It’s important to note that you should have your bases covered when filing an insurance claim. A woman who filed an insurance claim of $820,000 for suffering debilitating injuries in a car accident had her claim dismissed after it was proven that she won a Christmas tree-throwing contest a year after the accident.
On February 3, 2017, Kamila Grabska was involved in a car accident on her way to work in Ennis, Ireland. The car she was a passenger in was rear-ended and left her with debilitating physical trauma.
The 36-year-old recently filed an insurance claim with RSA Insurance claiming that the chronic pain in her back, neck, and thoracic spine left her unable to work. This resulted in a loss of income of more than $542,000, which she was hoping to get back.
According to court records, Grabska said that her pain kept her in bed on bad days and prevented her from carrying relatively light loads. However, this didn’t stop her from participating in and winning Christmas tree-throwing contests.
Court documents showed that Grabska told a doctor that she couldn’t lift a bag of groceries two days before participating in the 2018 annual Christmas Tree Throwing Championships in Ennis, which she won. The insurance company’s lawyers managed to track down photos on Facebook of Grabska participating in the contest.
When asked by the lawyers if she felt any pain while participating in the tree-throwing contest, the 36-year-old said that she was in pain but was “trying to live a normal life.”
Grabska did file the $820,000 insurance claim for past and future loss of income but with the evidence shown in court, the judge had no choice but to dismiss her claim as exaggerated.
“It is a very large, natural Christmas tree and it is being thrown by her in a very agile movement,” the judge said. “I’m afraid I cannot but conclude the claims were entirely exaggerated. On that basis, I propose to dismiss the claim.”