N.C. Price-Fixing Investigated

North Carolina insurance regulators, under the direction of Insurance Commissioner Jim Long are investigating as many as 10 insurance companies to determine if they conspired in a price-fixing scheme.

The Insurance Department is examining the companies after sending surveys last October to more than 6,000 insurance companies, brokerage firms and individual brokers.

Even if an insurance company or broker was not aware of bid rigging or illegal practices, it was still required to submit a notarized letter to the North Carolina Department of Insurance certifying that it made a full and comprehensive inquiry and did not find anything to substantiate such a practice.

The North Carolina investigation asked only about bidrigging because regulators said they felt bid rigging was the most egregious allegation.

The hope was that if there is any wrongdoing, conscientious brokers or insurance company employees would use the surveys as a way to blow the whistle,” said Chrissy Pearson, an insurance department spokesperson.

“If we find evidence of bid rigging, we will take swift steps to make sure the practice ceases to take place in this state, and we will appropriately punish those guilty to our ability under the law,” Long said.

The department also is crafting a legislative proposal to more clearly define the fiduciary responsibilities insurance brokers have to their clients.

“Records of criminal investigation and criminal intelli-gence information are not public records,” Stewart Johnson, DoI general counsel told the Charlotte Observer.