Washington’s Kriedler fines Utah captive

Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued fines in June totalling $40,863 against insurance companies and insurance producers who violated state insurance laws and regulations.

The insurance companies included Drico Insurance Company, based in Salt Lake City, Utah and which was fined $1,000 by the Office of the Insurance Comissioner(OIC).

Drico is nonresident captive insurer. It was fined because it transacted insurance business in Washington without being registered to do so by the OIC.

The company has been providing property, liability and auto insurance to Washington consumers since 2018.

Drico filed an application to register with the OIC as a captive insurer in 2021. However, the OIC issued a letter denying the application, saying that the basis of the OIC's denial was that the Company failed to demonstrate its assets exceeded its liabilities by at least one million dollars as required under law.

In October 2022, the company stated to the OIC that it planned to reapply to become authorized "soon," since it understood the code properly and that it met the statutory requirements to obtain approval.

However, upon further review, since the closure of the OIC's investigation in October 2022 Drico has not submitted a second application for approval. On February 1, 2023, the OIC received a communication from the company requesting the status of the OIC's determination of enforcement. In the communication, Drico indicated that it was waiting for the OIC to advise if the Company “needed to re-register.”

The OIC has now issued a fine.