No petty scam: veterinary nurse sentenced for £13,000 pet insurance fraud

A veterinary nurse has been sentenced, after she made over £13,000 worth of fraudulent insurance claims for her pets using the systems at her workplace.  

Gemma Cole, 31, of Staples Barn, Henfield, was employed as a veterinary nurse at a surgery in West Sussex. She had insurance policies for her three cats and three dogs under Petplan and Pets at Home, subsidiaries of Allianz Insurance, and submitted fraudulent claims for them from December 2018 to May 2023.

Cole pleaded guilty at Crawley Magistrates Court on 2 July 2024 to fraud by abuse of position following an investigation by the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED). She was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on 29 August 2024 to eight months imprisonment, suspended for 12 months, and must also complete a 20 day rehabilitation activity requirement. Cole was also dismissed from her job at the veterinary practice. 

Detective Constable Richard Fox, from the City of London Police’s Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department (IFED), said:

“Cole exploited her access to her employer’s systems for over four years to receive insurance payouts that she wasn’t entitled to. 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.”

In May 2023, the head veterinary nurse at the practice contacted Allianz to report that Cole had been using Vet Envoy, the system it used to submit insurance claims, to make false and exaggerated claims for her pets. 

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

Allianz compared the claims made by Cole against her pets’ records and found that she had claimed for £13,334 worth of medication and treatments that they had not received genuinely.

Allianz referred the case to IFED in June 2023. In October, IFED officers executed a search warrant at Cole’s home address and found a large quantity of pet medication that had been dispensed as a result of the fraudulent claims. 

During her police interview, Cole admitted that she had made the claims. She said that she used her colleagues’ accounts to make some of the claims because they happened to be logged into the system when she accessed it.

Ben Fletcher, Director of Financial Crime, 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. In cases where they are not, we will carefully investigate and robustly defend where we suspect fraud. 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."

Pet medication seized during search warrant.