What is the OIC Hearings Unit?
The Hearings Unit for the Office of the Insurance Commissioner is delegated the authority by statute to conduct adjudicative hearings and make the final decisions in two large areas of cases.
First, pursuant to RCW 48.04.010, any act, threatened act or failure of the Commissioner to act can be appealed by any interested party. This involves cases, for example, where the Commissioner has imposed disciplinary measures on an insurance agent or insurance carrier, the Commissioner has disapproved a carrier's contract language, situations where a member of the public has asked the Commissioner to become involved in certain regulation and he has refused, and many other such types of situations.
The second type of cases heard by the Hearings Unit are those where a hearing is required by statute, such as where two carriers wish to merge, a carrier wishes to buy out other carrier(s), or a carrier wishes to change its home state from Washington to another state.
The hearings are legal proceedings conducted by an impartial judge who is an attorney. Both the judge and the hearing are subject to very strict statutory precautions which ensure fair and unbiased decisions in all cases. Each party has the right to appear and present arguments, witnesses and written evidence to support his or her position and to challenge the opposing party's evidence.
After the hearing, the judge must write the final decision to affirm, modify or set aside the original Commissioner's action or make other proper decisions involved in the case. The law (Title 34 RCW) strictly prohibits the judge from having any knowledge of the case or any private communication or input from the Commissioner, his staff or any other individual.
These final decisions can be appealed to Superior Court upon request.
Contact information
Patricia D. Petersen, Chief Hearing Officer
Wendy Galloway, Paralegal
Email: WendyG@oic.wa.gov
Phone: 360-725-7002
Fax: 360-664-2782
| Mailing address: Hearings Unit Office of the Insurance Commissioner PO Box 40255 Olympia, WA 98504-0255 |
Street address: Hearings Unit Office of the Insurance Commissioner 5000 Capitol Blvd Tumwater, WA 98502 |