The Delaware Department of Insurance announced April 21 thatit fined six companies a total of $83,300 during the first quarter for market misconduct.
Insurance Commissioner Karen Stewart fined 21st Century Centennial Insurance Co. $27,500 on Jan. 21for failing to properly notify insureds at least 10 days in advance of the effectivedate of a surcharge and failing to include in insureds' notices the amount of thesurcharges being applied.
The department fined TeachersInsurance Co. $25,000 on Feb. 4 for failing to properly file disclosuresassociated with rate changes, for providing inaccurate information to policyholdersand for failing to notify policyholders of imposed surcharges.
The state fined HomesiteInsurance Co. $15,000 on March 17 for charging and collecting cancellationfees that were not specified in policies filed with the department and for failingto deny coverage of claims within a reasonable time after proof of loss statementshad been completed.
The commissioner fined JacksonNational Life Insurance Co. $3,800 on March 22 for failing to properlynotify the department of the termination of appointments for producers, for acceptingbusiness solicited or written by a producer the company had not properly appointed,for accepting applications without obtaining the required producer response to thereplacement question, for accepting replacement forms dated after the applicationdate, and for failing to provide written notification of the replacement of policiesto existing insurers.
The state fined ProgressiveDirect Insurance Co. $5,000 on March 3 and Progressive Northern Insurance Co. $7,000 on March 4, eachfor improperly applying a surcharge that exceeded the pro rata amount of the totalamount of the claim paid.
The fines generally result from a market conduct examinationof the companies' practices performed by the Department of Insurance or the department'sparticipation in a multi-state examination.
The Delaware department previously announced a total of $483,000 in penalties against and Highmark Blue ShieldDelaware.