Pet insurance company Trupanion hit with a $100,000 fine
"If you're working with an unlicensed professional and they do something bad that harms you, we don't have recourse," she said. "If your (licensed) producer has violated state laws, you can go on our website and see exactly what they did."
It's not the company's first violation. In 2016, Trupanion Managers was fined
"I would say it's not incredibly common for us to have follow-up actions," Klotz said. "We don't want to have to keep fining them."
"That was a mistake on our part," Rawlings said. "We totally knew the rules."
The company paid Reviews.com, a website which the commissioner called an unlicensed producer. In a statement, Reviews.com said it supplies independently researched information on various topics and earns commissions when consumers click through to affiliated vendor sites.
"This one website was providing a level of detailed information that requires a license," Rawlings said. "We were not aware of that. We would have told them they're not allowed to do it. In that case it was an oversight on our side."
The fines won't make a huge dent in
"As they make more money, they're spending more money on pet acquisition cost," Ellich said. "A lot of that is just building brand awareness, helping educate pet owners about pet insurance and the benefits...given the low penetration rate of the pet market, I think
The insurance commissioner's spokeswoman said these aren't the sorts of infractions that could cause a company to lose its license.
"We typically don't take that kind of action unless something really egregious is going on," Klotz said. "We want consumers to be able to be able to find insurance and for the market to thrive."
This story has been updated to clarify Review.com's role.
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