And Then An Insurance Investigation….

You may have missed these, but there seem to be a million adverts on the radio, TV and the printed media advertising 'help' in claiming damages, in the form of money I guess, if you've had any type of accident. You are aware of them then.

Catching the thirty third advert in thirty three minutes last night, I remembered a storey from many moons ago. Is the following a true storey or not, I have no idea and I can't be troubled to Google it. I would love it to be a true tale.

It seems all those years ago, possibly just after the war, there was a guy who took out an insurance policy which would pay out a huge, for the day, amount if he got a back or leg injury that prevented him from working. Not a bad idea, right?

Suspiciously, after only paying a couple or three premiums, our hero called the Doctor. He had hurt his back the previous day and was now stating he was unable to walk at all.

Now, as we all know, a back problem is a very difficult thing to 'detect' and was even more so back in the day I would say.

Long story short? Our hero ended up being confined to a wheelchair. And? And made a claim on his insurance policy.

With only two premiums being paid against a huge pay-out, the insurance company dispatched their ace fraud investigator who proceeded to subjected our hero to countless medical examinations by countless medical experts, all of which proved inconclusive.

In view of the vagaries of back ailments, inconclusive medical examinations and the fraud investigator discovering our hero wasn't exactly a squeaky clean citizen, the insurance company refused to pay-out despite the investigator not being able to catch our hero out of his wheelchair throughout the investigation.

This didn't best please 'back boy' so he took the insurers to court which resulted in yet more prodding and poking by various medical men.

Long storey yet shorter? After deliberation, the presiding Judge, weighing up all the evidence and seeing a fit young man reduced to life in a wheelchair, found against the insurers and awarded full payment to our hero.

This really, really gripped the fraud investigator who was one hundred percent convinced this was fraud and our hero was a naughty boy.

As our hero was wheeling himself from the court, ear to ear grin in place, the investigator approached and proceeded to rip into our man. His final words were, "I know you're conning us, I know you are and I don't care how long this takes but I'm going to catch you. I'll be watching you day and night and sooner or later you're going to get out of that wheelchair and walk. The temptation, with all that money, will be too much for you. I'll be watching, I'll be there, I'll nick you, you'll go to gaol and we'll get our money back. That's a promise"

"Please," replied our hero, "there's no need to put yourself to all that trouble Mr Investigator. I'll give you my plans right now. Follow me if you wish, I don't mind. I'm going straight to Dover and catching the ferry. Tomorrow I'll be heading to Lourdes and if you're there, you'll be whiteness to one of the fastest miracles ever seen!!"

Quote; Doug Coupland.

"Birds are a miracle because they prove to us there is a finer, simpler state of being which we may strive to attain."