social protection Mr Varadkar launched the “Welfare Cheats Cheat Us All” campaign which encouraged people to act as “whistleblowers” and report suspected welfare fraud.


  • Options
    #15
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭McMurphy


    cruel_barber wrote: »
    that pic of him up a ladder really tells us nothing , just because you sustain a painful injury doesnt mean you cease doing everything , he might have had to take painkillers for a prolonged period of time which impacted on the quality of his life , him being a TD doesnt change this

    ireland does have a bogus claims culture but in truth the media narrative would have us believe that every personal injury claim is bogus , people often like to believe someone is faking an injury but they havent a rashers , they are not doctors and simply like to believe the worst

    The picture of his damaged car shows us how severe the impact was .

    NINTCHDBPICT000418954061.jpg


  • Options
    #16
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,128 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    Johnny Dogs wrote: »
    The picture of his damaged car shows us how severe the impact was .

    NINTCHDBPICT000418954061.jpg


    i still cant see what actual damage was caused. even the parking sensors look fine.


  • Options
    #17
    ford2600
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,457 ✭✭✭ford2600


    ohnonotgmail wrote: »
    Is that you Alan?

    How dare you. Mr Farrell is already on boards, having two accounts would be dishonest and against rules

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/member.php?u=170638


  • Options
    #18
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,128 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    ford2600 wrote: »
    How dare you. Mr Farrell is already on boards, having two accounts would be dishonest and against rules

    https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/member.php?u=170638




    LOL.


  • Options
    #19
    spurious
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 27,107 CMod ✭✭✭✭spurious


    Who was the upstanding solicitor encouraged him to take this case?


  • Options
    #20
    McMurphy
    Registered Users Posts: 13,365 ✭✭✭✭McMurphy


    cruel_barber wrote: »
    i know someone who spent six years in a lot of pain , they never had a bruise or mark on them

    the damage to the car doesnt tell us anything about his injury or how painful it was

    The damming evidence seemed to be him smirking for the camera, up a ladder though.


  • Options
    #21
    Yer Da sells Avon
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,737 ✭✭✭Yer Da sells Avon


    I don't particularly like Alan Farrell - even by Fine Gael standards, he's a dick. I also don't think I'd ever make a personal injury claim, unless the injury literally cost me money. However, I'm not inclined to disbelieve the injury itself. I was involved in a crash last year and my back has not been the same since. Sadly, there's nobody to sue, as it was just me, some ice and a stone wall. I can still do stuff, lift stuff, carry stuff, etc - it just hurts a lot afterwards. I could probably climb a ladder without too much difficulty, but that doesn't mean my back is fine. If I go on a flight, I have to dose myself up with strong painkillers beforehand because sitting or standing for long periods of time is the worst (walking is one of the few things that relieves the pain).


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  • Options
    #22
    jprboy
    Registered Users Posts: 1,351 ✭✭✭jprboy


    Ten Pin wrote: »
    Wonder if his neck still Hertz

    Yes, be interesting to see if he can Budget without pain


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    #23
    ford2600
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,457 ✭✭✭ford2600


    jprboy wrote: »
    Yes, be interesting to see if he can Budget without pain

    he's Thrifty enough


  • Options
    #24
    backspin.
    Registered Users Posts: 1,091 ✭✭✭backspin.


    I hope he doesn't seriously think anyone believes his BS about a tingling neck. What a chancer.


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    #25
    suicide_circus
    Registered Users Posts: 19,802 ✭✭✭✭suicide_circus


    and this is one of the reasons all our insurance is so high. We are a sleeveen Me Fein nation. Our elected officials are a mirror image of ourselves.


  • Options
    #26
    Hitman3000
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,596 ✭✭✭Hitman3000


    Proving that this particular politician despite all evidence to the contrary has a 'soft' neck unlike the rest of his colleagues.


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    #27
    Hitman3000
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,596 ✭✭✭Hitman3000


    Wonder will the usual FG defenders rock up? Wheeliebin?


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    #28
    seagull
    Registered Users Posts: 2,340 ✭✭✭seagull


    jobless wrote: »
    a dishonest politician...im aghast!

    I don't know if John Grisham came up with this, or lifted it from somewhere else. I can't remember which of his books I read it in.

    The definition of an honest politician - once he's bought, he stays bought.


  • Options
    #29
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 14,344 ✭✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    So a car barely taps against him, and the person who was 'hit'', is suddenly in need of painkillers for a year and a half, is severely hampered at work and at home, but is yet able to do day-to-day physical activities without issues. Yet there is no damage to their car, and it's all so they can work the system to get a megabucks payout from a court?!


    I'm sorry, but the only fraud I see here, is the OP describing that as Unusual. :pac:


  • Options
    #30
    Wheeliebin30
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,593 ✭✭✭Wheeliebin30


    Hitman3000 wrote: »
    Wonder will the usual FG defenders rock up? Wheeliebin?

    No im just as outraged and in disbelief as you.

    Absolutely disgusted and outraged.


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    #31
    Hitman3000
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,596 ✭✭✭Hitman3000


    Wheeliebin30 wrote:
    No im just as outraged and in disbelief as you.


    Fair play.


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