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Frequently asked questions
Agent and Agencies
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How do I find out if an agent or agency is licensed to sell insurance in Washington state?
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How do I find an agent that is authorized to sell insurance for a company?
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How do I find out if an agent or agency has been investigated by your office?
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What if an agent or agency doesn't have contact information on their profile page?
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How do I find an agent in my local area to help me shop for insurance?
Companies
General
- How do I find out if my agent, agency, or company has broken any state insurance laws in the past two years? And if so, what did they do?
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How often do you update the information on the Lookup Web site?
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I'm having trouble viewing the web pages. What web browsers do you recommended?
Answers
Q: What's the difference between an agent and agency?
A: An agent is a person. An agency is a business.
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Q: What's does "Active" and "Inactive" status mean?
A: Status (Descriptions)
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Active: A company, agent or broker who’s licensed and authorized to sell insurance in Washington state.
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Inactive: A company, agent or broker whose license expired or was revoked, and is no longer authorized to sell insurance in Washington state. NOTE: A license will also display as non-active if it is in the 60-day late renewal period.
Q: How do I find out if a company is authorized to sell insurance in Washington state?
A: Search for a company and select from the search results. You can find licensing information for a company under the "Types of insurance this company is authorized to sell in Washington" section on the company's profile page.
Q: How do I find out if a company has any consumer complaints?
A: Search for a company and select from the search results. You can find a link to a two year history of complaints submitted to our office by a consumer under the "Complaint history" section on a company's profile.
Q: How do I find out if an agent or agency is licensed to sell insurance in Washington state?
A: Search for a agent or agency and select from the search results. You can find licensing information for an agent/agency under the "licensing information" section the agent or agency's profile page.
Q: How do I find an agent that is authorized to sell insurance for a company?
A: Search for a company and select from the search results. You can find agents authorized to sell insurance for a company under the "Appointments" section on the company profile page.
Q: How do I find out if an agent or agency has been investigated by your office?
A: Search for an agent or agency and select from the search results. You can find out if an agent/agency has been investigated by our office is the past three years under the "Investigations" section on the agent or agency profile page. The investigations information includes: the reason why the investigation was submitted, the outcome, and when the case was opened and closed.
Q: How do I find out if my agent, agency, or company has broken any state insurance laws in the past two years. And if so, what where they about?
A: Search for an agent, agency, or company and select from the search results. You can find out if an agent, agency, or company has broken any state insurance laws in the past two years in the "Disciplinary Orders" section of the profile pages. The disciplinary order information includes: the year the order took affect, an order number, and a link to the final order.
Q: How can I find an agent or agency's contact information?
A: Search for an agent or agency and select from the search results. Look for the "Contact information" section.
Q: What if an agent or agency doesn’t have contact information on their profile page?
A: Unfortunately, not all agents and agencies give us their business address.
Q: How do I find an agent that sells flood and/or earthquake insurance?
A: Search for an agent by city and by type of insurance. From the "type of insurance" drop down menu select the "Auto/Home" option. You will get search results of agents in your area that are authorized to sell earthquake insurance. Some agents may be authorized to sell a type of insurance but are not actively selling it. Contact the agent or agency to if they’re selling a particular type of insurance.
Q: How do I find an agent in my local area to help me shop for insurance?
A: Search for an agent by city and by type of insurance. From the "type of insurance" drop down menu select the type of insurance you want. Get search results of agents in your area that are authorized to sell that type of insurance. Some agents may be authorized to sell a type of insurance but are not actively selling it. Contact the agent or agency directly and ask if they’re selling a particular type of insurance.
Q: How often is the information updated on the Lookup Web site?
A: The information is updated each night.
Q: I'm having trouble viewing the web pages. What are the recommended web browsers?
A: If you're having trouble accessing our Consumer Complaint website check to see if you're using one of these supported browsers:
- Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7.0
- Firefox 3.0
If you're not sure what browser or version you have, find the Help menu within your browser and click on About. If you're not using one of the browsers listed above, you can go to Microsoft Download Center or Mozilla Firefox Site to download them.
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