A BODYBUILDER who claimed to be plagued by a fear of heights after plunging into a pond was caught out on video on top of a 100ft water slide. Ben Bardsley, 38, from Stockport, brought in a a specialist firm to build a pond in the back garden of his home in July 2015. He […]
A BODYBUILDER who claimed to be plagued by a fear of heights after plunging into a pond was caught out on video on top of a 100ft water slide.
Ben Bardsley, 38, from Stockport, brought in a a specialist firm to build a pond in the back garden of his home in July 2015.
He went outside to look at the work when the firm’s digger clattered into him and knocked him into the pond.
The gym boss launched legal action against Warrington Koi & Aquatics which led to a claim to its insurers Aviva.
The action claimed Bardlsey was left with back and neck injuries which forced him to stop lifting weights.
He also alleged to have been left with a fear of heights due to psychological damage caused by the incident.
But his claim was thrown out by a court after lawyers for Aviva became suspicious and investigated his circumstances more closely.
They discovered a video on his social media on top of Europe’s highest water slide in Spain.
Bardsley now faces a £14,000 legal bill after the video was dug up of him careering down the 108ft Verti-Go in Benidorm.
Aviva’s lawyers found a catalogue of social media posts from Bardsley continued to lift heavy weights after the accident.
One post was even published on the day he went a medical examination which noted “ongoing symptoms prevent him from performing activities that involved lifting”, said law firm Clyde & Co.
In the water slide video he says “there’s no queue for obvious reasons” and shouts to his pal before plummeting down the slide at 62mph.
His claim was dismissed at Manchester County Court last month.
Recorder Richard Hartley QC said the idea that someone going down such a slide would struggle with heights was “nonsense”.
The judge went on to say that Bardsley was not straight with the medical experts or the court “and when faced with this he should have withdrawn his claim immediately”, said Clyde & Co.
He ruled that Bardsley was guilty of “fundamental dishonesty in respect of his claim” and ordered him to pay the defendant’s legal costs of £14,318.
Damian Rourke, partner with Clyde & Co, said: “It’s important to understand that Aviva never sought to argue that the claimant was not injured at all.
“Instead, the issue was that the claimant had exaggerated both the physical and psychological effects of his injuries to the extent that the entire claim should be dismissed.
“While the claimant damages were assessed at around £4,500, because he sought to claim approximately four to five times that amount, he lost everything.”
Richard Hiscocks, director of motor and casualty claims at Aviva, said: “We are here to pay genuine claims quickly and do.
“But by overstating the value and extent of his injury, Mr Bardsley sought to increase the cost of insurance for our honest customers.
“We have a duty to keep their costs low by challenging spurious and inflated claims.
“And so we are pleased the court has made clear that exaggerating an injury claim is a serious offence and is not the payday some people think it could be.”
