Under s 118(2) of the Motor Accidents Compensation Act 1999, where a claim has been settled, the court must determine the financial benefit obtained in the settlement as a result of the false and misleading conduct, not the 'true value' of the claim as if assessed at trial. The financial benefit a claimant fraudulently seeks under s 118(1) need not correspond with the financial benefit from which the insurer is relieved under s 118(2). Where a claimant knowingly makes a misrepresentation likely to induce the insurer to act to its financial detriment, the tribunal of fact will ordinarily infer that the purpose was to obtain a financial benefit; a finding of deliberate exaggeration of symptoms compels that inference.
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