An insurance claim handler who was jailed for illegally passing on customer details to a law firm and adding friends and family to genuine claims has been told to pay back £37,000. 

Anthony Rattigan was convicted of two counts of fraud by abuse of position and two counts of money laundering after an investigation by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department.

In a confiscation order handed down at Liverpool Crown Court on 14 November, Rattigan was told he must pay the fine or face a further nine months in prison. The 31-year-old was jailed for 10 months in May.

Rattigan’s fraud was uncovered by internal fraud investigators at insurer RSA where Rattigan was employed as a claim handler. The case was then referred to IFED.

He was responsible for handling motor insurance claims involving their policy holders but abused his position to falsely add friends and family members as injured passengers on genuine claims so they could receive payouts. 

He referred these claims and 37 others to a law firm that gave Rattigan referral payments totalling around £25,500 between January 2012 and June 2014. The law firm has not been named.

Rattigan listed his partner, brothers-in-law and various other friends and family members as being injured in collisions for which he was acting as the claim handler.

In total, eight claims were identified with insurance payouts of more than £29,000 in costs and compensation to the false claimants and solicitors.

Detective sergeant Matthew Hussey of the IFED said: ‘Rattigan used his knowledge of the claims process and his position as a claim handler to submit the fraudulent claims so that he and his friends and family could profit – all at the insurer’s expense. 

‘He knew it was wrong to make referrals to the law firm, and he hid his occupation from them in order to go undetected.’