A care home owner has denied trying to fiddle £60,000 in a false insurance claim after his building suffered minor storm damage.
David Simpson told Exeter Crown Court his claims were genuine and he had falsified paperwork afterwards to try to help a tradesman who had been paid in cash.
The businessman said there was no point in making false claims because by the time they were settled his car home had gone into administration and he would have seen none of the money.
The prosecution allege he had the whole of the roof of the Bessmount House home in Kingskerswell replaced and claimed a further £47,000 for loss of business even though only one room had been affected.
Simpson ran the home for elderly people, many with dementia, until he sold it two years ago. He says the claims were honest and the figure for loss of earnings came from his accountant.
The insurance company paid out almost £16,000 before stopping further payments and calling in the police.
Simpson, aged 57, of Rattycombe Farm, Chudleigh, denies three counts of fraud. They allege he dishonestly claimed £8,550 for roofing, £4,400 for internal repairs and £47,052.52 for loss of earnings.
He admitted to the jury that some of the letters he wrote to the insurance company had not been true and he had claimed a £22,000 payment was to a roofer when in fact it had been to a member of his family.
He said he had not intended to deceive anyone and he was trying to end the long running correspondence by saying the money had been paid to the roofer through an intermediary.
He claimed he had made large cash payments to the Plymouth based roofing firm, which meant he needed to create the paperwork for the insurance claim.
He said:"By the time I wrote to the insurers about the £22,000 my business had gone into receivership, so I would not have received any of the money even if they had paid it. I stood to gain nothing."
Ends
The trial continues
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