Q: I'm thinking about buying a trampoline for my kids. Are there any insurance issues?
A: Yup. Trampolines, while definitely fun, can cause injuries or even death. So it's a good idea to first talk to your insurance agent. Your insurance company may not want to continue coverage if you buy a trampoline. Also, if there is an injury claim, your insurer would review the claim, but might decide to later cancel your coverage. It's well worth a phone call to your agent or insurer first, rather than being surprised later.
Note: This is one of a series of common -- or in some cases, particularly unusual -- questions received by our consumer advocacy staff, who answer questions from consumers.
Got a question or insurance problem of your own? If you live in Washington, feel free to give us a call, toll-free at 1-800-562-6900. We'll do our best to help. (And if you live in another state or territory, here's a handy map that lists the contact info for your local insurance regulatory office.)
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Trying to make our website better
We are redesigning the website for our agency (not this blog, but the whole Office of the Insurance Commissioner website). The point is to make it easy for consumers and other users of our site to quickly find exactly what they need.
Please help us by taking part in a brief interactive survey that will help us decide what topics to put where. It just takes a few minutes.
Many thanks.
Please help us by taking part in a brief interactive survey that will help us decide what topics to put where. It just takes a few minutes.
Many thanks.
OIC web applications: Back online
We updated the system underlying many of our web-based applications last night, and everything's back online. Thanks for your patience.
Monday, April 16, 2012
Our web applications will be down for several hours tonight
Shortly after midnight tonight, we'll be taking all of our web-based applications offline for system maintenance. They will be back up by 7 a.m.
During this time, most of our online services will be down. This includes things like online licensing, consumer complaints, E-tax filings, searches for health insurance rate filing, company lookups, agent/broker lookups, etc.
The website itself will still be up.
During this time, most of our online services will be down. This includes things like online licensing, consumer complaints, E-tax filings, searches for health insurance rate filing, company lookups, agent/broker lookups, etc.
The website itself will still be up.
Monday, April 9, 2012
Man charged with insurance fraud after $17,000 stolen-bicycle claim
A Pierce County man has been charged with insurance fraud, forgery and attempted theft after filing a $17,000 claim for two bicycles that investigators say he never owned.
John Leonard Southerly, of Fox Island, last May told his insurance company that two Specialized Epic bicycles and accessories had been stolen from his garage. He filed a police report with a Pierce County sheriff's deputy, saying that he'd left the garage door open and discovered that the two bikes, valued at $17,562, were gone.
Southerly told his insurer, Travelers Indemnity Co., that he'd bought both bikes from an Arizona company. When Travelers asked for copies of his receipts, Southerly sent an email that was purportedly from the bike company. The bike company email came from a Gmail account. Attached was an invoice for each bike. Southerly later also filed a sworn statement of proof of loss for the bikes.
Travelers sent an investigator to talk to the bike shop owner and try to verify that the invoices were authentic. Nope, the owner said, pointing out discrepancies.
Then, last June, Travelers received an email from a different Gmail address.
"This is Detective Harris," it began. "I work out of the Tacoma office. I am trying to follow up on a case that involves Mr. Southerly..."
The email didn't contain contact information for this "Detective Harris," or even specify which law enforcement agency the detective supposedly worked for.
Travelers denied Southerly's claim and turned the case over to the state insurance commissioner's Special Investigations Unit. It quickly determined that there is no Detective Harris working for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the Tacoma Police Department or the Lakewood Police Department.
With search warrants, the Special Investigations Unit determined that both Gmail accounts listed Southerly's real email as a secondary contact and were sent from Southerly's IP address.
On March 30, Southerly was charged in Pierce County Superior Court with one count of insurance fraud ("false claims or proof"), three counts of forgery and one count of attempted first-degree theft.
His arraignment is set for Friday.
John Leonard Southerly, of Fox Island, last May told his insurance company that two Specialized Epic bicycles and accessories had been stolen from his garage. He filed a police report with a Pierce County sheriff's deputy, saying that he'd left the garage door open and discovered that the two bikes, valued at $17,562, were gone.
Southerly told his insurer, Travelers Indemnity Co., that he'd bought both bikes from an Arizona company. When Travelers asked for copies of his receipts, Southerly sent an email that was purportedly from the bike company. The bike company email came from a Gmail account. Attached was an invoice for each bike. Southerly later also filed a sworn statement of proof of loss for the bikes.
Travelers sent an investigator to talk to the bike shop owner and try to verify that the invoices were authentic. Nope, the owner said, pointing out discrepancies.
Then, last June, Travelers received an email from a different Gmail address.
"This is Detective Harris," it began. "I work out of the Tacoma office. I am trying to follow up on a case that involves Mr. Southerly..."
The email didn't contain contact information for this "Detective Harris," or even specify which law enforcement agency the detective supposedly worked for.
Travelers denied Southerly's claim and turned the case over to the state insurance commissioner's Special Investigations Unit. It quickly determined that there is no Detective Harris working for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office, the Tacoma Police Department or the Lakewood Police Department.
With search warrants, the Special Investigations Unit determined that both Gmail accounts listed Southerly's real email as a secondary contact and were sent from Southerly's IP address.
On March 30, Southerly was charged in Pierce County Superior Court with one count of insurance fraud ("false claims or proof"), three counts of forgery and one count of attempted first-degree theft.
His arraignment is set for Friday.
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
"Hobo Prince" ordered to stop selling illegal insurance in WA
From a press release we just issued:
OLYMPIA, Wash. – A Clark County man who promises years’ worth of weekly $900 payouts in exchange for a one-time $25 signup fee has been ordered to stop selling illegal insurance in Washington.
The order was issued Monday by the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler.
Shelby Horatio Bell, doing business as “Hobo Prince Economic Project,” has held seminars in Washington and Oregon, encouraging people to sign up for his plan. Once a participant pays a one-time $25 fee, Bell promises to pay the participant $900 a week for seven years.
He maintains that each person’s contract is financed through a complex series of transactions, including issuance of a $500,000 “reverse” insurance policy purchased with a $25,000 payment from an unnamed bank. A contract obtained by Kreidler's Legal Affairs Investigators named a well-known insurer and one of its brokers – neither of which have any insurance arrangement with Bell or his program. In another contract, Bell maintained that he was the insurer.
Neither Bell nor his companies (Hobo Prince Economic Project and an Oregon company known as Be’Rio Transports) are authorized to transact insurance in Washington state. The arrangement being offered violates multiple provisions of the state’s insurance code.
Kreidler’s office repeatedly tried to contact Bell by phone and mail. Reached by cell phone at one point, Bell agreed to meet with a state investigator, but then didn’t show up for the appointment.
The cease and desist order requires Bell and his companies to immediately stop selling, offering, or soliciting any insurance in Washington. It also bars him from transacting insurance business in the state.
Nothing in the order prevents Bell or his companies from fulfilling the contracts that he has already entered into. Nor does it prevent him from refunding money paid by Washington consumers.
Bell has the right to demand a hearing to contest the order.
The full order can be found at: http://www.insurance.wa.gov/oicfiles/orders/2012orders/12-0076.pdf
OLYMPIA, Wash. – A Clark County man who promises years’ worth of weekly $900 payouts in exchange for a one-time $25 signup fee has been ordered to stop selling illegal insurance in Washington.
The order was issued Monday by the Washington state Office of the Insurance Commissioner, Mike Kreidler.
Shelby Horatio Bell, doing business as “Hobo Prince Economic Project,” has held seminars in Washington and Oregon, encouraging people to sign up for his plan. Once a participant pays a one-time $25 fee, Bell promises to pay the participant $900 a week for seven years.
He maintains that each person’s contract is financed through a complex series of transactions, including issuance of a $500,000 “reverse” insurance policy purchased with a $25,000 payment from an unnamed bank. A contract obtained by Kreidler's Legal Affairs Investigators named a well-known insurer and one of its brokers – neither of which have any insurance arrangement with Bell or his program. In another contract, Bell maintained that he was the insurer.
Neither Bell nor his companies (Hobo Prince Economic Project and an Oregon company known as Be’Rio Transports) are authorized to transact insurance in Washington state. The arrangement being offered violates multiple provisions of the state’s insurance code.
Kreidler’s office repeatedly tried to contact Bell by phone and mail. Reached by cell phone at one point, Bell agreed to meet with a state investigator, but then didn’t show up for the appointment.
The cease and desist order requires Bell and his companies to immediately stop selling, offering, or soliciting any insurance in Washington. It also bars him from transacting insurance business in the state.
Nothing in the order prevents Bell or his companies from fulfilling the contracts that he has already entered into. Nor does it prevent him from refunding money paid by Washington consumers.
Bell has the right to demand a hearing to contest the order.
The full order can be found at: http://www.insurance.wa.gov/oicfiles/orders/2012orders/12-0076.pdf
Monday, April 2, 2012
King County woman pleads guilty to forgery and attempted fraud
A King County woman has pleaded guilty to attempted fraud and forgery for trying to claim weeks of injury-related lost wages after an auto accident. The problem: She didn't have a job at the time.
Ka'Yah M. Alexander claimed that a 2010 accident in the parking lot of a Memphis, Tenn. hotel left her unable to return to work for 37 days due to her injuries. She sent a demand letter to Travelers Insurance, seeking $10,000 for lost wages, pain and medical expenses. She also sent the company a letter, purportedly from the group home where she worked, saying that she was on medical leave from work.
An investigation by Travelers and by the state insurance commissioner's Special Investigations Unit determined that the work-loss letter was not authentic.The company provided a termination letter showing that Alexander had been let go from her job two days after the accident.
Alexander pleaded guilty last month. She was sentenced to fines and community service.
Ka'Yah M. Alexander claimed that a 2010 accident in the parking lot of a Memphis, Tenn. hotel left her unable to return to work for 37 days due to her injuries. She sent a demand letter to Travelers Insurance, seeking $10,000 for lost wages, pain and medical expenses. She also sent the company a letter, purportedly from the group home where she worked, saying that she was on medical leave from work.
An investigation by Travelers and by the state insurance commissioner's Special Investigations Unit determined that the work-loss letter was not authentic.The company provided a termination letter showing that Alexander had been let go from her job two days after the accident.
Alexander pleaded guilty last month. She was sentenced to fines and community service.
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