AN LV= employee sold on confidential information to a friend after a chance encounter at a party.

Stephen Oates, of Lindsay Road in Poole, was working at the company when he met Aisha Elliott on January 18 2014.

Bournemouth University law graduate Elliott was employed by Elkador Finance Ltd, also known as Accidentally Injured.

The pair quickly came up with the scheme before beginning to communicate through Whatsapp and text messages.

A court heard that each of the defendants were paid £150 in return for every successful personal injury claim handed to Elkador. Oates, who worked for the ‘innocent third party’ team, made around £18,000 in a year, while Elliott, 23, made an extra £13,500.

Initially, payments were made to Oates in cash. Money was later sent directly to his bank account, allegedly through Elkador.

On February 14 2014, Elliott told Oates through messaging service Whatsapp: “So pleased you agreed to it. I wanted to ask you before but didn’t know if you were too well-behaved.”

She later warned him: “Just be careful. We need to capitalise.”

In April of that year, Elliott suggested that the they delete messages in a bid to destroy evidence.

The two were discovered when a customer called to find out where his car was. The claim was not being dealt with by LV=. Further investigation revealed Oates, 26, had actioned twice as many claims per month as his colleagues. The cost to LV= was estimated at around £29,000.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, William Davis said Oates would “trawl” through the LV= database to find suitable claims.

Tanveer Qureshi, mitigating for Oates, said: “He was stupid, irresponsible [and] reckless.”

He added: “[Oates] is the perfect example of somebody who deserves a second chance.”

Josh Normanton, acting for Elliott, said the defendant “finds herself entirely out of her depth”.

The court heard Elliott, of Mudford Sock in Yeovil, had overcome a troubled childhood living with drug-addicted parents to attend university and had hoped to become a solicitor.

“She has ruined any prospect of entering the legal career she dreamed of,” he added.

Both Elliott and Oates admitted a single bribery offence and were sentenced to 12 months behind bars.

Judge Peter Johnson told Elliott: “Clearly, a plan was hatched in your mind at a very early stage when you invited [Oates] to provide you with confidential information.”