BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The Louisiana Department of Insurance (LDI) says an insurance agent in Baton Rouge allegedly took money from clients for premiums but failed to actually purchase insurance policies or purchased “inadequate” insurance.

LDI says Trampus Scott Wagoner, owner of Armor Insurance, LLC, allegedly “misappropriated insurance premium on more than one occasion.”

In one instance in May of 2021, Wagoner allegedly sent a client a bill for $1,309.59 for property insurance that included coverage for wind. LDI says Wagoner then purchased a policy on the client’s behalf for $570.39 that did not include wind damage before the same day before the client had even paid. The client paid their insurance premium the next day and when they tried to file a claim after their home was damaged by Hurricane Ida a few months later, Wagoner allegedly told the client they did not have wind coverage.

“Louisiana citizens put great trust in their insurance agents and deserve to have that trust honored,” said Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon. “In this situation, it is especially egregious that these would-be policyholders did not find out about this fraud until they had claims for Hurricane Ida that they were unable to receive payment for. This sort of behavior will not be tolerated in the Louisiana insurance market.”