Ghost broker jailed for four years after scam lands victim in hospital

Convicted fraudster Jaymz William Charlton Clarke-Tomlinson has been sent to prison for four years after selling bogus car insurance.

The 33 year-old from Andover was sentenced after conning more than 150 motorists into buying fake car insurance through his Personal Touch Insurance website (pictured), fraudulently earning him around £60,000.

An IFED investigation revealed Clarke-Tomlinson befriended many of his victims before targeting them with cheap deals, money back guarantees and discounts through his fake insurance broker called Personal Touch Insurance (website pictured).

He then persuaded them to pay up front straight into a bank account and provided them with a policy certificate, even offering some a £50 shopping voucher for recommending him to family and friends.

One car enthusiast with a serious heart condition, Vicky Small, has told how she was hospitalised with chest pains after falling for Clarke-Tomlinson’s scam.

In July 2013 he told her he could beat any car insurance quote she had got on her Subaru Impreza by 20% and if not he would give her £100.

He said his ‘platinum package’ would see her fully insured to drive any car and she would not have to pay an excess if she made a claim.

He offered a further five per cent discount if she paid the total cost of an annual policy up front – making the price of the fake policy £266.

She then recommended Personal Touch Insurance to her family and friends as well as other car enthusiasts through various online forums and groups she belonged to.

She even drove during the 2013 Cannonball GT Tunnel Run with a large Personal Touch Insurance sticker attached to the side of her car that Clarke-Tomlinson had had made especially for the event.

Small reported suspicions to Action Fraud after friends told her her vehicle was not appearing on the Motor Insurance Database and she had difficulty contacting Clarke-Tomlinson.

Action Fraud sent the reports to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau where its Cyber Prevention and Disruption Team worked with IFED to shut down the Personal Touch Insurance website.

Tradex Insurance and Tradewise Insurance Services later informed IFED that drivers were being fraudulently added to motor trade insurance policies.

IFED detectives uncovered that the motor trade policies linked to two bank accounts owned by Clarke-Tomlinson.

Clarke-Tomlinson was arrested by detectives in November 2014 at his workplace in Winchester and he appeared at Southampton Crown Court charged with fraud offences and was remanded into custody later that month.

In April 2015, at the same court, he pleaded guilty to 18 counts of fraud by false representation and one of forgery.

City of London Police Detective Constable Gary Kearley, who led the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department’s investigation, said: “Clarke-Tomlinson went to extraordinary lengths to sell his bogus car insurance, even befriending many of his victims to target them and their loved ones.

“He left them unknowingly out on the roads without valid cover, exposing them to great risks including having to pick up the bill for any damage or injuries they caused in a crash, getting their vehicle seized by police, fines, penalties and a criminal record.

“That he now faces a lengthy stretch behind bars is testament to the work carried out to combat insurance fraud by the Insurance Fraud Enforcement Department, alongside other City of London Police units and the insurance industry, following reports from the public to Action Fraud.”