Idaho Insurance

Hayward Insurance Agent Thomas Brewer allegedly fleeced a fragile 81-year-old San Jose woman a large part of their life savings.

James Hawes, an officer with the Butte County, sold, according to reports value guarantee coverage of several transport companies led to the brink of bankruptcy, left and seriously injured accident victims without insurance money.

San Jose officer Alan Cerf enriched, in hundreds of policyholders, including many elderly to buy new and expensive of life insurance they do not need to court records.

In all cases, officials are clearly violated constitutional law. But they are still in business, because the State Department of Insurance failed to take action against them.

Brewer, Hawes Cerf and are just three of hundreds of insurance agents, in particular, fraud Californians millions of dollars in recent years by premiums theft, sale of products or false “ churning”Maßnahmen the pocket distributing new commissions.

But despite formal complaints, criminal investigations and many civil judgments dollars, the Institute for insurance of the economy, they can often with little or no penalty, even if the officers are their own befeuert insurance companies.

“ The general public is not sufficiently protected,’’said Elliott Rothman, Los Angeles, the insurance agent, testified in the case of misconduct of agents. “ I ran in many situations in which policyholders are not out ribbed and he never led to disciplinary action.”

The California Insurance Code prohibits any improper conduct that manifested by agents, including misleading turnover. The Department of Insurance is responsible for investigating complaints of officer misconduct and the authority to suspend or revoke licenses or levy fines.

After several years where the service of police officers appeared to improve, the Agency for the opening of disciplinary proceedings record has deteriorated under the current Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush, Department records.

The former Republican assemblyman from Silicon Valley, Quackenbush was elected commissioner of insurance during the year 1994 on broad support from the insurance business interests of the industry. Critics debt lapses in the department of the Commission on disciplining agents dishonest widely Quackenbush’s controversial decision two years ago, reducing staffing in the department’s Office responsible for the implementation of third .

“ Before Quackenbush has come into the department has shown signs of lead, and now he has been back on le”a said Judith Bell, bureau chief of the Consumers Union West Coast, non-profit group, published Consumer Reports.

“ The division goes back to the era of “Unfortunately, we can not help more,” and that the consumer remains in the desert,’’said Bell.

Quackenbush, in an interview, defending division recording during his tenure and said that his agency is working hard to fight against the unscrupulous agents. Since April 23, the department has hired investigators.

“ There has been no letup in the implementation,”he said. “ The implementation is one of our main objectives. We had in some of these results (enforcement) Division. We had to reduce some earlier, because the legislature is beyond our budget. (But) we worked very hard to budget money and the rent man restored as quickly as we can.”

But in a five-month investigation, an audit of more than 1000 cases, the officer at fault is the chronicle:

– Withdrawal of licence are Quackenbush management and complaints concerning serious breaches of agents have improved.

– High priority with regard to cases of serious misconduct such as theft of elderly do not rely involved for months and even years.

– The division, to a fine of four officers disciplined them in the last two years. The average fine was about $ 250 less than the cost of a ticket to enter illegally in a car driven Community runway.

– The Division of the implementation is inflated rubber stamp of discipline for relatively minor offences, which have little investigation.

“ If consumers know what happened, they are angry,’’said Scott Obrand, a former insurance investigator public.

The division leaders and responsible for the continuation of consumer complaints, they do everything it can to protect the public. Mark Lowder, Deputy Commissioner of the implementation, said the department “ has more going on in the application of legislation that we have never in the history department.”

“ The records do not reflect the amount of work we do,’’said Dennis Ward, the head of the enforcement division. “ It is something of organs, not a question of demand, or on our site.”

But consumer advocates see otherwise, saying that the implementation has been languished Quackenbush’s political relations with major insurance companies and agents groups. Both assumes greater financial assistance - about $ 2.4 million worth - if the Office for the years 1994 and contributed to more than $ 3 million from the commissioner.

These critics charge that Quackenbush is more to protect insurance carriers to fraud rights such as protection of consumers against bad agents.

“ It was on to consumers, without a lawyer,’’said state Senator Herschel Rosenthal, Van Nuys, democratic and persistent critic Quackenbush. “ It was a breakdown on the application of existing laws and regulations.