Apology for accident firm

9:54am Thursday 20th December 2007

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A businessman and his brother have won a public apology from a national newspaper over an article which linked his company to a major car crash insurance scam.

Mohammed Shokat, director of Premier Accident Management UK (Yorkshire) Ltd, had issued a libel writ following a story in the Financial Mail on Sunday last March.

The article, headlined How the car crash gangs net millions', followed an investigation by the paper the previous year into insurance frauds involving staged accidents.

It claimed an insurance company was looking into personal injury claims, submitted on behalf of Premier clients, seeking a total payout of more than £100,000.

The newspaper had sent two men into Premier's main office, near to the Toller Lane roundabout in Bradford, posing as accident victims wanting to claim compensation.

Mr Shokat, his brother Mohammed Sageer, and his company issued a libel writ against publishers Associated Newspapers, managing editor John Wellington and reporter Andrew Foxwell, for a minimum of £300,000, claiming they had been exposed to public scandal and their personal and business reputations had been damaged.

But today the newspaper was due to publish an apology, admitting that its story had contained inaccuracies.

Mr Shokat said he was relieved that the newspaper had said sorry but felt aggrieved at the damage that had been caused.

He said: "We were labelled as thieves, without any basis. If an agreement had not been reached I was ready to go to trial. I have never had anything to hide."

It is understood the newspaper has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the complainants.

No-one at the Mail on Sunday was available for comment.

By Steve Wright