Troubled Washington Casualty Co. sold after three years

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has sold Washington Casualty Co. of Issaquah, Wash., what he called a financially troubled liability insurer of rural hospitals and medical centers and that he has operated in receivership for more than three years.

Thurston County Superior Court has approved the sale of the Issaquah-based insurer to FinCor Inc. of Lansing, Mich., for $9.8 million. Kreidler noted that the sale will enable the company to emerge from the receivership that was ordered in spring 2003, after the company reported a negative capital and surplus of more than $8 million.

According to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner, under Kreidler’s management, the company, which insures 49 rural hospitals and medical clinics in the Northwest, has reduced that shortage by 75 percent, attracting the attention of potential buyers.

“I am especially pleased to report the successful rehabilitation of Washington Casualty because it will help maintain a stable medical liability insurance market for community hospitals and medical centers in Washington, Oregon and Idaho,” Kreidler said.

FinCor has agreed to operate the insurer as a separate domestic entity in Washington for at least four years, tailoring products to its target market — small and medium-size hospitals and community health clinics. The company also has pledged to take all financially reasonable and legally permissible steps to maintain predictable premiums and coverage for policyholders.

Two other “troubled” Washington insurers, Western United Life Assurance Co. of Spokane, and Cascade National Insurance Co. of Bellevue, remain under the commissioner’s authority.