Battle Ground man charged with auto-related insurance fraud [The Columbian, Vancouver, Wash.]

Jun. 7—A Battle Ground man is accused of insurance fraud after investigators say he tried to get coverage on his uninsured car and didn't tell the provider he'd just been involved in a crash.

Pavel Kovalev, 32, pleaded not guilty May 24 in Clark County Superior Court to charges of false insurance claim and second-degree attempted theft, court records show.

Kovalev was involved in a two-vehicle crash in April 2019, and his vehicle was not insured, according to a Washington Insurance Commissioner's Office news release. Investigators say he called Progressive to add his 2004 Nissan to an existing policy and didn't inform the company that he'd been in a crash. The other driver filed a claim against Kovalev the next day.

Progressive discovered that the Clark County Sheriff's Office responded to the crash 26 minutes prior to Kovalev adding the car to his policy, the news release states.

The company denied Kovalev's claim for $3,730 and referred it to the Insurance Commissioner's Criminal Investigation Unit, according to the news release.

His trial is scheduled for Aug. 8, court records show.

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