Kreidler Disciplines, Fines Insurance Professionals for Violating Laws, Rules

OLYMPIA, Wash., Jan. 11 -- The Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner issued the following news release:

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines in December 2016 totaling $154,750 against insurance companies, agents and brokers who violated state insurance regulations.

Metropolitan Life Insurance Co., New York; fined $150,000, order 16-0194

Metropolitan Life underpaid 2,370 life insurance policies by more than $1 million. The error was found when a consumer filed a complaint with the insurance commissioner about a family member's life insurance policy. The insurance commissioner is suspending $50,000 of the fine as long as the company commits no additional violations for two years.

Accordia Life and Annuity Co., Des Moines, Iowa; fined $2,000, order 16-0260

The company allowed 156 insurance producers' appointments to lapse from August 2015 to August 2016. During that time 27 producers/agencies sold 118 policies totaling more than $33,000. State law requires insurers to file a notice and pay a fee to the insurance commissioner for each licensed producer who will act as an agent of an insurer.

Wilco Life Insurance Co., Carmel, Ind.; ordered to cease and desist, order 16-0244

Wilco used its former name on correspondence with consumers for more than six months, resulting in 20 complaints with the insurance commissioner. The company also sent the required annual statements nearly a year late to 386 Washington consumers and used the wrong business name.

Cannabis Insure Group / Simones Insurance, Centennial, Colo.; ordered to cease and desist, order 16-0246

Cannabis Insure Group and its owner, Robert Simones, are not licensed to sell insurance in Washington state. The website for the group states that it is licensed in all 50 states and provides quotes to Washington consumers.

Health Alliance Northwest Health Plan, Wenatchee; fined $2,000, order 16-0261

The company failed to file a form related to its 2016 approved health plan before it sold the plan to consumers, and never responded to inquiries from the insurance commissioner.

Century Benefits, Portland, Ore.; fined $750, order 16-0262

The company allowed three insurance producers to write 55 policies worth $15,000 in premiums without being affiliated with the company. Insurance businesses are required to report to the insurance commissioner the names of the licensees affiliated with the business.

Phillip Isiah Houston, Seattle; issued probationary license; order 16-0296

Houston applied for an insurance producer license in Washington state in September 2016. His application disclosed a 2008 felony conviction with court debt that is not yet paid off. The insurance commissioner is issuing Houston a probationary license until his court debt is paid in full.

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