Bradford bodyshop involved in insurance scam
The owner of a bodyshop that boasts of clients such as top footballers and music superstars, has paid back tens of thousands of pounds to an insurance company after it was found to be involved in an alleged ‘cash-for-crash’ scheme.
The Yorkshire Post reported that Naveed Khan, the founder of Enkahnz in Bradford, received an insurance pay-out of more than £30,000 for repairs to his Ferrari after it was involved in an apparent collision with an Audi Q7 in nearby Clayton in 2013.
But after the insurance company, XL Catlin, began to suspect the claim was fraudulent it started legal action against Mr Khan, the Audi driver, Kawaljeet Singh, and Marc Coope, the passenger in Mr Khan’s Ferrari.
A county court hearing in Bradford heard that Mr Khan has now paid back the money to XL Catlin, while a judge has ordered the two other men to pay substantial costs and damages.
Enkhanz describes itself as the ‘UK’s leading accident repair centre and vehicle customization boutique’ and says it works with clients ‘including prominent businessmen, premiership footballers and international music superstars.’
On Thursday, a hearing at Bradford county court was told that after ‘a considerable amount of investigative work’ by its investigators, XL Catlin came to the conclusion that Mr Khan, Mr Singh and Mr Coope were all known to each other.
It later emerged Mr Singh worked for Sidhu and Co, who at one stage were the company accountants for Enkhanz and based at one of the company’s registered offices in Eldon Place, Bradford, while Mr Coope was an Enkhanz employee. It is claimed that Mr Singh and Mr Khan said they did not know each other prior to the collision.
XL Catlin says Mr Singh claimed on his insurance for the damage to the Audi, which was paid and totalled £3,862.04. Mr Coope did not make a claim but told insurers he would do so because he was present in the Ferrari and was injured.
In his ruling, District Judge Cahill said, ‘Catlin Insurance had begun to amass sufficient information to indicate that the claim was not all it appeared to be.’
‘They contend in their defence that the accident had been staged for gain and to that extent was a fraudulent claim.’
Mr Khan had alleged that Mr Singh’s Audi drove into the back of his Ferrari on Low Lane, Clayton, on November 28, 2013.
XL Catlin said the three were involved in a conspiracy so that Mr Khan would make money from the Ferrari repairs, then make a claim for £43,000 to a hire company to temporarily replace the vehicle.
He is said to have claimed he couldn’t find another hired vehicle so he had to hire one from another company, but was later seen driving other cars that were registered to his own firm.
In his judgement, Judge Cahill said Mr Khan ‘accepted the claim against him brought by Catlin’. He said, ‘If not having accepted the claim against him in the sense he has formally admitted it, he has compromised the claim and made certain payments to Catlin, which may reflect, more or less, the payments made to them.’
The civil hearing this week concerned damages and costs to be paid by Mr Coope and Mr Singh, neither of whom turned up to hear their fate. The judge ordered them to pay £22,900 in damages and £17,742 in costs.
