On the above date, two claims for compensation were heard by District Judge Wells. This litigation emanated from a road traffic collision which occurred on 9th day of December 2002 on the Andersonstown Road, Belfast.
The plaintiffs were in a relatively new Volkswagen Polo car and were moving along the road in a stop start fashion as the traffic was heavy. The defendant admitted that her foot slipped off the clutch and her car just touched the car which the plaintiffs were travelling in.
There was some disagreement at trial as to who actually looked at the rear of the plaintiff’s car. However, it was common case that the passenger in the plaintiff’s car did inspect it twice and the defendant also looked at it. The plaintiff driver said she only looked at it when she drove to the police station to report the accident.
The plaintiff brought her car to a VW dealership, which inspected it and could not find any damage. The plaintiff herself could not see any damage.
It was not until a motor assessor from the defendant’s insurance company examined it that he saw a small dent about the size of a 10 pence piece on the rear of the car near the number plate. He photographed the dent.
The plaintiffs made claims for personal injuries to the defendant’s insurance company, which were turned down. The claims proceeded to litigation and both plaintiffs claimed they had suffered soft tissue injuries.
They were cross examined on this and it was put to them that they could not have possibly been injured given the very minor nature of the collision. District Judge Wells dismissed their claims on seeing the photographs. He held that none of the parties could see any damage at the time, nor could the VW dealership and therefore he was not sure that the dent which was photographed was even caused by this slight bump.
Civil Bills dismissed with an order for costs in favour of the defendant.