Ray Managh
A man who walked into a doctor’s clinic limping on his left leg and walked out limping on the other one has lost a €60,000 personal injuries claim and was today ordered to pay an insurance company’s costs that could top €25,000.
Barrister Frank Martin, counsel for Jordan Murray Transport, said that when Ioan Bondor visited another consultant about a swollen testicle arising from the same traffic collision in which he claimed to have hurt his back, the insurers decided to put him under surveillance.
Mr Martin, who appeared with Joanne Campbell of Tormeys Solicitors, told the court a private detective videoed Bondor enter and leave the second specialist’s surgery by using crutches he later abandoned in a car and went walkabout unaided.
Insurance premiums
Judge Cormac Quinn said in the Circuit Civil Court when dismissing Bondor’s claim that he was a prime example of the person who comes to court, grossly exaggerates their claim and tells lies about their accident and alleged injuries.
Judge Quinn said there had been doctors, solicitors, counsel, surveillance agents and forensic engineers employed to disprove Bondor’s case all of which added up to very high costs which unfortunate motorists had to pay through increased insurance premiums.
Medical evidence
Mr Martin had told the judge that Mr Bondor, of Pine View Grove, Aylesbury, Tallaght, Dublin 24, had come to court without any proper medical evidence to substantiate his claims and expected to be compensated.
Bondor, who said he did not drive since the November 2018 accident because no insurer would cover him, claimed that one of Jordan Murray Transport’s trucks had crashed against the side of his BMW as he joined the M7 at the Clondalkin Interchange.
Judge Quinn said he knew the M7 interchange and it was up to Mr Bondor to make sure the lane he was entering was clear before joining the motorway.
Mr Martin, who was instructed by Wexford-based Wrightway Underwriting Limited backed by Zurich Insurance, told Bondor he had caused the collision by accelerating to get ahead of the truck as he joined the motorway.
Bondor claimed he had been driving parallel with the truck when it had veered into his lane and struck the side of his car.
Judge Quinn said Mr Bondor’s evidence relating to both the accident and his injuries was just not credible and threw out his case without the defendants having to call evidence to rebut his claims. He awarded all costs against Bondor.
