Three insurance workers who were bribed to pass on data about customers have each been handed suspended prison terms.

Kayleigh Underhill, Andrew Clarke and Reace Bowen made around £250 a week from passing on data which would then be sent to claims management companies to start personal injury claims.

According to a notice published by City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), the three, who worked for Allianz Insurance, had been approached by brothers Sajaad Nawaz and Shaiad Nawaz who persuaded them to hand over the confidential information. In total, 700 pieces of data were transferred and the group banked around £7,000 through the scam.

Graham Gibson, chief claims officer at Allianz Insurance, said the firm was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the actions of its three employees and it had worked with authorities to have them brought to justice.

‘Keeping our customers’ data safe from rogue claims management companies is a priority for Allianz and we will work closely with the police to help prosecute those involved in this type of activity,’ said Gibson. ‘Allianz has a zero tolerance to data theft which is not a victimless crime. This often leads to cold calling and pressure on our customers to pursue claims that lack validity and it must be stamped out.’

The group’s activity came to light after a tip-off to a fraud reporting centre in November 2015.

Detectives gathered evidence showing Underhill, Clarke and Bowen had regular contact with the brothers through WhatsApp, passing photographs of hand-written notes with customers’ data and discussing payment.

Once passed to claims management companies the customers were cold-called and encouraged to start a personal injury claim.

Underhill, 26 and from Solihull, received a 12-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months, a rehabilitation order and an order to pay £1,050 compensation to Allianz. Both Clarke, 24 and from Solihull, and Bowen, 23 and from Birmingham, were sentenced to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 18 months. All three were sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to bribery offences.

The Nawaz brothers, both from Birmingham, were both sentenced to suspended jail terms last week at Birmingham Crown Court, Sajaad having pleaded guilty and Shaiad going to trial.