Insurance agent charged with theft

Branko Cekarmis, a 37-year-old insurance agent from Kent, Wash., has been charged with four counts of theft for allegedly misappropriating thousands of dollars from his customers.

When Cekarmis, an Allstate agent, collected premium payments, he was supposed to deposit the checks and cash into a specific bank account managed by Allstate. The company would then apply those premiums to the customers' policies.

But 20 times between early February 2009 and late January 2010, Cekarmis either failed to deposit the money or failed to properly allocate it to the appropriate customers' policies. In some cases, he only allocated part of the payment to a policy. In others, he put the money toward a different customer's policy.

All told, he's believed to have misappropriated $7,767.

Allstate's corporate security department investigated the matter and sent the case to state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler's Special Investigations Unit.

On June 3rd, the insurance commissioner's office revoked Cekarmis' insurance license. On Monday, Cekarmis was charged in King County Superior Court with four counts of second-degree theft.

Life expectancy table

We recently heard from an unhappy consumer who was searching our agency website:

"Could not find the life expectancy chart. As a result, have lost all of this time and effort -- thereby reducing my life expectancy."

Happy to help: Here's the life expectancy table. (It's not a new one; it's been in effect since late 2004.)

Job opening: life and health insurance compliance analyst

We're looking for a life and health insurance compliance analyst to work in our Consumer Protection division in Tumwater, Wash.

The person will help investigate consumer complaints against insurance companies and answer consumer questions about insurance issues. The person will also be a technical expert on helping consumers appeal insurance denials, as well as on writing and formatting consumer publications for the Web.

For more details, including salary and application process, please see the job listing. Deadline is 4:59 p.m. on Aug. 19, 2011.

We're also still accepting applications for a financial examiner job, but time's running out. The deadline for applying for that job is Friday at 5 p.m.

To keep up with any job openings at our agency, please check our jobs page frequently.

Health care reform update

Here's an update on health care reform from Barb Flye, our senior health policy advisor:

A song about insurance fraud? Really? Really.

It turns out that someone has actually written a song about, yes, insurance fraud.

A reporter for the Seattle Weekly (thanks, Jonathan) turned us on to the tune.

Insurance agent pleads guilty to theft for selling bogus insurance

Brenda MacLaren-Beattie, a longtime insurance agent in Des Moines, Wash., has pleaded guilty to first-degree theft for selling fake insurance to oral surgeons in two states.

Our investigation found that MacLaren-Beattie, 67, sold thousands of dollars in fake business-insurance policies, often issuing counterfeit certificates of insurance to doctors and clinics. She pleaded guilty yesterday in King County Superior Court to eight counts of first-degree theft, a felony.

From late 2001 through 2009, she issued fake insurance to 25 oral surgeons in Washington and 16 in Oregon. During that time, she is believed to have collected more than $532,000 in premiums for fictitious insurance policies. Her insurance license expired in 2009.

In some cases -- a lost camera, some water damage -- she paid out small insurance claims. One of her clients became suspicious after a claim check was issued by MacLaren-Beattie, rather than from an insurance company.

The fictitious policies were for business owners' general liability insurance. General liability insurance typically covers things like slip-and-fall accidents, employee theft, and damage to rented property.

Sentencing in King County Superior Court is expected later this month.

New guidelines expand preventive coverage for women

New guidelines issued by the federal government require health plans to cover many preventive services for women with no additional cost.
The Affordable Care Act requires health plans to include preventive services with no cost-sharing (ie. deductibles, copays, etc.). The guidelines issued yesterday describe the specific preventive services for women that apply. They include:

Well-woman visits
Screening for gestational diabetes
Human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing for women 30 years and older
Sexually-transmitted infection counseling
HIV screening and counseling
FDA-approved contraception methods and counseling
Breastfeeding support, supplies, and counseling
Domestic violence screening and counseling

Here's a chart showing the specific preventive service, a description of the service, and frequency (ie. whether the coverage is annual or for a specific occurrence.)

10 things your homeowners insurance DOESN'T cover

Surprise: Here are 10 things a typical homeowners policy doesn't cover:

• Damage due to animals or rodents.
• Mold, mildew or dry rot.
• Earthquakes -- including earth movement, landslides, etc.
• Slow leaks.
• Flooding: You have to buy a separate flood insurance policy to be covered for floods, tidal surges and tsunamis.
• Intentional damage.
• Foundation settling and cracking.
• Volcanoes: Deposits of volcanic ash? Not covered. Nor is damage from tremors caused by the eruption.
• A home business: If you operate a home-based business, you might be uninsured and not even realize it. Your homeowners policy may provide a limited amount of coverage for business-related personal property in the home, but don't wait until you have a loss to find out if you're covered. Talk to your agent.
• A second residence on the property: Most homeowner policies don't cover a second residence.

Here, on the other hand, is a list of what is covered under a typical homeowners policy.

Need help with insurance problems?

If you live in Washington state, we can help with insurance questions and problems. (We're the state agency that regulates insurers, agents and brokers. We get tens of thousands of calls a year from consumers.)

What kind of help? Here are a few examples of recent cases we've handled:

-We helped a dentist get paid when one insurer didn't process a claim because it didn't have the medical codes from the primary insurer. We looked up the codes (on the primary insurer's website; not so hard), provided them, and passed along a friendly reminder about the legal requirements for timely claims processing. The insurer processed the claim the next day.

-We helped another consumer get a life insurer to pay out the proceeds -- more than $250,000 -- on his mother's annuity policy.

-We helped a consumer after an insurer found him 100 percent at fault for an accident. We reviewed their investigation and discovered that they'd failed to get statements from key players (the other driver, for one, and a police officer witness who happened to be sitting beside the road when the accident occurred).  We asked the company to contact the two. Result: they reversed their decision, finding the other driver 100 percent at fault for the accident.

-We helped a homeowner expedite and settle a disputed home repair claim for more than $145,000.

Need help? Call us at 1-800-562-6900 or see http://www.insurance.wa.gov/.

(And if you live in another state, here's a handy map with contact info for your own state's insurance regulator.)

Health insurance exchanges: Who's doing what?

The Kaiser Family Foundation has put together handy maps illustrating what each state is doing in terms of setting up health insurance exchanges. The maps are sortable by actions, status, etc.

Exchanges are new marketplaces where consumers will be able to comparison shop for health insurance.

Health insurance rate requests now public

Individual and small employer health insurance rate requests are now public. See the complete filings received since July 1, as well as a summary for each request.

Several health insurers filed rate requests prior to July 1, but have voluntarily made their filings public. They include: Asuris Northwest Health, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, and Regence BlueShield.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler proposed the legislation (HB 1220) making health rates public on behalf of the consumers who contact his office, demanding to know what's driving their higher premiums. State law prevented him from sharing the information that insurers use to justify rate requests - even after the rate was approved.

The new law makes most individual and small employer health insurance rate filings public shortly after they're received. This includes how much of the requested rate will be spent on medical claims, administrative costs and profit. Also, the public will see if their rate change includes any benefit changes.

Kreidler's office is building an interactive web tool where the public can search rate requests, post comments, and sign-up to get an e-mail when their health plan requests a change and a decision is made. The new tool is scheduled to go live early this fall.

Owner of auto glass companies sentenced in $1.6 million fraud case

A Burien auto glass company owner has been sentenced to jail for a billing scheme that's believed to have cost insurers more than $ 1.5 million.

Michael Alan Perkins, 44, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree theft in King County Court July 1. He was sentenced to 9 months in jail, with 30 days of the sentence converted to 240 hours of community service.

Investigators for state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler are recommending a total of more than $1.6 million in restitution to the companies. The court will decide the amount at an upcoming hearing.

Perkins is the owner of Autoglass Express Inc. and Premier Auto Glass, LLC., both run out of Perkins' Burien home. The glass shops overbilled insurers, including State Farm, Allstate and MetLife insurance companies.

An investigation by Kreidler's office's anti-fraud Special Investigations Unit, which spent months combing through more than 10,000 records, found more than $1.5 million in deceptive billing by Perkins' companies between September 2005 and December 2009. Read the full release.

10 things to do after a car crash

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners recently put out a checklist to help you gather the neccessary information after a car crash. Here are the their 10 things to do after a car crash: (And here's a printable form for your glove compartment)

1. Remain calm.

2. Assess the scene. Do not get out of your car if it is not safe to do so.

3. Check for injuries.

4. Call the police. Tell them where you are, what happened and if there are injuries.

5. DO NOT admit fault.

6. Exchange information with the other drivers. Get: NAME, ADDRESS, PHONE, INSURER’S NAME, INSURER’S PHONE and POLICY NUMBER for all of the drivers involved.

7. Get names and phone numbers of witnesses.

8. Take photos/video of the scene including the damage to all cars. Cell phone photos will work to document initial damage.

9. Write down/record your record of the events.

10. If the police respond, find out where to get a copy of the police report for your claim. If the police do not come to the scene, ask police dispatch where you can file an incident report.

Your homeowners policy probably does NOT cover flooding

Many residents of Minot, North Dakota believed they were safe from flooding due to a revised flood map and either canceled their flood insurance or failed to purchase a policy. Today, only one in ten residents have flood insurance.

A New York Times article today chronicles how the number of people in Minot with flood insurance was cut in half in just a year.

Most people know this, but your standard homeowners policy doesn't cover flooding. If you want coverage, you must buy a policy from the National Flood Insurance Program.

Get a flood map or learn more about flood insurance.

Job opening: Chief market conduct examiner

Due to a retirement, we have a job opening for a chief market conduct examiner in our Seattle office.

The person will supervise the market conduct team of examiners, who work directly with insurance companies to determine compliance with consumer protection laws and regulations.

For more details, salary info, and more about the agency, travel requirements, etc., please see the full job listing.

If you want to stay up to date on any future openings at the Insurance Commissioner's Office, here's our job opportunities page.

Insurance companies and agents fined more than $750,000 this year in WA

Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has fined insurance companies, agents and brokers more than $750,000 this year. Violations included charging unapproved rates and submitting false documents.
“These fines are the `teeth’ that help us protect insurance consumers,” said Kreidler. “It’s our job to see that the insurance industry’s playing by the rules.”

From January through mid-June, the insurance commissioner’s office has imposed $787,815 in fines. The largest, by far, was a $534,000 fine issued in January. More recent fines are listed below.

The money does not go to the agency. It is deposited in the state’s general fund to pay for other state services.

Any Washingtonian with a complaint against an insurer, agent or broker can contact the office at 1-800-562-6900 or file a complaint online at http://www.insurance.wa.gov/.

For a list of companies fined recently, read the press release here.

Pierce County man charged in insurance fraud case

A Tacoma man faces multiple charges after allegedly filing forged documents in an auto theft claim.

Cash B. Knott, 45, has been charged in Pierce County Superior Court with three counts of forgery, one count of insurance fraud, and one count of attempted 2nd degree theft.

On Nov. 6th, less than a month after getting coverage from Progressive Direct Insurance Co. for his 1992 Ford Ranger pickup, Knott filed a $5,674 insurance claim with Progressive. He said someone had scratched the paint, stolen his chrome wheels and tires, and stolen his navigation and entertainment system, 1,000 watt amplifier and other electronic components.

He provided Progressive with a Sept. 2 stereo shop invoice for $4,547.84 worth of stereo equipment, a copy of his check, and a bank statement showing the withdrawal from his checking account.

The problem: When contacted by an insurance adjuster, the stereo shop said it had no record of such a purchase. All they could find was that Knott had bought an amplifier -- for $109 -- on Sept. 2.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler's Special Investigations Unit obtained a search warrant for Knott's bank records. The bank found no checks written to the stereo shop, and none whatsoever for $4,547.84.

The upshot: The investigators believe that Knott altered the invoice, forged a check, and created a phony bank statement.

He's scheduled for arraignment on June 27th.

Job openings: Analyst and .NET developer

We have two job openings:

Functional Program Analyst 3 - The application period ends June 22.

.NET Application Developer - Open until filled. This is a limited-duration project, funded by a federal health care reform grant.

Note: The link to this post has been fixed. Sorry about that.

New free iPhone app guides you through steps after a car accident

AAA has released a new iPhone app that will walk you through the steps to take after an auto accident, including a list of information to gather for police and your insurers, photos to take, and a diagram of vehicle damage.

You don't have to be a AAA member. The app is free, and AAA says it's working on a version for other smartphones.

No smartphone? Here's a comprehensive auto accident checklist, put together by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, that you should print out and keep in your car.

Here are the steps we recommend:

• Stay safe, but try to warn oncoming traffic of the danger at the scene. Turn on your hazard lights.
• If someone's hurt, give reasonable aid and call 911 immediately. Don't move them unless absolutely necessary.
• Notify the police.
• Give and get info for the accident report, including insurance information, license plates, names and contact information of those involved, including police and witnesses. Diagram the scene.
• If you can do it safely, take photos with a camera or phone.
• Call your agent or insurance company.
• Many experts advise not admitting fault or assigning blame, and only discussing the details of the accident with police or your insurer.

Things that can affect your auto insurance rates

A new survey says that more than half of Americans have recently made an economic-driven change that may affect how much they pay for car insurance.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners survey found that:

• nearly 40 percent of respondents were driving less or taking public transportation more
• nearly 20 percent traded in a vehicle for a lower-priced model or got rid of a second vehicle entirely
• and almost 20 percent of drivers reduced or canceled their car insurance to save money -- something we do not recommend. You'll almost certainly pay more to get coverage later, and if you continue to drive without coverage, you expose yourself to potentially devastating financial liability.

(Bonus round: Here's a long list of NAIC tips for lowering your auto insurance premiums.)

Here are some of the changes that can affect how much you pay for insurance:

• You moved: A change in zip code may affect your premium, depending on crime statistics in the area.
• You changed cars: A lower-value car, not surprisingly, is usually cheaper to insure. If you're car's paid off and not worth much, you might consider saving money by raising your deductible or canceling your collision coverage. But keep your liability coverage.
• A new job, or no job: These can affect whether you commute, and how far.
• Driving less: Almost 40 percent of consumers said they're driving less. Many are walking or taking public transportation more often. If this sounds like you, you should talk to your insurer and see if you qualify for a low-mileage discount.
• Bad credit score: The weak economy, layoffs and the collapse of the housing market have left many people with battered credit. Most states, including Washington, allow insurers to use your credit information to decide how much to charge you. (Here in Washington, we have successfully fought to limit this practice, but have not yet been able to convince lawmakers to ban it entirely.)

Also, if you're struggling to find coverage here in Washington, we maintain an online list of companies offering policies for hard-to-insure drivers.