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Fake, fraudulent personal injury claims are a serious problem and part of a massive UK 'black market' industry costing more than two billion pounds per year.
But, you know, sometimes we need a little light relief from the regular stories of fraud, corruption, embezzlement and the like that many Brits consider is a useful way to balance their finances.
And I can't think of much funnier than the sitcom Only Fools and Horses with the amusing antics of Del Boy, Rodney, Trigger, the loveable Uncle Albert 'et al' always broaching stunts and rib ticklers virtually guaranteed to give us an injury or two by themselves.
Steering back to the point about false claims, it never ceases to amaze me how relatively easy it is to fake an insurance claim. Whiplash, for instance, is notoriously difficult to prove.
But it's an old episode of Only Fools and Horses that got me thinking about how honesty must always be the best policy to live by because getting rumbled for fraudulent claims may not happen immediately but it's probably just a matter of time.
Let me bring smiles back to our face walking you through the classic episode in question:
Like many of us, the Trotters are facing tough financial times, not helped by Rodney investing half a grand in a stock of suntan lotions in just about the worst winter for years.
Down at their local, the Nag's Head, Mike the landlord calls over to Del walking outside and asks for a chat about a deep fat fryer he'd bought off him.
While chatting, there is a loud crash and everyone races to the pub cellar where Uncle Albert lays sprawled on the floor grimacing in pain after walking by outside and falling through the open cellar door.
Uncle Albert declares, "I've got a right mind to sue the brewery!"
With that, Del's expression changes to, you know, the one where he's thinking up a 'Hooky Street' scam and he calls dodgy solicitor, Solly Attwell.
And then on to the funniest bits the case goes to court. Wheelchair-bound Uncle Albert fakes amnesia, claiming mental difficulties as a result of the fall.
But, hilariously, mouths start to open like goldfish as the brewery's barrister reminds 'forgetful' Albert about a string of cases where Albert Gladstone Trotter had fallen down many an opening.
And most open-mouthed of all, it turns out Albert trained for parachute jumps where he learned to fall without hurting himself.
Del Boy and Rodney couldn't believe what they had heard and, in their inimitable style, take Albert to task over his fraudulent personal injury claims.
You almost feel sorry for Uncle Albert as he reveals outside the court that he would fall down holes whenever he and (now deceased brother) Grandad were short of money. This time, he wanted to help pay for Grandad's headstone because he'd never had the chance to pay Grandad back for being a great friend when they were young.
The Trotter brothers forgive Albert and start to wheel him home in his wheelchair but then, to even more laughter, Del realises the "old git" can walk.
When you think about it, insurance fraud what Uncle Albert tried to do - is a heinous thing.
Insurance is a societal system it is a cost that those in society must pay in order to be protected by society. By trying to 'beat' the system, those that abuse it harm the lives of the rest of us.
Admittedly there may be some disreputable insurance companies trying to profiteer on the back of their customers, but - aside from that worrying abuse of power - it is us law-abiding citizens who end up paying for the deceit and dishonesty of others.
And there you have it the moral of this story really is to act honest about personal injury claims. Funny as this episode about Only Fools and Horses might have been, in real life, criminal fraudsters deserve our ire and, with any luck, really deserve to end up being brought to book for their illegal actions.
