When champion strongman Scott Maw was hurt in a car crash, he told his GP he struggled carrying shopping bags.
As he claimed for a whiplash-style shoulder injury, he failed, however, to mention he was still a dab hand at lifting logs, concrete balls and even a Transit van.
The decision to seek compensation for his accident injuries, in what solicitors said was a ‘blatantly dishonest’ insurance claim against the other driver, has left him £25,000 out-of-pocket.
Two weeks after his crash in Sheffield, Maw, 36, was still able to pull an eight-tonne tractor and be crowned King of the Log Press at the Peak District Highlands Games.
And, six months later, as he said his injury problems persisted – leaving him, he claimed, ‘restricted’ in carrying shopping bags, doing DIY and ‘getting in and out of the bath’ – he bagged the title of Yorkshire’s Strongest Man.
Unsurprisingly, the extent of his injuries were disputed by the other driver’s insurance company.
Six months after his crash, Scott Maw bagged the title of Yorkshire’s Strongest Man, despite saying his injury problems persisted
Maw (pictured winning Yorkshire’s Strongest man 2023) claimed the crash left him ‘restricted’ in carrying shopping bags, doing DIY and ‘getting in and out of the bath
Maw insists he was genuinely injured, was able to carry on competing as a strongman as his symptoms were ‘intermittent’ and he only dropped his claim because things ‘spiralled out of control’.
With his claim being contested, papers were filed with Sheffield County Court.
But eventually the strongman dropped his claim and agreed to pay the other side’s legal costs of £15,000, the total bill running to £25,000 when his own fees were added in.
The case has been made public by Markerstudy Insurance Services Limited and its lawyers HF as an example of how people who lodge ‘fundamentally dishonest’ insurance claims can pay a very heavy price.
In August 2022, Maw, a plasterer, was driving his Vauxhall Insignia car with his partner as a passenger, when a Ford T200 Connect performed an unexpected U-turn and collided with the side of his car.
There was no dispute that the other driver was to blame.
When his insurer’s lodged a claim against the other driver’s insurer, he stated that he suffered a whiplash-type problem in the form of a shoulder blade injury.
Graeme Mulvoy, the partner at HF responsible for the case, said Maw was examined by a GP in September 2022 and January 2023 when he was still claiming to be injured.
There was no visible sign of injury, such as bruising, and it was ‘all based on his account.’
Mr Mulvoy said that ‘some of the injuries described by him we say essentially couldn’t have been caused or not to the same severity be caused’ by the accident.
Mr Maw said he was still fit to compete in the Highland Games event that August as he was used to ‘working with niggles’
In the Highland Games about two weeks after the crash Mr Maw pulled a tractor with his own strength, carried stones weighing 170kg (over 26 stone) and lifted 120kg logs (more than 18 stone) eight times a minute.
Mr Mulvoy said: ‘You wouldn’t have expected somebody suffering from those injuries to be able to do it.’
The lawyer added that he was able to do tasks ‘requiring superhuman strength’ while at the same time claiming that ‘carrying shopping was too difficult for him.’
Commenting on the strongman contests, Mr Mulvoy added: ‘He played down the significant exertion his body would undergo in these events.’
Maw told the Mail he had now retired from competing after more than a decade taking part in strongman events. He said he still suffers occasionally from shoulder pain caused by the accident.
He said he told the doctor he had ‘intermittent pain but was still managing to go to work and still managing to go to the gym.’
‘When I get out the bath and push on the side sometimes I would have a bit of pain in my shoulder blades,’ he said.
Maw told the Mail he had now retired from competing after more than a decade taking part in strongman events
He said he was still fit to compete in the Highland Games event that August as he was used to ‘working with niggles.’
When his insurance company discovered he competed in the strongman contest they withdrew their support.
‘I didn’t know what to do,’ he said. ‘Do I stand on my own and risk going to court? Somebody said they could go for equity in your house. That were really frightening.’
Maw said he then agreed to the deal to pay both legal fees to end the spiralling saga.
Asked to comment on the suggestion by the insurance company that he had been ‘blatantly dishonest’, he said ‘that’s not true.’
‘I still get pain in my shoulder now, I must have jarred it when I turned the steering wheel. I know how it’s being perceived but it’s not the truth.’