Fraudulent claims handler ordered to repay thousands of pounds

A former RSA claims handler has been ordered to repay £37,000 by Liverpool Crown Court after illegally passing on customer details to a law firm and adding family members to genuine claims.

Anthony Francis Joseph Rattigan, 31, of Oulton Lane, Liverpool was ordered to repay the sum after a confiscation hearing yesterday.

Rattigan had already been sentenced by the court to 10 months’ imprisonment for the fraudulent activity on May 6 this year, following an investigation by the City of London Policie’s insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED).

But he now faces an additional nine month sentence if he fails to pay back the £37,000.

The fraud was initially uncovered by internal fraud investigators at RSA where Rattigan was employed as a claims handler.

The case was referred to IFED in June 2014.

Rattigan added friends and family members as injured passengers onto genuine claims he was handling so that they would receive payouts. He also referred these claims and 37 others to a law firm that, in turn, gave Rattigan referral payments totalling around £25,500 between January 2012 and June 2014.

Eight claims with added friends and family members were identified, with insurance payouts of over £29,000 in costs and compensation to the false claimants and solicitors.

IFED’s detective sergeant Matthew Hussey 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, but thanks to the processes in place across RSA, his fraudulent activity was spotted.

”The case was then passed to us for criminal investigation and he is now facing the prospect of several months behind bars.”