An insurance claims-handler has been jailed after bolting on extra costs to legitimate claims and keeping the money for himself.

Jack Burton was a call-handler for AXA between 2015 and 2016, when he manipulated 10 claims by adding car hire services the customer did not require and had never asked for. He then diverted the payment for these services into his own bank account.

Burton, 27, came to the attention of law enforcers in 2017 when insurance firm Aviva suspected fraudulent insurance claims were made against a policy under his name and a company to which he was linked.

Further enquiries found he also made fraudulent claims against polices with Direct Line Group, RSA and AXA. Between December 2016 and April 2017, Burton made seven claims against these policies for theft, loss or damage to various items, including a MacBook Pro, a Canon camera and an i-Pro camera.

After his arrest in November 2017, Burton admitted all offences put to him and said he had been heavily in debt and was struggling to cope financially.

But analysis of his bank accounts revealed he was spending the money on electrical goods, hiring expensive cars, expensive hotels in Manchester and London, visits to places such as Alton Towers and Madame Tussauds. He admitted making nine fraudulent claims and to stealing around £7,800 through abusing his position as an insurance claims-handler. At Manchester Crown Court last week, he was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Following the case, Tom Wilson, counter fraud manager at AXA Insurance, said: ‘Burton’s fraudulent activities were prolific, taking advantage of his employment at AXA as well as a number of other insurers.’