Exchange Chambers

Guy Vickers tells High Court of “overwhelming evidence” as seven face trial for perjury

Accident Exchange Limited, advised by Guy Vickers at Exchange Chambers, has been given permission to pursue allegations of contempt of court against seven former employees of rates surveying firm Autofocus Limited (in liquidation).

Guy Vickers told Lord Justice Moses, who was sitting with Mr Justice Irwin, that the company had “overwhelming evidence” that Autofocus workers had routinely manipulated their evidence.

Autofocus was used by insurance companies to investigate the cost of replacement hire cars in claims involving the victims of motor accidents and crashes. Its evidence, which involved testing the rates charged by credit hire companies to establish whether a bill was fair, was put forward in thousands of court cases.

Large players in the motor market have all used Autofocus. But the company, which is in liquidation, has been locked since 2009 in a legal battle with Accident Exchange, a luxury car hire firm that has alleged malpractice by the consultancy in at least 4,000 cases.

Yesterday’s ruling marked a big victory for Accident Exchange, which was given permission to pursue allegations of contempt of court against seven former Autofocus “rate surveyors”.

Calls made to rival hire care providers to establish a fair rate were not made and fictitious rates were inserted into previously prepared reports, Accident Exchange has claimed. Accident Exchange believes that as many as 20,000 compensation cases could have been compromised. The alleged scams took place between 2007 and 2010 and cost Accident Exchange up to £50 million, the company has claimed.

Lord Justice Moses ordered that documents relating to allegations against Autofocus be sent to the Attorney-General. Autofocus has been accused of knowingly providing dishonest evidence used in court.

Dominic Grieve, QC, will examine the evidence before ruling on whether criminal prosecutions can be brought. If convicted, the seven could face imprisonment.

Lord Justice Moses told a High Court hearing that the alleged scandal “seems to me so grave that, at first blush, the mind boggles. If proved, it is difficult to think of a more serious conspiracy ... We are talking about industrial-scale perjury. If that isn’t something that will attract the attention of the Attorney-General, or the Director of Public Prosecutions, I don’t know what is.”