An engineer who sued an insurance company for £5 million after a motorbike crash left him needing a mobility scooter has been accused of faking the extent of his injuries. Grant Greening-Steer, 51, was left with a fractured spine and a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury after motorist Derek Ainge collided with his Yamaha motorbike near his home in New Milton, Hampshire, in June 2019.
Nearly seven years after the crash, Mr Greening-Steer is pursuing damages from the driver's insurers for approximately £5 million, including a £160,000 claim for someone to walk his dog. He asserts that the injuries have prevented him from working, occasionally require the use of a mobility scooter, and cause difficulties with tasks like fastening laces and buttons.
However, lawyers for the driver and his insurers have obtained covert surveillance footage that purportedly shows Mr Greening-Steer walking normally. They argue that the video demonstrates he is a malingerer who is deliberately exaggerating his symptoms to inflate his claim. At the start of the High Court case, Charles Woodhouse, KC for the motorist and insurers, acknowledged the seriousness of the accident, which caused extensive physical damage including a spinal fracture, lower back fracture, and injuries to the left shoulder and hip. He stated, 'We acknowledge the seriousness of his injuries and that the claimant is likely to suffer some, even some relatively significant, ongoing symptoms as a result of those injuries.'
Mr Woodhouse argued that the surveillance footage proves Mr Greening-Steer has made a reasonable functional recovery and is exaggerating his symptoms. 'Liability is admitted, but the claimant has deliberately lied about and exaggerated the extent of his ongoing symptoms and their impact on him to deliberately inflate the value of his claim,' he said. Mr Greening-Steer's damages bill totals £4,924,418, though some needs remain unquantified. The defence contends the claim is worth only £112,022 and should be struck out due to alleged dishonesty.
Surveillance Evidence and Medical Opinions
Mr Woodhouse asserted that Mr Greening-Steer's dishonesty has been present from the start. 'It is submitted that the surveillance evidence unequivocally contradicts Mr Greening-Steer's account of his disability and its impact on his day-to-day activities and ability to work,' he told the court. Neurosurgeons who examined the cooling engineer and reviewed the surveillance video concluded that it reveals exaggeration of symptoms. One medic stated, 'Conscious exaggeration is clearly depicted. I am strongly of the view that he is malingering to enhance the value of his claim.'
Medical records presented to the court indicate that Mr Greening-Steer made a reasonable recovery during the first year after the accident and was able to return to part-time work, including driving a forklift truck, while still experiencing ongoing symptoms. However, his damages claim contradicts this picture of gradual recovery, as he now claims to suffer very significant disability. He complains of problems standing up, an altered gait with a dragging left leg, a plodding right leg, and no arm swing. He claims to need a standard and off-road mobility scooter, walking poles, and a stick due to his limited walking range.
In court documents, Mr Greening-Steer described difficulties getting in and out of the bath, carrying items without spilling them, and generalised debilitating fatigue. He stated that his injuries ultimately made work impossible, despite initially returning to his refrigerated trailer business. He also cited reduced manual dexterity, struggling with buttons and laces, and challenges including physical disability, reduced balance, pain, fatigue, cognitive blunting, incontinence, and emotional dysregulation.
Breakdown of the Claim
The total sum sought includes over £1.8 million for lifetime care and assistance, £116,176 for holidays, and £160,655 to pay someone to walk his dog for an hour each day. During cross-examination, Mr Greening-Steer explained that he never uses a walking stick outside the house due to embarrassment and only resorts to a mobility scooter when going out for long periods. He stated, 'If I sit down for a long period of time, my left foot goes stiff and if I stand for a long time my leg will spasm.'
He also told a medic in 2024 that he could not go out when it was windy for fear of being blown over, as he lives near a cliff top. He claimed he could not walk more than 100 metres without exhaustion and a burning sensation in his leg. When confronted with surveillance footage showing him walking normally, he maintained, 'I can't walk with a normal gait, it's physically impossible.' The footage also captured him driving to a petrol station, filling up, and walking with a normal gait and arm swing, according to the defence. Later, he drove his two-seater Aston Martin on the motorway for 55 miles, allegedly reaching 90 mph, which he denied.
Mr Greening-Steer denies malingering. If found to have been fundamentally dishonest, he could receive no damages despite the insurer's admission of injury, and may be liable for the insurer's legal costs. The trial continues.
