An Ashurst Perkins Coie lawyer has been struck off after he attempted to make a false insurance claim for a stolen bicycle in 2022.
Kieran Ferguson later attempted to cancel the claim and told the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal that he had misunderstood the policy.
A City lawyer has been struck off over a false insurance claim he made for a stolen bicycle in 2022.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal hearing this week centred on an incident in April 2022 when Kieran Ferguson, who was then an Ashurst associate and now works at newly merged Ashurst Perkins Coie, retroactively added the details of a bike he owned to his insurance policy after it had already been stolen hours earlier.
The tribunal heard that the banking lawyer later tried to cancel his claim, and alleged that he had misunderstood the policy, believing it to cover any bike up to the value of his coverage, a position he maintained before the tribunal.
Zurich, the underwriter of his policy provided by specialist insurer Laka, investigated the incident, and ultimately found he had attempted to defraud the insurer.
The SRA brought a case for dishonesty and lack of integrity against Ferguson after Zurich added Ferguson's details to the Insurance Fraud Register and later reported the matter to the regulator in September 2023.
Ferguson’s counsel argued that a combination of stressors led to a lapse in the solicitor’s judgement. At the time the claim was made, the lawyer was dealing with the emotional impact of a failed home purchase and the aftermath of the murder of a close friend.
With regard to sanctioning, counsel argued that Ferguson’s unblemished professional record and glowing references from Ashurst should be taken into consideration, alongside the fact that he did not end up benefiting from the false claim and the insurer did not suffer any loss.
The decision
On Tuesday, the tribunal found that the two allegations put to Ferguson by the SRA were proved - first, that he provided misleading information to his insurer in an attempt to make a claim on the stolen bike, and second, that he deliberately made misleading statements to his insurer to support his claim for the stolen bicycle.
Ferguson was struck off on Wednesday and ordered to pay £20,757 in costs.
Ashurst Perkins Coie has been approached for comment.
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