OGDEN — An Ogden man is facing a fraud charge accusing him of renewing his lapsed auto insurance policy minutes after he was involved in an accident to secure coverage for the mishap.
Danny Elwood Royer, 54, was charged last week in 2nd District Court with insurance fraud, a second-degree felony, stemming from his alleged efforts to renew the policy following a September crash.
“Defendant was in an accident prior to incepting his policy with Progressive Insurance,” according to the charging documents.
Royer’s car and another auto collided on 21st Street around Quincy Avenue in Ogden on Sept. 20 at around 8:27 p.m., setting in motion the series of events leading to the charge against Royer. The man logged into his Progressive account shortly after the accident at 8:37 p.m. to renew the policy, which had been cancelled on Sept. 15 due to nonpayment, the charges allege.
“Royer signed the statement of no loss at 8:38 p.m. and the policy was reinstated at 8:46 p.m.,” according to the charges. A statement of no loss is a means of certifying that no accident or events that might give rise to an insurance claim have occurred during a period of lapsed coverage.
On Nov. 25, Royer told an investigator that he had attempted to renew his insurance online on Sept. 20, before the accident, but had left before it was complete and had been involved in the accident a few minutes later, the charges say. A representative of the insurance company, however, told the investigator that the steps to renew the policy began around 8:37 p.m., 10 minutes after the accident.
A summons has been issued ordering Royer to appear in court on Feb. 11.
Clinton Mora is a reporter for Trending Insurance News. He has previously worked for the Forbes. As a contributor to Trending Insurance News, Clinton covers emerging a wide range of property and casualty insurance related stories.