News Archive

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Rebecca Tabares Garza, of Yakima, pleaded guilty in Yakima County Superior Court to first-degree theft and filing a false insurance claim for 27 injuries she said occurred to herself and her family. Garza was sentenced to two months of home detention, six months of community custody and was ordered to pay $5,175 in restitution and $600 in court fees.

Officials charged Garza with three counts each of filing a false insurance claim, forgery and second-degree theft in March 2019 after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations…

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has instructed health insurers to continue following state law by sending consumers a single bill for their monthly premium. They also should continue segregating the portion of the premium they collect to pay for abortion services excluded by federal law, as required by the Affordable Care Act. 

Kreidler’s instructions are in response to questions insurers have raised about a new federal rule that would require health insurers selling plans in exchanges to send consumers two bills each month – one for…

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Edward J. Chadwick, of Yakima, was charged with first-degree theft in Spokane County Superior Court after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Criminal Investigations Unit (CIU).

Chadwick was an insurance producer and owned an insurance agency called Kelt, primarily selling insurance to transportation companies. He is accused of fraudulently obtaining 24 insurance premium finance loans totaling $2.8 million from April 2016 through July 2018 from Tepco, a premium finance company based in Spokane. He is accused of obtaining loans on behalf of…

OLYMPIA, Wash. – Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued a fine of $950,000 against ACE American Insurance Co. and Indemnity Insurance Co. of North America for overcharging 18,000 Washington consumers for nearly five years. He ordered the companies to repay $4.7 million – including interest – to policyholders no later than April 15. 

Reimbursements to policyholders will range from less than $1 to over $2,500. 

“We found tens of thousands of law violations among the two companies,” said Kreidler. “The most egregious violations were overcharging consumers…