Latest Washington Headlines
All the headlines from our Washington Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurers Back Away from Washington Flood Area
Sep 30 2009 // Insurance brokers say private companies won’t sell flood insurance in Kent, Renton, Auburn and Tukwila where the Corps of Engineers says Green River flooding is likely this winter. Federal insurance is still...
U.S. Safety Agency Eyes Cell Phone Use Ban for Bus, Truck Drivers
Sep 25 2009 // Safety investigators told federal regulators three years ago that it was dangerous for bus drivers to talk on cell phones while driving and recommended a ban. The National Transportation Safety Board put that...
Oregon Investigates Phony Agent
Sep 24 2009 // The Oregon Insurance Division is asking dentists and oral surgeons to contact the division if they purchased business owners’ insurance through Brenda L. MacLaren-Beattie, a Washington-based agent who allegedly sold...
Washington Workers’ Compensation Rates Could Rise 7.6 Percent
Sep 23 2009 // The state of Washington yesterday announced higher workers’ compensation insurance premiums for 2010 than earlier forecasted. In June, the state’s Department of Labor and Industries advised the Workers’...
Washington State Bars Iowa-Based Agent
Sep 22 2009 // Washington’s Office of the Insurance Commissioner has ordered a Des Moines-based, former insurance agent to immediately stop selling what are apparently fake insurance policies. Brenda L. MacLaren-Beattie and The...
Washington Tosses Medical Malpractice Merit Certificate Law
Sep 21 2009 // The state Supreme Court unanimously threw out a 2006 Washington law that requires an injured patient to get a certificate of merit from an expert before suing for medical malpractice. The high court ruled that the law...
Washington State’s Feek Financial Partners with Conover Insurance
Sep 17 2009 // Washington’s Feek Justice Financial has entered into a partnership with personal and commercial lines indeodnent agency, Conover Insurance. As a result of the new partnership, Conover Insurance has established a...
Washington: Summertime Brings Extra Workplace Hazards
Aug 4 2009 // If historical trends continue, July and August are the deadliest and most dangerous months for Washington workers, according to the state’s Department of Labor & Industries. L&I says in the summertime,...
Washington Implements Flood, Disaster Protections
Jul 28 2009 // Washington bills that establish legal protections for consumers in the wake of future disasters went into effect this week. The flood insurance and states of emergency bills (Senate Bill 5417 and House Bill 1566) require...
AIG Withholds $2.4 Million in Bonuses for Senior Managers
Jul 23 2009 // American International Group Inc., the insurer that has received billions of dollars in federal aid, withheld $2.4 million in bonuses due to be paid to dozens of senior managers on July 15. The AIG decision was disclosed...
National Specialty Underwriters Named a ‘Best Company to Work For’ in Washington
Jul 22 2009 // Bellevue, Wash.-based National Specialty Underwriters Inc. (NSU) was named one of Washington’s “2009 Best Companies to Work For” by Seattle Business Magazine. The publication chose 100 finalists in its...
AIG to Pay More Executive Bonuses
Jul 10 2009 // American International Group is preparing to pay next week millions of dollars more in bonuses to dozens of corporate executives, a source familiar with the development said. AIG has been talking with Washington’s...
Carroll Joins Griffin Underwriting Services in Washington
Jul 9 2009 // Griffin Underwriting Services of Bellevue, Wash., has added James D. Carroll as a property broker. In this new position, he will be responsible for property brokerage production and marketing as well as bringing depth and...
Fireman’s Fund Offers Surface and Flood Endorsement in Washington
Jun 19 2009 // Novato, Calif.-based Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. is now offering a Surface Water and Flood endorsement to its Prestige Home Premier policyholders in Washington. Intense storms over the Pacific Ocean bring heavy...
Poll: Older Drivers More Savvy About Traffic Laws
May 26 2009 // Are Washington drivers so polite that it causes traffic issues? That’s the question tackled by a recent poll by Pemco Insurance, examining whether drivers have a solid understanding of the laws governing four-way...
Oklahoma House Passes Workers’ Comp Judge Resolution
May 20 2009 // A resolution that would ask voters to require Senate confirmation of Oklahoma Worker’s Compensation Court judges has passed the Oklahoma House less than a month after Gov. Brad Henry vetoed similar legislation. The...
Republicans Explain Their Health Care Reform Plan
May 20 2009 // While President Obama may believe the stars are aligned for major health reform this year it is far from certain whether Congress will pass a bill that works. The groups that are most likely to unravel this effort are not...
2009 Fire Season Outlook Identifies Few Areas of Concern
May 18 2009 // Forecasts Normal to Below Normal Potential Across Most of the West Northern California, where nearly a million acres burned last summer, is poised to possibly be another hotspot for wildfire activity in 2009, according to...
Outside the Beltway-Big ‘I’ CEO on Carrier Relations, AIG and Agent Grassroots
May 18 2009 // Bob Rusbuldt, president and CEO of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (Big “I”), sat down with Insurance Journal‘s Andrew Simpson at the association’s recent legislative...
Asbestos Liability Bill Fails to Pass Washington Legislature
May 15 2009 // The Washington Legislature has failed to pass a bill that would have limited a successor corporation’s liability for asbestos-related claims to an amount equal to the predecessor corporation’s adjusted total...
