Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Washington Workers’ Comp Insurance Premiums Increasing 3%
Jan 11 2009 // Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) said premiums for workers’ compensation insurance will go up, on average, 3 percent in 2009. Individual employers could see their rates go up or down,...
New Employment Laws, Power Shift in Washington May Increase the Risk of Workplace Charges
Jan 11 2009 // What Insurance Professionals Need to Know to Protect Their Commercial Clients As the economy continues to falter and a new Administration takes over in Washington, the workplace is being seeded with new legal hazards for...
Washington To Hold Hearing on Purchase of National Merit Insurance
Dec 29 2008 // The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner announced it will holding a hearing at 12 p.m. on Jan. 9, 2009, to discuss the sale of Trinity Universal Insurance Co. to National Merit Insurance Co. According to the...
Ratings: ANICO, Washington Casualty, Grain Dealers, Nat’l. Guaranty, Am. Physicians
Dec 19 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services today said it lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on American National Insurance Co. (ANICO) and its core subsidiaries, American National Life...
Washington Workers’ Comp Insurance Premiums Increasing 3%
Dec 4 2008 // Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) said premiums for workers’ compensation insurance will go up, on average, 3 percent in 2009. Individual employers could see their rates go up or down,...
Washington Not Likely to Focus Much on P/C Agents in 2009
Nov 16 2008 // Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, the 64-year-old Democrat, easily won his third term as Washington state insurance commissioner, defeating Republican John Adams, who owns a Seattle-based insurance brokerage firm 57...
Safeco and Liberty Northwest Announce New Northwest Regional Operations
Nov 14 2008 // Safeco Insurance and Liberty Northwest, both Liberty Mutual Agency Markets companies, recently announced key management appointments to lead their respective personal and commercial lines operations in their Northwest...
Rain Floods Western Washington Rivers
Nov 14 2008 // Heavy rain swelled rivers across Western Washington, causing numerous road closures and prompting authorities to recommend evacuations in some areas. No injuries or serious property damage were reported from the wet...
Euro Zone in Recession as World Leaders Head for Summit
Nov 14 2008 // Recession has struck much of Europe, data showed on Friday, confirming a widespread economic downturn that world leaders hope to tackle at a weekend summit in Washington. The worst financial crisis in 80 years has weakened...
Survey: Washington Cell Phone Law Not So Popular
Nov 12 2008 // Washington drivers may be having second thoughts about the state’s new law governing hand-held cell phone use while driving, a recent poll by Pemco Insurance shows. In February 2008, prior to the law’s...
Washington Launches New Insurance Fraud Web Site
Nov 12 2008 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler is using his office’s Web site to help fight insurance fraud. In an effort to protect consumers, the fraud section of the site has been expanded to educate people on...
Montana, Washington To Decide on Insurance Regulators
Nov 4 2008 // Voters in Montana and Washington will decide who will regulate the insurance marketplace in their states. In Montana, the current Insurance Auditor John Morrison is not seeking re-election. Republican state Sen. Duane...
Washington Seeks Tools to Fight Identity Thieves
Oct 24 2008 // Law enforcement officers, prosecutors and private-sector fraud investigators say new technology and laws are needed to help prevent identity theft crimes in Washington and prosecute increasingly crafty and covert...
Washington, Lease Crutcher Lewis Settle Over Crane Safety Violations
Oct 23 2008 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) and Lease Crutcher Lewis have settled an appeal of the safety violations that were cited following the collapse of a tower crane in Bellevue in November...
Maryland Navy Commander Sued over Funds for 9/11 Injury
Oct 16 2008 // Federal prosecutors have filed a civil lawsuit against a Navy commander from Maryland’s Anne Arundel County who was granted a Purple Heart for injuries he claimed to have suffered when a plane crashed into the...
Lehman Failure Seen as Straw that Broke Credit Market, AIG
Oct 13 2008 // As finance chiefs gathered in Washington D.C. this weekend to work out what went wrong with the world economy, the refusal of the U.S. Treasury to rescue investment bank Lehman Brothers was being blamed as the straw that...
Global Crisis Claims Japan Life Insurer, Markets Panic
Oct 10 2008 // The global credit crisis claimed its first Japanese financial institution on Friday and the government looked to prop up smaller banks, as Tokyo shares suffered their biggest rout since a 1987 crash. Government ministers...
Washington Commissioner Approves Safeco Sale
Oct 6 2008 // The Washington Office of the Insurance Commissioner approved the acquisition of the Safeco Group by the Liberty Mutual Group for $6.2 billion. Liberty Mutual indicated that Safeco will keep its name, will remain...
Washington Proposes 3% Increase in Workers’ Comp Rates
Oct 6 2008 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has proposed a 3 percent increase in 2009 workers’ compensation rates. Average premiums would go up by under 2 cents per hour worked. “We are...
Washington Group Allowed to Use Workers’ Comp Rebates for Politics
Oct 1 2008 // The Building Industry Association of Washington can continue to spend money on the governor’s race while a court case against the group moves forward, a judge ruled. Thurston County Superior Court Judge Christine...
