Latest Oregon Headlines
All the headlines from our Oregon Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Suriano-Williams Benefits Group Joins Woodruff-Sawyer Oregon
May 11 2005 // Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. announced that Suriano-Williams’ benefits practice has joined its Oregon Benefits group. Helen “Willy” Suriano-Williams will serve as a senior benefits consultant. In this role,...
PIA Western Alliance Names First Board of Directors
Apr 14 2005 // The PIA Western Alliance Board of Directors has elected its first set of officers. Formed in October of 2004, the Board of Directors consists of two officers from each of the four affiliate chapters that make up the...
Oregon Governor Suggests Insurance Fee to Pay for State Police
Mar 7 2005 // Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski said he has asked the Legislature to look into adding a surcharge on vehicle insurance to raise money for State Police patrols. “I think it is a perfect fit,” the governor...
Ck Specialty Expands Into Oregon
Feb 23 2005 // Ck Specialty Insurance Associates Inc., a surplus line broker and managing general agent, has expanded operations into Oregon with a new office in Sherwood, just south of Portland in Washington County. Ck Specialty offers...
Former President of Oregon’s SAIF Accused of Violating Law on Lobbyists
Feb 22 2005 // A new state ethics report concludes that former SAIF Corp. President Katherine Keene violated Oregon law by failing to register as a lobbyist and report her expenses. The 35-page report released Feb. 18 by the Oregon...
Oregon Governor gets SAIF Report
Feb 17 2005 // The SAIF Corp. needs more diversity in its work force and better systems for awarding contracts and handling public records, according to an initial report by the interim president of the state-owned workers’...
Washington’s Workers’ Comp Rates Rank in Lowest One-Third in U.S.
Dec 30 2004 // A new rate-comparison study shows that workers’ compensation rates in Washington remain among the lowest in the nation. The 2004 “Workers’ Compensation Premium Rate Ranking” study by the Oregon...
Marsh to Refund Overcharges to Seven Oregon Schools
Dec 20 2004 // The scandal engulfing the world’s largest insurance brokerage firm has reached Oregon. The Portland office of insurance broker Marsh USA–the firm at the center of a corruption investigation in New...
Looking Back on ’04: The Most Talked-About Stories in the Western Region
Dec 20 2004 // The year 2004 saw a little bit of everything across the Western Region. Workers’ comp, homeowners, med-mal, and even insurance fraud topped the list of the most talked about stories. We compiled these recaps based on...
PCI Seeks Changes to Proposed Rule on Producer Compensation in Oregon
Dec 9 2004 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) has voiced its general support of the Oregon Insurance Division’s effort to establish an objective way to determine when an insurance broker must make...
Ore. Court Reverses Decision in Farmers Ins. Case
Dec 7 2004 // Oregon’s highest court has ruled against Farmers Insurance, saying the insurance company had no right to deduct the payouts an injured woman received from two other insurance sources. In 1988, Terrel Ann Bergmann was...
Marsh Admits Overcharging School Districts
Dec 3 2004 // State insurance regulators are investigating Marsh USA, which has acknowledged overcharging six Oregon school districts and Lane Community College since 2000. Marsh, the nation’s biggest insurance brokerage, alerted...
Citizens Vote Yes on Med-mal Caps in Nevada; No in Oregon and Wyoming
Nov 22 2004 // Doctors triumphed over lawyers in Nevada when citizens passed a ballot initiative that limits noneconomic damage awards in med-mal cases to $350,000 with no exceptions and limits fees for attorneys, while voters defeated...
PIA Western Alliance Unites Agents Across Nine States
Nov 22 2004 // Four Professional Insurance Association (PIA) affiliate chapters recently united to form the PIA Western Alliance, a 1,500-member organization for independent agents based in Vancouver, Wash. The four PIA chapters that...
Oregon Legislature Next Arena in Malpractice Battle
Nov 15 2004 // After narrowly losing in the Nov. 2 election, Oregon doctors who pushed for a cap on jury awards in malpractice lawsuits are preparing to take their fight to another arena: the 2005 Legislature. The physicians won’t...
ORE. DRIVERS SEE LESS IN AUTO PREMIUMS:
Nov 8 2004 // Oregon drivers are reportedly spending less than the national average for personal automobile insurance, according to a recent report comparing premiums nationwide. The estimated average expenditure per insured vehicle for...
Ore. Man Must Stop Selling Insurance
Nov 8 2004 // Oregon’s Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) has issued a cease and desist order against a Salem man who reportedly continued to transact insurance even after his license was revoked. An investigation...
OREGON’S LIBERTY NORTHWEST NEGOTIATED TAX BREAK:
Oct 25 2004 // Nine years ago, private workers’ comp insurer Liberty Northwest struck a deal with legislators that it would pay no taxes on profits in Portland or Multnomah County, according to The Oregonian. Liberty Northwest is...
Former Ore. Agent Pleads Guilty to Corpse Abuse in Indian Grave Robbing
Oct 21 2004 // Former insurance agent Jack Harelson pleaded guilty Tuesday to abusing the mummified corpses of two Indian children that police found in his garden, where he had hidden them after digging up their ancient graves in the...
SAIF Critic Backs Measure to Abolish Oregon Company
Oct 20 2004 // The Legislature’s most vocal critic of SAIF Corp. said she supports a ballot measure that would abolish the state-owned workers’ compensation insurer. Sen. Vicki Walker, D-Eugene, said she concluded from...
