Offaly man used false no claims bonus to get motor insurance

A MAN was fined €100 after Tullamore District Court was told he used a false no claims bonus certificate when seeking motor insurance.

Radouane Hamdaoui (54), Parkview, Edenderry pleaded guilty to making a gain or causing a loss by deception on December 22, 2020.

The plea was entered by Marc Bairead, solicitor. Legal aid had been granted to Mr Hamdaoui at a previous appearance in January.

Sergeant James O'Sullivan told the court Mr Hamdaoui made an online application for insurance and he produced a no claims bonus certificate representing five years accident-free.

Judge Catherine Staines was told that document was found to be false. The accused had no previous convictions.

Mr Bairead said his client, a father of three, was on a disability payment following an accident at work.

The man was Algerian and had been in Ireland since 2002. He had an Algerian licence and while he converted it to a European licence he never used it to drive in this country.

As his children were getting older he decided he would buy a car and look for insurance but could not get any.

The solicitor said he then met someone “he was mildly aware of” who told him he could get the insurance sorted and he knew he made a mistake by not asking any questions.

Mr Bairead said all his client wanted to get insurance so that he could drive his children to school.

The car was now gone and he was never going to drive again. He acknowledged he had made a serious mistake and apologised to the court for it.

He had been driving for about a month but had not done so since.

Judge Staines gave the man four months to pay the €100 fine.