Henfield vet nurse made £13,000 false insurance claims for pets

Gemma Cole was caught using the insurance policies for her three cats and three dogs to obtain thousands of pounds worth of treatments and medication by submitting false and "exaggerated" claims.

The 31-year-old used computer systems at the veterinary surgery she worked at in West Sussex to make the claims over a period of over four years.

But after admitting the fraud Cole, of Staples Barn, Henfield, avoided jail and instead received a suspended sentence.

Lewes Crown Court heard Cole had insurance policies for her three cats and three dogs under Petplan and Pets at Home, subsidiaries of Allianz Insurance.

In May last year, the head veterinary nurse at Cole's practice reported her to Allianz, explaining that she'd been using Vet Envoy - the system the surgery used to submit insurance claims - to make false and exaggerated claims for her pets.

The court heard Cole would often use the accounts of other staff members to add entries to her pets’ clinical records or prescribe them medication.

Allianz compared the claims made by Cole against her pets’ records and found that she had claimed £13,334 worth of medication and treatments from claims that weren't genuine.

Cole would often use other staff members’ accounts to add entries to her pets’ clinical records or prescribe medication and then pocketed the payouts.

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Allianz referred the case to the City of London Police's Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED) last June.

In October, IFED officers executed a search warrant at Cole’s house and found a large quantity of pet medication that had been dispensed following the fraudulent claims.

During her police interview, Cole admitted making the claims and said she'd used colleagues’ accounts to make some of them as they happened to be logged in to the system when she accessed it.

Cole pleaded guilty to fraud by abuse of position in July earlier this year, and was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court last week to eight months in prison, suspended for one year.

She was also ordered to complete a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

Pet medication that was seized at Gemma Cole's address (Image: City of London Police)

Detective Constable Richard Fox, from the IFED, said that though Cole had avoided jail, she would now have to live with the consequences of a criminal record.

"Cole exploited her access to her employer’s systems to receive insurance payouts that she wasn’t entitled to for over four years," he said.

"Submitting claims on insurance that you have deliberately exaggerated is fraud and Cole will now rightly have to face the consequence of having a criminal record."

Ben Fletcher, director of financial crime at Allianz Personal, said: "Allianz is committed to protecting our customers and business against the harms of fraud.

"While the vast majority of our customers and claims are genuine, we work diligently to ensure that all claims are legitimate.  

"This case highlights the importance of honesty and showcases the collaborative efforts of our teams and the IFED in ensuring that those who attempt to benefit through deceit are appropriately addressed."