A licensed insurance producer who sold Allstate insurance at a Kennewick insurance agency pleaded guilty to misrepresentation in application for insurance in Benton County Superior Court.

The guilty producer wrote an Allstate homeowners policy for himself for a house that he planned on purchasing in 2013. In order to lower the premium, he modified the policy in effect increasing the deductible to $5,000. Less than a week after he took possession of the home, a faulty renovation caused extensive water damage. After his insurance office closed that day, he went to work and lowered his homeowner policy deductible to $500. The following day he filed a $37,000 claim for the damage. Allstate paid him $4,500 he did not deserve, the difference between the old deductible and the fraudulent deductible. Allstate discovered the fraud and reported it to the office of the insurance commissioner, who revoked the license of the guilty insurance producer. His employment with the Kennewick Insurance Agency was terminated.

As misrepresentation in application for insurance is a gross misdemeanor. The guilty insurance provider was sentenced to eighty hours of community service, two years of supervision, and required to pay $4,500 of restitution to Allstate.