Woman Charged in Asotin County Following State Insurance Fraud Investigation
ASOTIN, WA - A 23-year-old Lewis-Clark Valley woman has been charged with one count of Filing a False Insurance Claim and one count of Attempted 1st-Degree Theft - both felonies - following an insurance fraud investigation by the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner. According to a press release, Kelsey Gearring allegedly filed a $9,600 auto claim with Allstate Insurance for a June 28, 2016 collision, saying she hit a deer with her 2008 GMC Acadia. Just five days prior to that, on June 23rd, Gearring had changed her automobile policy to include comprehensive and collision coverage. Up until the change, she had only liability insurance on the SUV.
"Investigators determined that Gearring’s accident could not have happened on June 28 because she was in Asotin County jail that day for violating a restraining order; the accident actually occurred June 22 before she added coverage to her car. Furthermore, she did not hit a deer, but ran off the road when she was distracted while driving," the Insurance Commissioner's Office says.
According to court records, Gearring is scheduled to be arraigned in Asotin County Superior Court on Monday before Judge Scott Gallina.
Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations Unit investigates insurance fraud and works with the Attorney General’s Office and local prosecutors to prosecute criminal cases. Insurance fraud costs the average family $400 to $700 per year in increased premiums. Consumers can report suspected insurance fraud on the Insurance Commissioner’s website: https://www.insurance.wa.gov/complaints-and-fraud/report-fraud/report-fraud-scams/.
(Photo courtesy of the Washington State Office of the Insurance Commissioner).