Allstate Insurance Company and Root Insurance have been issued civil penalties by the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) for violating the agency’s pandemic emergency orders.
According to the financial regulator, both insurers violated the state’s insurance emergency orders, by either canceling or refusing to renew insurance policies held by Oregonians while the COVID-19 emergency orders were in effect.
“We issued the COVID-19 emergency orders to provide Oregonians some financial relief and peace of mind during the early stages of the pandemic,” said DCBS director and Oregon state insurance commissioner Andrew Stolfi.
Oregon’s emergency orders were in effect from March 25 to September 20, 2020. In addition to prohibiting insurers from canceling or denying insurance policy renewals, the orders also required companies to offer grace periods for premium payment.
A release from DCBS revealed that Allstate was fined $50,000 for issuing cancellations or non-renewals for nonpayment of premium on 84 Oregon insurance policies. Meanwhile, Root Insurance was fined $10,000 after the insurer’s computer system automatically sent notices of non-renewal to 100 people after their driving frequencies decreased as a result of the lockdown.
Both companies have made efforts to reinstate the policies, DCBS noted in its statement.
“Violations of our emergency orders are taken seriously and we were pleased to see both insurers take steps to reinstate their customers,” said Stolfi.
