Washington Commissioner Fines Pet Insurer for Violating State Laws

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has fined a pet insurance company $150,000 for violating state laws.

Kreidler said his agency issued fines in July against American Pet Insurance, which goes under the name Trupanion. It’s based in New York.

Most of the violations were related to charging rates that the commissioner did not approve, as required by law.

The violations include a failure to cancel policies in a timely manner after a pet’s deaths, after a customer no longer owned a pet, and when the pet owner canceled a policy.

The agency suspended an additional $100,000 fine that American Pet Insurance must pay if it commits the same violations in two years or fails to develop a plan to fix the violations.