A man who worked at a local insurance agency accused of taking out expanded coverage on his home and then making a claim on a pre-existing condition pled guilty to a charge of false swearing during a session of Baxter County Circuit Court Monday on February 10.
He was put on probation for 12 months.
Forty-nine-year-old Wesley Allen Proffitt is alleged to have taken out expanded coverage on his residence to include water leaks and filing a claim saying he had not been notified of a leak until March 4 when he is alleged to have been told about it several months earlier.
Proffitt is alleged to have given false information regarding his claim for payment or benefits with the intent to “defraud, deceive, conceal or misrepresent” facts presented to the insurance carrier to support his claim.
An investigator with the Arkansas Insurance Department looked into the situation and made a report in late July last year.
Court documents indicate that in late January 2023, a Mountain Home Water Department employee said he checked into a work order request at Proffitt’s residence along Sunnyann Lane.
The water department employee found a leak but said it was not between the street and meter but was on the property owner’s “side of the meter,” making it the owner’s responsibility to repair.
The water department employee said after finishing his inspection, he talked to a person he believed was Proffitt on a video doorbell and told him what he had found.
On February 22, the same water department employee was at Proffitt’s work place to look into a problem with a restroom. He said Proffitt approached him and talked about a “waterline issue” at his residence.
The employee said the two men did touch on the late January 25 service call he made to Proffitt’s residence and the fact that he believed information was provided to Proffitt by way of the doorbell camera about a service line leak at that time.
On February 26, just four days after the February 22 conversation at Proffitt’s workplace, he is reported to have added service line coverage to his residential policy.
On March 7, Proffitt filed a claim reporting a leak at his residence and alleging he had not been notified of the leak until March 4.
Representatives of the insurance carrier interviewed Proffitt about the fact that only a few days had passed before the claim was made against the newly added coverage. Proffitt is alleged to have said someone had been in his office with a $10,000 claim due to a water leak and he decided he should add that coverage.
He is alleged to have said that he knew “the timing of the claim seemed a little suspicious,” but the situation was what it was. He is reported to have told the carrier’s representatives that they would “either cover it or they wouldn’t,” adding he “didn’t care either way.”
Proffitt was also questioned about the water department employee being at the Sunnyann residence in January and allegedly talking to him about the leak by way of the video doorbell camera.
Proffitt denied talking to the man. He said the water department employee must have talked to his wife or son over the doorbell camera.
He maintained he did not know about the leak until he received his bill February 28 showing it had doubled from the previous month.
The investigator with the Insurance Department alleges Proffitt had knowledge of the leak prior to the new service line coverage being added.
Given the timeline, Proffitt is accused of using the newly expanded coverage in an attempt to make a claim on what is alleged to have been a pre-existing condition. Almost all insurance policies exclude pre-existing damage.
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