Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Brown & Brown Names 4 Regional Vice Presidents
Feb 7 2011 // Florida-based insurance agency Brown & Brown, Inc. has named regional vice presidents in Washington, Florida, Louisiana and Pennsylvania. Eric E. Anderson, Anthony M. Grippa, Thomas Keith Huval and Richard A. Knudson,...
Regulatory Uncertainty Impeding Economic Recovery
Feb 7 2011 // The goal of today’s hearing is to take a step back and look at the economy from two points of view. First, the economy as it is perceived by economists and academics through the lens of their historical analysis and...
Wash. lawmakers Wade into Red-Light Camera Debate
Feb 4 2011 // Washington lawmakers are wading into a growing debate over the use of cameras to ticket speeders and people who run red lights. Initiative promoter Tim Eyman and local activists filed initiatives in Bellingham, Longview,...
The Uneasy Ties of Americans and Their Government
Feb 4 2011 // Back when the big health care law was little more than a dream, a prominent figure spoke out against the idea of forcing people to get health insurance. He said that would be like solving homelessness by passing a law...
Washington Approves 12% Workers’ Comp Rate Hike
Jan 31 2011 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) has approved an increase to the state’s workers’ compensation premium rates by an average 12 percent or 6.5 cents per hour for 2011. The new...
Washington Fines Six Chubb Subsidiaries $534,000
Jan 25 2011 // Washington State Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has ordered six subsidiaries of Chubb & Son to pay a $534,000 fine for violating state insurance laws. Federal Insurance Co., Pacific Indemnity Co., Great Northern...
People
Jan 24 2011 // Washington D.C.-based broker Ames & Gough has named Christine Payne as senior account manager. Payne, who has more than 25 years of insurance industry experience, will oversee service and insurance placements for a...
Washington Governor Wants to Reform Workers’ Comp
Jan 24 2011 // Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed several changes to the state’s workers’ compensation system to help the state out of the recession and support the vitality of businesses. She estimates the proposed...
States Grapple with Healthcare Overhaul
Jan 24 2011 // True or false: States suing to overturn core requirements of President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul are refusing to carry out the law. If you said ‘true,” you’d be wrong. Republican state...
Washington Fraud-Fighting Program Collects $137 Million
Jan 20 2011 // Washington’s Department of Labor & Industries’ Fraud Prevention and Compliance Program brought in $137.4 million in 2010 for its fraud fighting efforts. The total, detailed in L&I’s annual report...
Insurers Fined More Than $580,000 in Washington
Jan 19 2011 // Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler fined insurers more than $580,000 in 2010 for violations including illegal telephone solicitation and overcharging customers. Kreidler also revoked the licenses of more than...
Washington Governor Wants to Reform Workers’ Comp
Jan 11 2011 // Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire has proposed several changes to the state’s workers’ compensation system to help the state out of the recession and support the vitality of businesses. The proposed changes she...
Brown & Brown Buys Balcos, Mike Howard Insurance in Washington
Jan 5 2011 // J. Scott Penny, regional president of Brown & Brown Inc.; Mark S. Balcos and Scott N. Balcos, principals of Balcos Insurance, Inc.; and Michael P. Howard, principal of M C H, Inc. of Seattle, d/b/a Mike Howard...
Rowe Joins Gallagher Benefit Services of Washington
Dec 28 2010 // Gallagher Benefit Services of Washington has added David S. Rowe to its Retirement Services consulting practice. Rowe brings more than 20 years of retirement consulting experience, having worked in numerous management and...
2010’s Top Insurance Stories in the West
Dec 23 2010 // In 2009, independent insurance agents and brokers faced a “perfect storm” with the economic downturn, premiums at a fraction of what they used to be, and unemployment and home foreclosure rates up, said Kevin...
Washington Hearing Possible on Calif. Gas Pipe Explosion
Dec 21 2010 // Federal investigators may subpoena witnesses to testify in Washington about the deadly Pacific Gas & Electric Co. natural gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif. National Transportation Safety Board member Mark...
Insurance Vital to Alabama Coast Long-Term Plan, Says Commission
Dec 21 2010 // Coastal Alabama should seize the BP Gulf oil disaster as an opportunity for “resiliency planning” that will not only help the region recover from the oil damage but also put it in a position to better recover...
Washington Man Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud
Dec 17 2010 // A Lynnwood, Wash., man who claimed that thieves had repeatedly made off with his collection of more than 200 silk neckties has paid back more than $33,000 and pleaded guilty to two counts of making a false insurance...
Study: Texting Bans Don’t Reduce Crashes
Dec 17 2010 // It’s illegal to text while driving in most U.S. states yet a new study finds such bans do not reduce car accidents and may actually increase insurance claims. Researchers at the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI)...
Washington Issues 23,000 Elevator Correction Notices to Building Owners
Dec 13 2010 // Washington’s Department of Labor and Industries said it issues about 23,000 correction notices per year to building owners to fix elevators. “For many people, [getting stuck in an elevator] is their worst...
