Washington Commissioner Fines Insurer $500,000
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is fining Ohio-based BCS Insurance Co. $500,000 for issuing hundreds of thousands of policies using unapproved rates and policy language.
BCS Insurance has agreed to pay the fine. An additional $250,000 fine is suspended, provided the company commits no similar violations for two years. The company has also agreed to a two-year plan, including internal audits, to make sure the company is in compliance with Washington state law.
“A fair insurance market depends on companies playing by the rules,” said Kreidler. “When an insurer files rates and policy language with us, that’s what we expect them to use.”
An investigation found that between 2007 and 2009, BCS issued over 500,000 travel insurance policies that were different from the policy language filed with the state, according to Kriedler. Rates for identical benefits were inconsistent, depending on who the customer was.
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