August 22, 2018
OLYMPIA, Wash. – Kaitlyn Parker-Lee, 29, of Trout Lake in Klickitat County, has been charged with filing a false insurance claim, a felony, following an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU).
Prosecutors charged Parker-Lee in Klickitat County Superior Court on Aug. 20. She pleaded not guilty.
According to the investigation, Parker-Lee filed an insurance claim with Nationwide Insurance on Jan. 3, 2016, after she was involved in a collision with her 2001 Mitsubishi Mirage on Mount Adams Highway near Sunnyside Road in Trout Lake.
She reported the accident as having occurred at 4:45 p.m. that day. Records show she completed buying a Nationwide auto policy via cellphone at 4:54 p.m. However, the driver of the other vehicle involved in the collision said the incident occurred at 3:30 p.m., according to the investigation.
The other driver’s vehicle was listed as a total loss at nearly $11,000. Nationwide declined to compensate the driver after learning that Parker-Lee never had a valid insurance policy.
Kreidler’s CIU investigates insurance fraud and works with the state Attorney General’s Office and local prosecutors on criminal cases. Insurance fraud costs the average family $400 to $700 per year in increased premiums. Insurance companies are required by law to report fraud to the commissioner. Consumers can report suspected insurance fraud on the insurance commissioner’s website.