Aviva take out injunction against digger protest man (From The Northern Echo)

Aviva take out injunction against digger protest man

8:30am Saturday 4th February 2012 in News

INSURANCE company Aviva has taken out an injunction against a customer who staged a one-man protest at its offices using his digger.

Armed police attended the Monks Cross offices last spring when self-employed plant hire operator Paul Parvin, of Sessay, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire, blocked the barriers to the site where 180 employees worked.

Mr Parvin, who was angry over the way his claim had been handled by Aviva since an articulated lorry hit and severely damaged his digger in January 2008, had previously protested by sitting in a deckchair with a placard for several hours near the entrance to another Aviva building, in Rougier Street, York.

Now Aviva has confirmed that it has “regrettably” obtained an injunction against Mr Parvin “to avoid further business disruption”.

A spokeswoman said the company believed it had done all it could for Mr Parvin.

“Despite the Financial Ombudsman Service backing our decision in relation to his case, Mr Parvin continued to protest at our premises in York and, while we respect the right of individuals to protest peacefully, Mr Parvin’s protests were becoming increasingly disruptive to our business and employees,” she said.

“We have to put the welfare of our staff first and while we have made every effort to bring this to an amicable conclusion, regrettably, we have now had to take the step of obtaining an injunction against Mr Parvin to avoid further business disruption.”

Mr Parvin, who had an engineering and motor insurance policy with Aviva, said the injunction, obtained at the High Court, prevented him going on the company’s property.

He intended to obey it, but planned to resume his demonstrations on public land, for example near the city centre offices.

He claimed his digger protest had never stopped anyone entering or leaving the Monks Cross offices, and revealed that at one stage, he had started breaking the JCB into pieces and delivering it to Aviva’s other offices in York and protesting outside.