A PAIR jailed over a car crash scam have been ordered to pay compensation to LV=.

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

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

After their chance meeting, the two agreed via Whatsapp and text messages that Oates would sell on information to Elliott.

In December last year, a court heard 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 £17,000 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.

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.

During the sentencing hearing at Bournemouth Crown Court last year, William Davis said Oates would “trawl” through the LV= database to find suitable claims.

Tanveer Qureshi, mitigating for Oates during the sentence, said: “He was stupid, irresponsible [and] reckless", while Josh Normanton, acting for Elliott, said the defendant “finds herself entirely out of her depth”.

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

On Friday, April 21 the two returned to the court for a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.

Judge Brian Forster QC heard Oates had made £16,952 from the scam, although has just £500 to pay back following the sale of his car.

The benefit to Elliott was £13,554.57, which could be paid in full, it was said.

Judge Forster ordered that Oates repay the £500 within three months or face a further 14 days in prison, while Elliott, of Mudefor Sock in Yeovil, was ordered to pay the full amount or face seven months in prison.