Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
People Moves: Washington Insurance Commissioner Kuderer Adds to Executive Staff
Jan 23 2025 // Washington State Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer made six additions to her executive team. Kuderer was sworn in as the state’s ninth insurance commissioner on January 15. She replaces Washington Commissioner of...
Washington House Flippers Fined $116K Over Asbestos Removal Rules
Jan 22 2025 // Two Vancouver, Washington, business owners are facing a combined $116,000 in fines for ignoring rules to protect workers, neighbors, and the environment from exposure to hazardous asbestos at a home-flipping site. The...
Bayer Faces Billions in Payouts for Decades-Old Toxic Mess
Jan 16 2025 // Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit stopped making toxic PCBs a half century ago, but the legal fallout lingers even as many of the building materials made with the chemicals are no longer used in US homes, schools and...
Kuderer Sworn in as Washington Insurance Commissioner
Jan 16 2025 // Patty Kuderer was sworn in as Washington’s ninth insurance commissioner on Wednesday. She is one of only 11 elected insurance commissioners in the U.S., and she’s Washington’s first new commissioner in 24...
Heffernan Insurance Brokers Acquires Green Financial in Washington
Jan 13 2025 // Heffernan Insurance Brokers acquired Green Financial in Kirkland, Washington. Fred Green, president of Green Financial, and his team have joined Heffernan Insurance Brokers’ small business division,...
Hub International Acquires Otter Insurance Agency in Washington
Dec 20 2024 // Hub International Ltd. acquired the assets of Otter Insurance Agency Inc. in Lynnwood, Washington. Patrick Otter, president, and the Otter Insurance Agency team will join HUB Northwest. Otter Insurance Agency will be...
Washington Commissioner Fines PacificSource, Delta Dental, Lemonade, Others
Dec 19 2024 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines totaling $576,500 against insurance companies, agents, brokers and unlicensed entities in October and November of 2024 for violations of state insurance laws and...
Washington Fines and Moves to Bar Asbestos Removers From Working in State
Dec 18 2024 // Two Washington asbestos removal contractors face losing the ability to legally do future asbestos removal work, plus nearly a half-million dollars in fines, for allegedly knowingly exposing workers to extremely hazardous...
World Insurance Associates Acquires Sprague Israel Giles in Washington
Dec 13 2024 // World Insurance Associates LLC acquired the business of Sprague Israel Giles Inc. in Seattle, Washington. Sprague Israel Giles was founded in 1958 by David Sprague and Mike Israel. Ten years later, Leon Giles joined the...
Fraud Ringleader in Washington Sentenced, Ordered to Pay $7.1M in Restitution
Dec 6 2024 // A Washington man has been sentenced to a dozen years in prison and ordered to pay $7.1 million for leading a fraud scheme that involved staged collisions. A U.S. District Judge sentenced William Oldham Mize to 144 months...
Washington Workers’ Comp Premium Going up in 2025
Dec 2 2024 // The average cost of workers’ compensation insurance in Washington will go up about 3.8% in 2025, the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries announced. Employers and workers together will pay on average...
Washington Woman Wanted After Failing to Appear in Court for Insurance Fraud Charges
Nov 22 2024 // A Federal Way, Washington, woman is on Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s insurance fraud most wanted list after she failed to appear at her arraignment. Yelena Gruy faces a felony charge for filing a false...
Washington Commissioner: Most Homes in 2023 Wildfire Were Underinsured
Nov 18 2024 // An analysis of the claims paid out after the Gray and Oregon Road fires in Washington last year found that most of the homes destroyed were underinsured. The fires destroyed 366 homes, burning more than 20,000 acres...
Washington Farm Labor Contractor Fined $140K for Withholding Info From Workers
Nov 18 2024 // A Pasco farm labor contractor faces nearly $140,000 in fines for violations uncovered during a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries investigation that include withholding information from worker. According...
Washington Workers’ Comp Scam Exposed by Gym Trips
Nov 15 2024 // A Washington man is being charged in a felony in a $28,000 workers’ compensation scam after a trip the gym seemingly exposed him. Omid Mohammadi Dashti, 41, of Renton, was charged with one count of first-degree...
Former UFC Fighter Wanted on Insurance Fraud Charges in Washington
Nov 8 2024 // A former UFC fighter is wanted in Washington for insurance fraud, among other charges. Bryan Caraway, originally from Richland, has landed on Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s insurance fraud most...
Washington Sawmill Fined $126K for 61 Safety and Health Violations
Nov 7 2024 // The Washington State Department of Labor & Industries is levying more than $126,000 in fines for 61 reported safety and health violations by a lumber seller. Fox Lumber Sales buys leftover wood, cuts it down, and sells...
Kuderer Wins Race for Long-Held Washington Insurance Commissioner Post
Nov 6 2024 // Democrat Patricia Kuderer defeated Republican Phil Fortunato in the bid to replace the nation’s longest serving insurance commissioner with 57% of the votes. Nearly 65% of the ballots have been counted so far, and...
Changes to Washington Homeowners and Auto Premium Rule to Be Considered
Nov 4 2024 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has proposed modifying the state’s recently adopted premium change transparency rule. The proposal is specific to Phase 2 of the rule (the automatic inclusion of...
Washington Farm Labor Contractor Fined $140K for Withholding Info From Workers
Nov 1 2024 // A Pasco farm labor contractor faces nearly $140,000 in fines for violations uncovered during a Washington State Department of Labor & Industries investigation that include withholding information from worker. According...
